Fear terrorists? Nah, fear stupidity.Follow

[quote=Darkknight]Splinter--
Gravity is just a theory too. Why don't you go jump off a cliff?


... last i checked, it what the LAW of gravity, not theory...

diff? you bet ya ;)

I haven't eaten Twinkies in years, and I hardly eat nachos. 'Oddly' enough I was not high, and the blank posts are entirely intentional.

Best post I've read in awhile.

/nod Luke

I had this exact debate with someone on this board some time ago.

I said gravity was a theory. I was, of course, correct.

Jesus hates dumb people. I hope you like the smell of sulfur.

Edited, Tue Feb 24 23:17:11 2004 by Thundra

Most Christian faiths hold children to be innocent until they reach an age where they can truely comprehend their own sin. Jesus makes reference to children being innocent and blameless in the Gospels. I'd assume, before you ask, that the age varies from person to person since people mature at different rates. The notable exception is Catholicism which saddles us all with Original Sin and ships the unbaptised rugrats off to Purgatory where they loiter around and get bored by Piers Anthony characters.

I'd assume (not being God, after all) that the mentally incompetant are like children, never reaching that point of accountability.

Now stop bumping old dead threads

So there is no such thing as free will as everything is predestined.

This is one of my favorite biblical self contradictions.

And that's one of my favorite answers followed by the "we're not smart enough" explanation of illogical statements.

There is either free will or predestiny. They are mutually exclusive states. If Gbaji comes up with some argument of logic to explain how they're not I'll capitulate this point.

How will I feel if I find out I'm wrong after I die? Suprised certainly, but not guilty, as you imply. One can live by a code of ethics and morals without a deity. Not out of fear of punishment in the afterlife but because it's better for human society (and the planet) in the here and now.

I leave guilt and fear to the believers.

Oh, and I'll punch any god I see right in the jewels for doing such an incompetent job.

You *******, now I have "O Come All Ye Faithful" stuck in my head.

you will surely burn in Hell, whereas I will dissipate into nothingness.

Gonna add to this, because it's just that amusing...



No. Science is based on theories. Theories are explanations of facts. Not the other way around. Example:

Fact. My toe hurts
Fact. I'm wearing shoes
Fact. There's a pebble in my shoe

Theory: My toe hurts because the pebble in my shoe was squishing it inside the shoe, making it hurt.

Now. This all seems useless, except that now I can use my "Theory of toe hurting" to propose that if folks walk around with pebbles in their shoes, they may also experience pain in their toes.




You disagreed with yourself in two consecutive sentences: You stated "This was a fact", but then call it a theory in the next sentence. Which is it? Remember, a theory is just the most reasonable explanation of the facts as we can see them and test them.

Example: My Theory of toe hurting has caught on. It makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, the carpenter down the street just dropped a hammer on his toe. No matter how hard we searched, we could not find a pebble in his shoe. Thus, my theory is not complete. I've explained one possible way for a toe to hurt, but not all of them. Clearly, my theory will need to be revised to include the possiblity of a hammer dropping on someone's toe...


See how that works? The earlier theory is not disproved, we've simply added to it. In the same way, we can theorize about what may have killed the dinosaurs. All of them may be valid possibilities, and may certainly be ways in which a large number of reptilians could become extinct.

And in this case, that's not even a theory. It's an attempt to discover a truth. A theory would be a possible explanation of how the dinosaurs could have become extinct. As long as it's something that could cause extinction, it's still valid. However, that doesn't tell us what *actually* killed off the dinosaurs. Extinction is something that happens all the time for a number of different reasons. In this case, they're looking for the truth behind one particular set of extinctions.

Just as the fact that in a particular instance, a guy got his toe hurt by a hammer drop instead of a pebble, that does not change the fact that a pebble could have caused it. The difference is whether you are theorizing about different ways things can happen, or are trying to figure out the specifics of one particular event. That's two completely different things.




I think the specifics of what songs you sing aren't really that relevant, but your point is taken. Religions do change over time. But *very* slowly, and never without a huge amount of difficulty. Change in religion is not the same as change in science. Science contains within it the method by which theories can be changed (it's called scientific method. Look it up). The only people who think that science "fails" when a theory is disproven are people who don't understand what science is. Scientific method is proven everytime we do revise a theory, or change our minds. Religion is based on a specific set of beliefs being "true". Science is about the process of forming and changing our beliefs. Thus, any change in how we think things work is a victory for science, not a failure.




I personally think that's an absolutely horrific reason to believe something. So you can justify any set of beliefs purely by attaching a threat of hell if you don't follow them? You are aware how hugely circular that is, right?



That's not the point. Science isn't about knowing all the answers. It's about a process to find out answers. There's no guarantee we'll know everything. But the process itself allows us to accomplish things that religion never has. We didn't develop computers and information technology and space craft by praying really hard...

Edited, Tue Mar 9 21:40:35 2004 by gbaji

i'm sure that will happen. and when your soul is being tortured forever in a place where noone can hear you scream, i'm sure you will feel that thinking that was not such a good idea. and it won't be because God put you there...thats done on your own.

Let me clarify a few things about my earlier post. I may have been hasty. The only point I was trying to get across is that science and religion both constantly evolve. Science a little quicker then religion sometimes.

My point about believeing in creationism over evolution because I dont think the dinosaurs are sending me to hell was purely a joke. My mom once told me that it isnt enough to just believe in God. Satan believes in God, he's not going anywhere for a while.

That's all. :)

That may be true. However, it is also true that religion actively works to slow down or stop scientific advancement whereas one could say that science is a contributing factor in the evolution of religion.

As I said before, I leave that kind of fear to the believers.

Hell, just like god, is a creation of religionists, as is Satan. It doesn't concern me.

Pretty "christian" response though Empyre.