Film, Media & TV1 min ago
A simple question.
68 Answers
Completely hypothetical...
If it were 'proved' that God did not exist, would you feel that your life had no meaning?
(I don't want to get into a debate about what evidence would be necessary to disprove God, I simply want to know how people on AB would feel if the 'no God' hypothesis was somehow proven to be true).
If it were 'proved' that God did not exist, would you feel that your life had no meaning?
(I don't want to get into a debate about what evidence would be necessary to disprove God, I simply want to know how people on AB would feel if the 'no God' hypothesis was somehow proven to be true).
Answers
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Keyplus, you haven't changed Birdie's question slightly - you've asked a different question.
//Birdie: who decides who's good and who is evil?//
//Keyplus: who decides what is good and what is bad?//
Do you see the difference?
Rev, our parties have always been held aboard the Ark - but it's so long since we threw one, the cobwebs must be about three feet thick now, so I'll have to get in there with the dusters, the hoover and the polish before we set a date. :o)
//Birdie: who decides who's good and who is evil?//
//Keyplus: who decides what is good and what is bad?//
Do you see the difference?
Rev, our parties have always been held aboard the Ark - but it's so long since we threw one, the cobwebs must be about three feet thick now, so I'll have to get in there with the dusters, the hoover and the polish before we set a date. :o)
-- answer removed --
-- answer removed --
Keyplus – I disagree with your re-wording of my original question because it opens a potentially unpleasant door.
Let's look at your version: “Who decides what is good and what is bad?”. Well, I would say that murder comes under the category of 'bad' (and it is one of the '10 Commandments' [but don't get me started on them...]). But is murder always bad? What if you came home from work one day and found a madman had captured your family and was threatening to kill them? If the only way to save your loved ones was to murder the madman, and you managed to achieve this, would the fact that you have committed murder make you 'bad'? I don't think that it does.
To pin individual acts down into black and white moral absolutes can lead you to believe that a good man is evil because he broke a absolute rule.
And that is exactly what organised religion does. It selectively breaks physical and even mental acts down into individual categories and labels them either 'good' or 'bad'. In that way, religious leaders can incite horrific acts of violence on others by simply stating that 'x' has committed the sin of 'y' and therefore 'z' must happen to 'x'. No further elaboration is required. The absolute sin has been committed and therefore there is no mitigation. People today and throughout history have been killed for the most minor of 'crimes' because someone over a thousand years ago thought that 'y' was a sin and should be punished by death.
Let's look at your version: “Who decides what is good and what is bad?”. Well, I would say that murder comes under the category of 'bad' (and it is one of the '10 Commandments' [but don't get me started on them...]). But is murder always bad? What if you came home from work one day and found a madman had captured your family and was threatening to kill them? If the only way to save your loved ones was to murder the madman, and you managed to achieve this, would the fact that you have committed murder make you 'bad'? I don't think that it does.
To pin individual acts down into black and white moral absolutes can lead you to believe that a good man is evil because he broke a absolute rule.
And that is exactly what organised religion does. It selectively breaks physical and even mental acts down into individual categories and labels them either 'good' or 'bad'. In that way, religious leaders can incite horrific acts of violence on others by simply stating that 'x' has committed the sin of 'y' and therefore 'z' must happen to 'x'. No further elaboration is required. The absolute sin has been committed and therefore there is no mitigation. People today and throughout history have been killed for the most minor of 'crimes' because someone over a thousand years ago thought that 'y' was a sin and should be punished by death.
Continued...
That is why I believe religion (of all denominations) is inherently wicked because it deals in absolutes despite the fact that the human condition is rarely (if ever) black and white. Religion imposes impossible rules and restrictions on people and then punishes them for the sin of being human.
I'll stick to non-believe I think. It's less hassle. And the hours are more flexible.
That is why I believe religion (of all denominations) is inherently wicked because it deals in absolutes despite the fact that the human condition is rarely (if ever) black and white. Religion imposes impossible rules and restrictions on people and then punishes them for the sin of being human.
