Do you believe in Noahs Ark?

Then exercise your God given gift of free will and choose not to believe it, but in doing, do try not to shit on the faith of 2.1 billion people.

What's wrong with criticism of a religion?

Absolutely nothing. As I stated before, I minored in Religious studies. The criticism of faith is where I have a problem.

Why? Is it because it's touchy, takes too long to defend,or is it that it seems mean or hypocritical to attack faith? I'd like to know.
 
What's wrong with criticism of a religion?

Absolutely nothing. As I stated before, I minored in Religious studies. The criticism of faith is where I have a problem.

Why? Is it because it's touchy, takes too long to defend,or is it that it seems mean or hypocritical to attack faith? I'd like to know.


Im a bit afraid to post in this thread.....but maybe its due to the personal , close feelings that believers have in their faith.

To them , it is not unlike questioning their love for their child......asked to prove why they love their child , or any other # of un-answerable questions.
 
Then exercise your God given gift of free will and choose not to believe it, but in doing, do try not to shit on the faith of 2.1 billion people.

What's wrong with criticism of a religion?

Absolutely nothing. As I stated before, I minored in Religious studies. The criticism of faith is where I have a problem.

One problem is we haven't defined faith here - probably because the topic was more specific than that, but it is true that belief or disbelief in Christianity hinges upon it.

I agree with George H. Smith that, "Faith is belief without, or in spite of, reason." The pertinent one from dictionary.com would be, "belief that is not based on proof." The main difference between these definitions is the second one is more tactful. Sure faith and reason can coexist in the same mind being applied in different situations. But they cannot be applied at the same time to the same thing because they are mutually exclusive. That is, unless you have a better definition.

If a large number of people believe in something without reason or evidence, we call it a religion. But they know that every other religion is delusion to some degree. If a smaller number of people believe in something without reason or evidence, we call it a cult, and they believe the rest of the world follows delusions. If one person believes in something without reason or evidence, we call them delusional and they call everybody else delusional. How can we decide who is right? History would suggest that it's not democratically determined. Ad poplum is fallacy for a reason.

It comes back to a very basic question. How do we gain knowledge about anything? Do we make a guess and stick to it? Do we take somebody else's guess and stick to it? Do we rely upon what the voices in our head to tell us? Or do we seek evidence where it can be found? Which approach has served us best? Evidence is required for knowledge. The scientific method is an approach that seems to have caused an exponential rise in our ability to manipulate our world to suit our needs. People don't need to have faith in the scientific method because evidence suggests it works.

Thinking about these and other questions, it seems to me faith itself might be one of the major problems of the world that inhibit progress and cause suffering.

“What is happiness? The feeling that power increases - that resistance is being overcome” -Friedrich Nietzsche
 
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Absolutely nothing. As I stated before, I minored in Religious studies. The criticism of faith is where I have a problem.

Why? Is it because it's touchy, takes too long to defend,or is it that it seems mean or hypocritical to attack faith? I'd like to know.


Im a bit afraid to post in this thread.....but maybe its due to the personal , close feelings that believers have in their faith.

To them , it is not unlike questioning their love for their child......asked to prove why they love their child , or any other # of un-answerable questions.

Proving you love your child wouldnt be that hard to do, because its not a stretch to believe that you do love your child. The more outrageous the claim, the more proof is required to back that claim up.

If i told you i had an invisible dragon in my garage that you cant see, hear, taste, feel or smell, you would think im out of my mind, and it would require an amazing amount of proof for me to convince you im telling the truth. If i told you i ate eggs for breakfast, you would probably just take my word for it and more proof wouldnt be necessary. The story in your bible is an outlandish tale that should require tons of proof, yet for some reason you guys just go ahead and believe in that with no proof at all. When else in your life do you freely do away with all common sense and logic? This is the part that bothers me about religion, and its this blind faith that makes some people do crazy things, like blowing themselves up, so they can go to heaven where 30 virgins are waiting for them.

This idea that religion is just about love and peace is not true. Religious people do crazy shit and have crazy beliefs, and the fact that these beliefs guide the decisions people make, it effects me and everyone else in the world, so i dont want to hear people tell me that i should just let everyone believe whatever they want and not complain when i think they are wrong.
 
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If i told you i had an invisible dragon in my garage that you cant see, hear, taste, feel or smell, you would think im out of my mind, and it would require an amazing amount of proof for me to convince you im telling the truth. If i told you i ate eggs for breakfast, you would probably just take my word for it and more proof wouldnt be necessary. The story in your bible is an outlandish tale that should require tons of proof, yet for some reason you guys just go ahead and believe in that with no proof at all. When else in your life do you freely do away with all common sense and logic? This is the part that bothers me about religion, and its this blind faith that makes some people do crazy things, like blowing themselves up, so they can go to heaven where 30 virgins are waiting for them.

