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Though I happen to not be an Atheist, I freely admit that it seems the more likely option.
So are you religious, in the case that there really is a god (which i doubt), so you have a "backing"?
So are you religious, in the case that there really is a god (which i doubt), so you have a "backing"?
Religious? No. I subscribe to no religion, and don't really like the concept of organized religion. I don't believe that anybody actually knows what's going on. Anybody who claims they do is either mistaken or lying. That is not to say that all religions are equally bogus. Many surely get bits and pieces correct. The problem with religions is human nature. We like to think that we are correct and that we know more than other people. We also get greedy and power hungry. We tend to be stubborn and closed minded. We like being in groups, and especially elite clubs. We are often xenophobic.
Those kinds of things result in people believing that their view of reality is the single correct one, and that anybody who believes otherwise must be either converted or eliminated. We get a lot of religions where we believe we are the "chosen" people, and therefore everybody else is lesser. We find ways to twist the religion to enforce our control over other people. And as with any organized group of people, the longer it exists the more corrupt it tends to become.
I happen to have various beliefs regarding the supernatural, but there are vague and weak as I have little data to go on. For my day to day life I rely more upon my conscience and reason. I am of the opinion that there is a god and he had a hand in the creation of the human mind/soul, and I feel he gave me a conscience and reason for a purpose. Rather than try to modify my conscience to find a way to justify the actions supposedly taken by god as described in a book written by man, I reject the book as mostly irrelevant and use the conscience I have.
Most of the details that religions get into are irrelevant, in my opinion. They become used as justification for wars, as ways of manipulating the masses, and generally just waste a lot of time and cause a lot of strife. I take a simpler approach. I try not to harm other people when I can help it, unless such harming is necessary to prevent greater harm. I don't worry much about whether what other people believe matches what I believe. I don't believe god actually cares what we believe. He cares what we do, and why we do it. I also don't believe that he gives eternal punishments and rewards for our actions. So I have no motivation to try to "save" people - they don't need it, unless they're one of those idiot extremists.
I'm not sure what you mean by "backing". I have no backing for my belief in god, if that's what you mean. In fact, I think I mostly believe in god out of inertia - I was raised as a Christian. However, my belief that there is more to life in the supernatural sense than we can see or describe with current physics does have backing. I don't know whether you or anybody else is capable of seeing or understanding it though. I know that I can, but I have no way of knowing whether anybody else can. Even if they say they can, it could just be empty words. For all I know, none of you are even real. You probably are, but even then you could just be biological automatons (probably not though). But anyway, to me, I very obviously exist. I am inside myself looking out. That is for me sufficient proof that there is far far more going on than science has explained.
All that said, I am a fan of science and I don't claim that science can't explain everything in the universe. It certainly can. It just hasn't advanced enough yet. Also, our puny minds are most probably not sufficient to extend and comprehend it to the point where it could.
Those kinds of things result in people believing that their view of reality is the single correct one, and that anybody who believes otherwise must be either converted or eliminated. We get a lot of religions where we believe we are the "chosen" people, and therefore everybody else is lesser. We find ways to twist the religion to enforce our control over other people. And as with any organized group of people, the longer it exists the more corrupt it tends to become.
I happen to have various beliefs regarding the supernatural, but there are vague and weak as I have little data to go on. For my day to day life I rely more upon my conscience and reason. I am of the opinion that there is a god and he had a hand in the creation of the human mind/soul, and I feel he gave me a conscience and reason for a purpose. Rather than try to modify my conscience to find a way to justify the actions supposedly taken by god as described in a book written by man, I reject the book as mostly irrelevant and use the conscience I have.
Most of the details that religions get into are irrelevant, in my opinion. They become used as justification for wars, as ways of manipulating the masses, and generally just waste a lot of time and cause a lot of strife. I take a simpler approach. I try not to harm other people when I can help it, unless such harming is necessary to prevent greater harm. I don't worry much about whether what other people believe matches what I believe. I don't believe god actually cares what we believe. He cares what we do, and why we do it. I also don't believe that he gives eternal punishments and rewards for our actions. So I have no motivation to try to "save" people - they don't need it, unless they're one of those idiot extremists.
I'm not sure what you mean by "backing". I have no backing for my belief in god, if that's what you mean. In fact, I think I mostly believe in god out of inertia - I was raised as a Christian. However, my belief that there is more to life in the supernatural sense than we can see or describe with current physics does have backing. I don't know whether you or anybody else is capable of seeing or understanding it though. I know that I can, but I have no way of knowing whether anybody else can. Even if they say they can, it could just be empty words. For all I know, none of you are even real. You probably are, but even then you could just be biological automatons (probably not though). But anyway, to me, I very obviously exist. I am inside myself looking out. That is for me sufficient proof that there is far far more going on than science has explained.
All that said, I am a fan of science and I don't claim that science can't explain everything in the universe. It certainly can. It just hasn't advanced enough yet. Also, our puny minds are most probably not sufficient to extend and comprehend it to the point where it could.
Something I found out about today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QquTUR9nbC4 - Colbert vs. O'reilly!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QquTUR9nbC4 - Colbert vs. O'reilly!
Again with the fucking solipsism. What is it about the internet that makes people think they're all alone in the world, and/or that they're the only intelligent person in the world?
Like descartes (though with a lot less thinking involved) you proclaim that it is obvious that you exist, but I put it to you that it is not obvious. In fact, your existence is no more likely than the existence of the world around you. All you can say with the sort of certainty descartes put into his circle is that a thought exists. The fact that such a thought exists does not necessitate there being a thinker, let alone a thinker you identify as "yourself."
Also, belief implies a certainty or knowledge. If you believe in God and also allow the possibility that he does not exist then guess what: you don't believe in God.
Fucking middleschoolers.
Like descartes (though with a lot less thinking involved) you proclaim that it is obvious that you exist, but I put it to you that it is not obvious. In fact, your existence is no more likely than the existence of the world around you. All you can say with the sort of certainty descartes put into his circle is that a thought exists. The fact that such a thought exists does not necessitate there being a thinker, let alone a thinker you identify as "yourself."
Also, belief implies a certainty or knowledge. If you believe in God and also allow the possibility that he does not exist then guess what: you don't believe in God.
Fucking middleschoolers.
Hahaha, did you even read the definitions you linked to?
"1. a principle, proposition, idea, etc., accepted as true"
Accepted as true, not known to be true. Belief does not imply knowledge or certainty. That is the whole point of belief.
"1. a principle, proposition, idea, etc., accepted as true"
Accepted as true, not known to be true. Belief does not imply knowledge or certainty. That is the whole point of belief.
I take it this is the definition of "know" you're going by:
"Know
1. To have sexual intercourse with."
"Know
1. To have sexual intercourse with."