[SeaGypsy]

A man's spiritual capacity is measured by his compassion, resilience, balanced reasoning and fairness. The notion of God is not obligatory to living a spiritual life, or even a good one.
Denial or attacking the belief in a God in another person likens the atheist to that he despises in the religious zealot.

A friend student of history once told me that the first basis of English Common Law was:
No man should do anything to frighten the women or startle the horses in the street.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FoolYap', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'I') really think that aethiests are very rare.

[careinke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', 'F')unny how when something goes well (i.e someone recovers from a disease contrary to doctors' opinions) then "It's a Miracle". But when a tragedy occurs (someone dies of aggressive cancer at an early age) that's "God's will", and it's "not for us to question".

Kind of selective and self-serving thinking, dontcha think?

Religion is by far not the only place we see emotional behavior causing all kinds of problems, but it drives me crazy, as religion's purpose is supposedly to HELP people.

[FoolYap]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'H')i Steve. I made a mistake in labelling aethiestism a religion. But it does seem to me to be faith-based and I think it is rare .

[FoolYap]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('careinke', 'T')he liberals have replaced their gods with Big Government.

[Fiddlerdave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'W')hat is it that gives us such pleasure when we see people with faith crash and burn? Is it that we can then reach around and pat ourselves on the back and congratulate ourselves on being superior? Faith may be a self delusion but it offers hope where there is none and causes people to press on when by all reason they should sit down in the dirt a be devoured. Such perseverance has been rewarded enough times in the past to make faith a survival instinct.
I suspect it is hard wired in the species.

Laugh on but when your love one is being eaten alive by cancer, there is little else to comfort them with.

[careinke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FoolYap', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('careinke', 'T')he liberals have replaced their gods with Big Government.

[vision-master]

Truth

Lays Within

Two Crosses.

vm

Can ya dig it.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FoolYap', 'B')ut it's wrong to call it "faith-based" in the context of religion. If you merely mean the kind of "faith" that you and I both have that the sun will rise each morning, then okay.

[ian807]

God did answer his prayers. The answer was "No."

Sorta like this: http://www.theonion.com/articles/god-answers-prayers-of-paralyzed-little-boy,475/

[Serial_Worrier]

Who cares?

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Serial_Worrier', 'W')ho cares?

[FoolYap]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'I') mean that aetheists seem to hold the faith that there can never exist an explaination for the beginning. If there was, then that would prove God. Not many people I know have that much faith.

[lper100km]

An idea of faith that I have is that it is the bridge between reality and what one wishes to have happen. In that respect it is much the same as hope except that faith turns hope into a belief. With hope, there is still a lurking recognition that whatever outcome is desired may very well not occur. Faith tends to be blind to alternative outcomes.

All this is to say why faith is so important to religion. Since the basic tenets of all religions remain unprovable and mystical, faith becomes a big deal. It is also the tool that is used as the means to keep the followers in line.

Why there is general deference towards people of faith and the institutions that propagate such attitudes is beyond me. It seems to me it is a dangerous thing to elevate people who compromise rational thought with whatever strain of belief system they enjoy. That would seem to promote schizophrenia at the very least leading to an unreliable mental state and irrational decision making. Do we value people who make faith based decisions, or do we really prefer people who can makes reasoned decision based on sound fundamentals? Why should we listen to those who claim to hear God’s voice, to talk to (or with) God and to take instructions? In a rational society should not these people be subject to psychiatric assessment at a minimum? Other people who claim to hear voices, though not necessarily God, are quickly holed up, especially if they have committed some infraction.

On the other hand, how many people profess faith simply because it seems to be the right thing to do, either socially or in a business or political environment? How large is the hypocrisy factor? I would venture to say, monumental. In which case, all is a sham. People saying things they don’t mean, doing things they don’t want to do all because they want to be liked, see a personal advantage or are part of a herd. This is one way that true freedom of thought and expression is inhibited and curtailed – not necessarily because of law or intimidation, but because of misguided self interest.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hy should we listen to those who claim to hear God’s voice

[Cog]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lper100km', ' ')It seems to me it is a dangerous thing to elevate people who compromise rational thought with whatever strain of belief system they enjoy. That would seem to promote schizophrenia at the very least leading to an unreliable mental state and irrational decision making. Do we value people who make faith based decisions, or do we really prefer people who can makes reasoned decision based on sound fundamentals? Why should we listen to those who claim to hear God’s voice, to talk to (or with) God and to take instructions? In a rational society should not these people be subject to psychiatric assessment at a minimum?

[vision-master]

I see the 'faith' here has been misdirected into 'rational thinkers'..

Was Steve Jobs a 'rational thinker'?

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FoolYap', 'A')ctually, most atheists I know are extremely curious about the "beginning". I personally have a great deal of wonder at the thought of the Big Bang, and how everything we see inflated into existence in the blink of an eye, expanding from a point to all the matter in the known universe. I have "faith" that science will continue to make slow progress towards understanding this, though I doubt we'll ever perfectly understand it all.

--Steve

[Cog]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FoolYap', 'A')ctually, most atheists I know are extremely curious about the "beginning". I personally have a great deal of wonder at the thought of the Big Bang, and how everything we see inflated into existence in the blink of an eye, expanding from a point to all the matter in the known universe. I have "faith" that science will continue to make slow progress towards understanding this, though I doubt we'll ever perfectly understand it all.

--Steve

[vision-master]

The Big Bang is supported by the Catholic Church.

Who's blowing up the balloon?



God.