I meant how the feeling of faith (and love) is tied to their heart....not their head..... You read what you wanted.....

And love...like faith...is something people want to defend.....so get used to it. Its no different than someone gettin all fired up when someone says their favorite team sucks at sport. Logic is out the window....and the heart is ruling the game.


Lemme ask you something....please.

Do you believe the moon exists???

Do you believe we (humans) landed on the moon via a spacecraft and set foot there on the surface of the moon???
 
I meant how the feeling of faith (and love) is tied to their heart....not their head..... You read what you wanted.....

The heart pumps blood, and any thoughts or emotions humans have come from the brain. Not sure what your point is there, and im not trying to be a smart ass. It seemed like you were making a comparison of faith and love and how they cant be proven, but love can be proven in most situations when you are talking about peoples children. You wont be able to convince me that theres a galactic overlord named Xenu, but you can convince me that you love your children, because its not a stretch to believe it.
 
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Lemme ask you something....please.

Do you believe the moon exists???

Do you believe we (humans) landed on the moon via a spacecraft and set foot there on the surface of the moon???

Yes, without a doubt, we landed on the moon and the moon exists.
 
I meant how the feeling of faith (and love) is tied to their heart....not their head..... You read what you wanted.....

The heart pumps blood, and any thoughts or emotions humans have come from the brain. Not sure what your point is there, and im not trying to be a smart ass. It seemed like you were making a comparison of faith and love and how they cant be proven, but love can be proven in most situations when you are talking about peoples children. You wont be able to convince me that theres a galactic overlord named Xenu, but you can convince me that you love your children, because its not a stretch to believe it.

Well....I think the difference is that....some might believe these "feelings" stem from the soul (figurative heart).....not the brain. So....if you dont believe you have a soul , or that people posses souls....then you cant believe in faith.
 
I meant how the feeling of faith (and love) is tied to their heart....not their head..... You read what you wanted.....

The heart pumps blood, and any thoughts or emotions humans have come from the brain. Not sure what your point is there, and im not trying to be a smart ass. It seemed like you were making a comparison of faith and love and how they cant be proven, but love can be proven in most situations when you are talking about peoples children. You wont be able to convince me that theres a galactic overlord named Xenu, but you can convince me that you love your children, because its not a stretch to believe it.

Well....I think the difference is that....some might believe these "feelings" stem from the soul (figurative heart).....not the brain. So....if you dont believe you have a soul , or that people posses souls....then you cant believe in faith.

Asserting the existence of souls would require faith at this point, not the other way around. Though while I don't think it's impossible for the soul to exist in some sense, I do think it's impossible for the God of Christianity to exist due to a lack of internal consistency.
 
Lemme ask you something....please.

Do you believe the moon exists???

Do you believe we (humans) landed on the moon via a spacecraft and set foot there on the surface of the moon???

Yes, without a doubt, we landed on the moon and the moon exists.

Me too , even though I've never set foot on it.....I've never met another man that has set foot on it...for all I know , the whole landing could have been staged.

But I believe.
 
I meant how the feeling of faith (and love) is tied to their heart....not their head..... You read what you wanted.....

The heart pumps blood, and any thoughts or emotions humans have come from the brain. Not sure what your point is there, and im not trying to be a smart ass. It seemed like you were making a comparison of faith and love and how they cant be proven, but love can be proven in most situations when you are talking about peoples children. You wont be able to convince me that theres a galactic overlord named Xenu, but you can convince me that you love your children, because its not a stretch to believe it.

Well....I think the difference is that....some might believe these "feelings" stem from the soul (figurative heart).....not the brain. So....if you dont believe you have a soul , or that people posses souls....then you cant believe in faith.

If you were correct about emotions coming from the soul, then people with severe brain damage would still laugh, cry, get scared, get excited, etc. all at the right time. Meaning, if they are watching a person get eaten alive by lions and they are laughing with a glazed look in their eyes, obviously your emotions have become damaged from your severe brain injury. Emotions do NOT come from the soul.
 
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The heart pumps blood, and any thoughts or emotions humans have come from the brain. Not sure what your point is there, and im not trying to be a smart ass. It seemed like you were making a comparison of faith and love and how they cant be proven, but love can be proven in most situations when you are talking about peoples children. You wont be able to convince me that theres a galactic overlord named Xenu, but you can convince me that you love your children, because its not a stretch to believe it.

Well....I think the difference is that....some might believe these "feelings" stem from the soul (figurative heart).....not the brain. So....if you dont believe you have a soul , or that people posses souls....then you cant believe in faith.

