Can you be religious yet rational?

Bernhard

Gold Member
Nov 25, 2020
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Berlin, Germany
There are many things about religions I like, such as their goal of encouraging good behavior, spirituality and so on ... but I'm somewhat annoyed when people hold obviously irrational religious beliefs. Lately, I kind of angered a friend when I involuntarily made fun of him claiming he believes in demons "because the Bible says they exist". I felt kind of sorry about that.

I know Christians who practize their faith in a very rational manner, but they don't take every word of the Bible literally. "Don't confuse the Bible with a history book, it's not about historical or scientific accuracy, but about moral and spiritual truths", they say. "It's not God's word, it's a collection of stories written by humans who explain their experiences with God." Fair deal.

Nevertheless, many Christians see it differently and often get in fights with atheists, who turn it into a battle of "science vs. religion". Atheists make fun of Christians who irrationally believe in supernatural phenomena like miracles, angles, spirits, demons and so on -- or a personified, anthropomorphic God. They point to beliefs that obviously contradict scientific evidence, such as creationism.

So, is it possible? Can you truly be rational, respect science, yet be a true believer?

What do you think?
 
Yes, if you are a Vedic polytheist. The ancient Aryans looked at the gods as natural forces, natural forces are rational physics
Fire Agni, Winds Marutas, star sky, Surya-Sun are only the forces of nature.
These are not capricious jealous masters that demanded the slavish submission of wretched slaves
 
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No, you cannot be rational and religious, esp if you are a Christian. Things like the parting of the Red Sea is not rational, and they are empty fables, if God did not do that.

Things like a Devil and a Hell and a Lake of Fire are not rational. They are warnings that a realm of evil exists.

The wise heed the Bible, and the foolish wander around trying to refute the Bible.

I love science, but I don’t see what it matters, except it points to a Creator. That’s what it does for me, and science is a double edged sword.

You can’t tell me why the sky is blue, no one here can. Conversely, you can’t tell me why it isn’t green.
 
Definitely.
Credo quia absurdum
That’s funny, now you are grasping at Latin. How is Christianity absurd? I don’t even need to look that up. That is nothing but garbage.

Ridiculous.


I looked it up so that others would know what it meant. I knew what it meant just glancing at it. I love Latin, and I don’t use it enough.

Here is some: De Oppresso Liber, that’s the motto of the Special Forces, of which I was. member.

I love science and language.
 
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That’s funny, now you are grasping at Latin. How is Christianity absurd?
Are you asking me this? Ask the founding fathers of Christianity, this is how they justified the need for faith. In their opinion, the absurdity of Christianity is a sign of its truth and an argument in its favor.
And if the Christian fathers themselves did not deny the absurdity of Christianity, the question "why is Christianity absurd" is extrim stupidity
 
Yes, if you are a Vedic polytheist. The ancient Aryans looked at the gods as natural forces, natural forces are rational physics
Fire Agni, Winds Marutas, star sky, Surya-Sun are only the forces of nature.
These are not capricious jealous masters that demanded the slavish submission of wretched slaves
The Vedics? So now you are using that as your paradigm for religion?
 
Are you asking me this? Ask the founding fathers of Christianity, this is how they justified the need for faith. In their opinion, the absurdity of Christianity is a sign of its truth and an argument in its favor.
And if the Christian fathers themselves did not deny the absurdity of Christianity, the question "why is Christianity absurd" is extrim stupidity
Who are those Christian fathers, do you mean Paul and Peter, who proclaimed Christ? Or are you referring to Christ Himself? The one that rose from the dead?
 
Who are those Christian fathers, do you mean Paul and Peter, who proclaimed Christ? Or are you referring to Christ Himself? The one that rose from the dead?
This particular thesis belongs to the Christian apologist Tertullian
 
No, you cannot be rational and religious, esp if you are a Christian. Things like the parting of the Red Sea is not rational, and they are empty fables, if God did not do that.

Things like a Devil and a Hell and a Lake of Fire are not rational. They are warnings that a realm of evil exists.

The wise heed the Bible, and the foolish wander around trying to refute the Bible.

I love science, but I don’t see what it matters, except it points to a Creator. That’s what it does for me, and science is a double edged sword.

You can’t tell me why the sky is blue, no one here can. Conversely, you can’t tell me why it isn’t green.
I can. It is the reflection of the ocean and refraction of the sun. The sky has no colour.

God is a myth.
 
Why not. This is religion without obscurantism and speculation
Uh oh, you used the word obscurantism, which is a word that I like.
But I looked it up for everyone, so they will know what is being said.


Only kidding, I had to make sure of myself by looking it up. It means to intentionally obscure a matter.

Speculate? Do you mean in this sense?
To take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence : THEORIZE

Or this way?
1a: to meditate on or ponder a subject : REFLECT

I love to speculate and meditate.
 
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This particular thesis belongs to the Christian apologist Tertullian
Tertullian was a genius and immensely influential and he was a Christian philosopher. He was a Christian father and studied Peter and Paul, but he is not on par with them.

I am not being argumentative, it’s just that a lot of people don’t know the distinction.
 
And what about your Hindu gods?
Hinduism has the same origins as Christianity, there is even the concept of a Trinity. And epic Indian literature contains Abrahamic stories about the salvation of Moses in a basket and so on,
only there are other names. Thanks to political propaganda, commoners mix the Vedic religion with Hinduism and Brahmanism, and the Vedic language with Sanskrit, but in fact it is just
illiteracy
 
Tertullian was a genius and immensely influential and he was a Christian.
Yes, and he defended Сhrimtianism with this fraudulent and stupid sophistry.
Perhaps such argumentation worked on illiterate peoples from among the "poganus". "This is bullshit, so you have to believe it."
 

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