After a number of comments in the religion/politics thread I’m curious.
Not sure when you wanted the poll to end, Soggy, but I am bumping so we can get a larger sampling.
I have a couple of comments but I will wait until Monday.
It is set to run for two weeks.
It was 4-5-2 when I made the first bump.
It is now 11-12-4.
There has to be more than 27 people with an opinion.
[quote=“DWhite”]It was 4-5-2 when I made the first bump.
It is now 11-12-4.
There has to be more than 27 people with an opinion.[/quote]
Looking at the posts on this forum I am surprised the numbers are that high. Seems to be the same hand full of people posting
DWhite, here’s where that poll link goes!
theglobeandmail.com/news/wor … le1814274/
Granted, I don’t believe these numbers for a minute.
LMAO! Who says google ads don’t work? Looks like it might be a fun event.
I believe in Sparky the God of Ignition and Lumpy the gravy demon
Tapestry on CBC Radio was interesting today and pertinent to this thread. Unfortunately, I was in the car doing errands so I didn’t catch all of it but I did get the drift.
Daniel Dennett, a prominent atheist, released a study last year about preachers who had lost their faith but continued to preach. The study involved extensive interviews with five clergymen which indicates that the problem (if it can be called a problem) is not widespread, although it is hard to put a number on something of this nature.
On the radio today, one of those preachers was interviewed. He continues to give guidance, talks the talk etc. but he does not believe in God. He knows he is lying to his congregation but he doesn’t want to give up his job.
Another preacher was interviewed. I am not sure if he was one of the five, but he does not believe in a god that has human form, that intervenes in our lives. He does not believe in the literal Bible, seeing most of it as metaphor. I was really uncertain about his concept of god. It sounded like he believed in a creative force of some kind, one that gave us our creative energy and one that we could get in touch with. When asked if he believed in an afterlife, he said he would be happy with whatever god had in store - whatever that meant.
Still, I found it hard to disagree with him.
But then Dennett was interviewed and he jokingly said that he believed in gravity. It hadn’t let him down yet.
What makes this topic so interesting to me is the wide range of definitions for god. When I say I don’t believe in a god, I am referring to the anthropomorphic gods who walk and talk and have feelings, that listen to prayers and mete out rewards and punishments. I am almost 100% certain that a god of that nature, the god of the Bible for example, does not exist.
It gets a little blurry when we start talking about creative forces. It’s hard not to believe in gravity. It is hard not to believe in whatever it was that got us from there to here because whatever it was, we did get from there to here. I am not sure though if we can call that god.
When I am asked if I believe in a power greater than myself, I must admit that I do.
However it’s not a magical entity, it is the universe itself.
[quote=“cutter”]
[quote=“DWhite”]It was 4-5-2 when I made the first bump.
It is now 11-12-4.
There has to be more than 27 people with an opinion.[/quote]
Looking at the posts on this forum I am surprised the numbers are that high. Seems to be the same hand full of people posting[/quote]
The same handful of people might be posting. But that doesn’t stop the whole field from voting.
At this bump the score is 13-14-6.
[quote=“DWhite”]
Looking at the posts on this forum I am surprised the numbers are that high. Seems to be the same hand full of people posting
The same handful of people might be posting. But that doesn’t stop the whole field from voting.
At this bump the score is 13-14-6.[/quote]
never said it did . 14-14-6
Yes I believe Gods have been conveniently contrived and that religion just might be at the very centre of racism.
o_o
O.k. i’ll bite , what brings you to this conclusion?
If one must have faith in order to believe something, or believe in something, then the likelihood of that something having any truth or value is considerably diminished. The three great monotheisms teach people to think abjectly of themselves, as miserable and guilty sinners prostrate before a childlike angry and jealous god who, according to discrepant accounts fashioned them either out of dust and clay or a clot of blood. For a perfect being, this individual observed and mentioned nothing of life outside of a small region of the world - where these gods and prophets lived. Remarkably all the great religions are similar in this. The positions for prayer are usually emulations of the suppliant serf before an ill-tempered monarch.
Not surprising all prophetic revelations occurred without witnesses and between some supreme-being and an illiterate individual who was commanded to “write this down”.
These sacred instructions included real estate deals, gender roles, dress codes, language and even paid attention to dietary needs. All which became the basis for alienation, distrust and murder.
Is this a cut and paste or your own thoughts? where does the racism part come in?
Aw geez. What does the promotion of slavery in the holy writings have to do with racism?
I keep quoting this, but:
To believe, is to know you believe, and to know you believe is not to believe. - Jean Paul Sartre
In other words, if you have to try and convince yourself that something is true, it more than likely isn’t. That’s what belief is based on, telling yourself that this is how it is, the bible is truth, It’s like living in denial. If that makes sense.
And Cutter, how could you not think that religion is racist? It’s many more things other than racist. Like I’ve mentioned before, look at how many wars have been, or are still being fought because people have different belief systems that they are unwilling to compromise on. One of the MAJOR reasons gay marriage isn’t legal in some states in the US is because those states have people in them, that believe being gay is a sin. Now that may not be racist, but it’s another form of an “ist”. I can’t remember what “ist” it is, but I don’t think there are many “ists” that are positive. Name some if you can think of any that are.
It’s called bigotry.
Just because someone has a religion doesn’t automatically make them a bigot. However, religious fundamentalists and extremists (ie. Westboro Baptists; al-Qaeda; Falun Gong; Benjamin Netanyahu; etc) are more than likely to be bigots, or to put it bluntly, they are bigots.