Asserting the existence of souls would require faith at this point, not the other way around. Though while I don't think it's impossible for the soul to exist in some sense, I do think it's impossible for the God of Christianity to exist due to a lack of internal consistency.

I'm just up late chatting....Lol. I am merely trying to explain why someone would defend their "Faith".....nothing else. I am not one to judge God....question his methods....or even try to fathom what happened thousands of years ago....Lol.

I do believe it goes either way....
 
Lemme ask you something....please.

Do you believe the moon exists???

Do you believe we (humans) landed on the moon via a spacecraft and set foot there on the surface of the moon???

Yes, without a doubt, we landed on the moon and the moon exists.

Me too , even though I've never set foot on it.....I've never met another man that has set foot on it...for all I know , the whole landing could have been staged.

But I believe.

You believe because you can look up at the sky at night and see it for yourself. You can also look through a telescope and see it even closer. You can also find thousands upon thousands of video and pictures of it online. There is ample proof that the moon exists, therefore its easy enough to believe in it. The same cant be said about religion, so the comparison isnt appropriate.
 
The heart pumps blood, and any thoughts or emotions humans have come from the brain. Not sure what your point is there, and im not trying to be a smart ass. It seemed like you were making a comparison of faith and love and how they cant be proven, but love can be proven in most situations when you are talking about peoples children. You wont be able to convince me that theres a galactic overlord named Xenu, but you can convince me that you love your children, because its not a stretch to believe it.

Well....I think the difference is that....some might believe these "feelings" stem from the soul (figurative heart).....not the brain. So....if you dont believe you have a soul , or that people posses souls....then you cant believe in faith.

If you were correct about emotions coming from the soul, then people with severe brain damage would still laugh, cry, get scared, get excited, etc. all at the right time. Meaning, if you are watching a person get eaten alive by lions and you are laughing with a glazed look in your eyes, obviously your emotions have become damaged from your severe brain injury. Emotions do NOT come from the soul.

Well....I dont think most people would say their "Faith" is an emotion. But better yet....an understanding or deep belief from within their soul. Who says love is an emotion?? Who says Faith is an Emotion??
 
Well....I think the difference is that....some might believe these "feelings" stem from the soul (figurative heart).....not the brain. So....if you dont believe you have a soul , or that people posses souls....then you cant believe in faith.

If you were correct about emotions coming from the soul, then people with severe brain damage would still laugh, cry, get scared, get excited, etc. all at the right time. Meaning, if you are watching a person get eaten alive by lions and you are laughing with a glazed look in your eyes, obviously your emotions have become damaged from your severe brain injury. Emotions do NOT come from the soul.

Well....I dont think most people would say their "Faith" is an emotion. But better yet....an understanding or deep belief from within their soul. Who says love is an emotion?? Who says Faith is an Emotion??

I wasnt talking about faith, i was responding to your post when you said...

some might believe these "feelings" stem from the soul

...and i believe i have proven that to be a false statement. Well, the statement might be true that people believe it, but i have proven that they would be wrong about it.
 
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I dont believe they are thought of (in a believers mind) to be earth bound or bodily "Feelings"...therefore....not the standard emotion ie crying , laughing , anger , etc

I'm not arguing your position....just trying to give you some insight into what someone is thinking when they say " I have faith".

It is not of the body.....to them.
 
I'm not arguing your position....just trying to give you some insight into what someone is thinking when they say " I have faith".

Fair enough.
 
It's a faith thing, no proof is required. :tongue:

Thats precisely the reason people dont buy into the things you claim happened. You make no attempt to prove any of these things, nor do you seem to have the desire to try, so you lose all credibility.

Since 84% of the world's population practice faith in some form, I would say that it doesn't really matter whether or not you buy into it. You are in a very small minority junior. Get over it.

That is the logical fallacy called "appeal to popularity". It's like the bumper sticker I saw that said "eat shit - 200 million flies can't be wrong"
 
If being in the minority means i dont believe whole heartedly in something that is based off of crazy ancient writings, so be it.

I get slammed for saying this, but I don't care... I don't think too hard about things and I'm happy most of the time. I'd rather be happy and dumb than smart and unhappy. Srsly. Is being so smart and superior making you happy? I hope it is.

I look around everyday and I see evidence of God, that's enough for me. I sincerely wish you peace and happiness.

I have no problem with people having faith in whatever they believe. The problem arises when someone claims their faith to be fact that trumps the beliefs (or facts) of everyone else. That is how wars start and why people fly airplanes into buildings.

If you want to believe that a deity is controlling us all and that makes you happy, then I applaud you. We need more happy people on this planet.
 

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