I'll stick to non-believe I think. It's less hassle. And the hours are more flexible.
Wyzard,
Not exactly answering your question but I believe this poem by Les Barker is relevant to it.
Disaster at Sea - Les Barker
It was a calm, still day in Yarmouth,
The channel clear and wide,
As the last of the timber sailing ships
Sailed out on the evening tide.
They never saw that ship again;
They searched when it was light,
But that fine old timber vessel sank
That clear and peaceful night.
No one knows what happened
On that night in 1910;
But the crew and her cargo of woodpeckers
Were never seen again.
Not exactly answering your question but I believe this poem by Les Barker is relevant to it.
Disaster at Sea - Les Barker
It was a calm, still day in Yarmouth,
The channel clear and wide,
As the last of the timber sailing ships
Sailed out on the evening tide.
They never saw that ship again;
They searched when it was light,
But that fine old timber vessel sank
That clear and peaceful night.
No one knows what happened
On that night in 1910;
But the crew and her cargo of woodpeckers
Were never seen again.
I've found meaning in life contemplating the meaning of life. What I've found is that life without reason is meaningless. Reason provides the means to determine what life is and what it's for, a life that sustains reason and reason that sustains life, promoting the mutual benefits made possible and acquired by appreciating the interdependent nature and essential value of both. Belief in and imposing an incomprehensible mediator only obfuscates the process.
well I was shopping last week and the two muslim men I saw were telling everyone god didnt exist! Only Allah!
That apparently answers the question!
(personally I find it really offensive that their religion is so small minded it cannot accept any one else has different beliefs! It has to be their way or no way at all!)
That apparently answers the question!
(personally I find it really offensive that their religion is so small minded it cannot accept any one else has different beliefs! It has to be their way or no way at all!)
Society – Thanks for the praise. However, I can't in all honesty say that they were entirely my own words. I think I'm paraphrasing from either Richard Dawkins or possibly Christopher Hitchens. I honestly can't remember where the original quote came from but the sentiment stuck in my mind and I like you, found that it accurately sums up the moral absurdity of religion in a very succinct way.
I don’t want to start on this either. But as far as murder in Ten commandments is concerned then I can’t say about that but in the case of your given scenario where I will have to kill someone because that was the only way to save my innocent family from that madman then for me it becomes Jihad (although one of the most misunderstood word now a days) and not murder.
Beso, //The authors of the holy books understood Quantum Mechanics long before Heisenberg and Planck. //
Well, I'm not sure the authors understood it, but it was definitely mentioned in the Koran because Keyplus told me that everything - even things that haven't been discovered yet - is mentioned in the Koran. I'm not quite sure why he hasn't made an absolute fortune from it. ;o)
Keyplus, Jihad is such a convenient word.
Well, I'm not sure the authors understood it, but it was definitely mentioned in the Koran because Keyplus told me that everything - even things that haven't been discovered yet - is mentioned in the Koran. I'm not quite sure why he hasn't made an absolute fortune from it. ;o)
Keyplus, Jihad is such a convenient word.
Keyplus – I fail to see how killing an individual who is threatening to murder your family can be described as Jihad.
You say that Jihad is a misunderstood word and I know that there are several interpretations of it. But surely it never applied in a situation that I have described above.
Jihad literally means war. That is – many people from one country/region/religion fighting many others from a different country/region/religion.
I'm unaware of any description of Jihad that can be applied to one individual killing another in an isolated incident. However, if you can explain why you believe that this is the case I would be most interested to learn.
You say that Jihad is a misunderstood word and I know that there are several interpretations of it. But surely it never applied in a situation that I have described above.
Jihad literally means war. That is – many people from one country/region/religion fighting many others from a different country/region/religion.
I'm unaware of any description of Jihad that can be applied to one individual killing another in an isolated incident. However, if you can explain why you believe that this is the case I would be most interested to learn.
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