does faith make you a better person?

[Mr Two]

Religion doesnt make you a better person physically, but more mentally for your own self. If that makes sense. Basically you arent doing it for someone else, you are doing it for yourself.

I'd argue the opposite. If someone knows they won't be punished for bad acts or rewarded for good acts in the afterlife because they don't believe in such things, and yet still do good acts and tries to be a good person, are they not better than someone that does good out of fear or hope for a reward of some kind?

[ck_taft325is]

Lots of things wrong here. Only hard line atheism requires "faith", because as stated earlier you cannot prove or disprove something with 100% certainty. It's not a religious doctrine - it literally means the absence of theism.



Care to back up your dismissal of Big Bang Theory? I like how you bolded 'theory' - it shows you have a clear misunderstanding of the word's use in science. Scientific theory =/= hypothesis. Many people seem to hold this misconception when criticizing evolution. A quick search should explain it for you.



This planet was not created in seven days. It's ~4.5 billion years old. Radiometric dating is extremely accurate.



"Expelled" is a horrible attempt at supporting ID as a rational idea.



There's a reason why Lee laughed at you - your claims are completely ridiculous. As he said, you may as well go back to believing in a heliocentric universe.



You don't need faith to believe life is worth living. "...hope, wishes, desires, ambitions, etc" are completely separate from faith. Keep in mind that the use of faith here refers to belief in god.

You're right, there is a difference between "Theory" and "Hypothesis". Apologies for using the wrong word.

I guess whichever side of the table you're sitting on depends how you view the other. I'm not one to dismiss the big bang except for the lack of actual fact, the same as some dismiss the presence of (a) God due to a lack of factual evidence of said God.

I don't see how ID is not a rational idea in terms of the Scientific realm. Care to explain your dismissal of a possible avenue of reasoning in science that current hypothesis' cannot explain? No more so than "crystals" that spawned a certain genetic structure via molecules lining up juuuuust right to create the first cell. Rinse and repeat. How is that not laughable in the slightest. Give me one idea of where it all started at.

When did I say the planet was created in seven days? My issues with the Big Bang are not the Big Bang part. It's the illusion of what preceded the Big Bang. All these researches and studies done on it and not one can point in any GENERAL area (that's not hysterical) of where it all began. I'm not trying to argue Christianity Vs. Atheism, or anything else of that nature.

I'm not against the Big Bang. Just the conclusions that it's where everything began. Logically, this doesn't follow as there was obviously shit there to start the whole thing in motion.

[Farbin Kaiber]

The word "Faith" in the Bible is most commonly a translation of a Hebrew word that is defined as "Believe". It is meant to be an action based word, not a mental thought but a physical action.

The translations from the original text have allowed human interpretation of what it means, but when it was written, it was meant to mean something totally different than what the present day religous strongholds want to you think it is.

[markseven]

You're right, there is a difference between "Theory" and "Hypothesis". Apologies for using the wrong word.

I guess whichever side of the table you're sitting on depends how you view the other. I'm not one to dismiss the big bang except for the lack of actual fact, the same as some dismiss the presence of (a) God due to a lack of factual evidence of said God.

I don't see how ID is not a rational idea in terms of the Scientific realm. Care to explain your dismissal of a possible avenue of reasoning in science that current hypothesis' cannot explain? No more so than "crystals" that spawned a certain genetic structure via molecules lining up juuuuust right to create the first cell. Rinse and repeat. How is that not laughable in the slightest. Give me one idea of where it all started at.

When did I say the planet was created in seven days? My issues with the Big Bang are not the Big Bang part. It's the illusion of what preceded the Big Bang. All these researches and studies done on it and not one can point in any GENERAL area (that's not hysterical) of where it all began. I'm not trying to argue Christianity Vs. Atheism, or anything else of that nature.

I'm not against the Big Bang. Just the conclusions that it's where everything began. Logically, this doesn't follow as there was obviously shit there to start the whole thing in motion.

This is good. :) I like this except for the not against big bang part ;)

The word "Faith" in the Bible is most commonly a translation of a Hebrew word that is defined as "Believe". It is meant to be an action based word, not a mental thought but a physical action.

The translations from the original text have allowed human interpretation of what it means, but when it was written, it was meant to mean something totally different than what the present day religous strongholds want to you think it is.

Farbin, I one is a Christian, the words faith and believe are interchangeable (not grammatically, of course).

[ak-]

Omg, theseeeeee threaaaaaaaaadddddddssssssss.

[ForcedFirebird]

I like the way Albert Einstein put it...

"If you don't believe in a god, and there is no god, what have you lost? Although, if you don't believe and there is such an existence, what do you stand to lose?"

I also find it strange that the self proclaimed "Christians" etc will be the first to go against moral ethics (even though that is my faith, and certainly don't push it on others).

One's relationship with any spiritual being is up to the individual, no one should get in the way of one's beliefs and that is the very reason the Pilgrims colonized the US in the first place.

[E30Nova]

I believe that to have faith is to understand that there is a fundamental order underlying everything in the universe. At some point in the distant past this order was set into motion by what can only be described as God. No amount of religion or science will unlock all the secrets of this order and explain it in terms that can be understood by our feeble minds. No matter what you do, whether you bring world peace, or murder 6 million Jews, this was all determined by forces that are much greater than yourself. Once you realize this and also that there is no possible way to avoid any of it, you can have faith and give yourself up to God so to speak.

That's not faith, that's fate.

Like someone else said, religion is a crutch.



Matt

[hoveringuy]

I like the way George Carlin put it...

"Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it, religion has actually convinced people that there's an INVISIBLE MAN...LIVING IN THE SKY...who watches every thing you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten special things that he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for ever and ever 'til the end of time...but he loves you ...and he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money!"

[E30Kaiser]

I for one believe faith is an extremely personal thing, and I don't even really go to church that often anymore because of that belief.

Despite that let me just respond to the whole "Religion has caused the world untold agony!" argument commonly used. Whether religion was here or not, whether people believed in God or not, the world would still suck and be fucked up. People bring up the Crusades and Spanish inquisition as atrocities caused by religion and the like, however while evil things have been done in the name of religion, it is just a symptom of the evil of man and the way he likes to cover it up with words. For all of these non-secular atrocities committed by people and states, you have plenty of equal or greater examples of agony on the secular side. Communism and the numerous purges and wars fought in its name, same thing for anti-communist movements. There are just as many good deeds done in the name of secular and non-secular ideals as well.

The point is that it isn't religion that is evil, but the fact that man always has to be right, and he is willing to kill the other motherfucker that is arguing with him about it.

As a person of faith I look up to many people of faith as well, such as Ayrton Senna and Ghandi(who was killed partially for believing in religious freedom) and I look up to just as many people of no faith such as Bruce Lee.

As for Charles Darwin...he was a racist, people need to stop hyping him up so much. Evolution is fine, but that isn't exactly just what he was preaching.

[phreshkid]

if no one else believe in jesus, i still will.

[s0urce]

I like the way George Carlin put it...

"Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it, religion has actually convinced people that there's an INVISIBLE MAN...LIVING IN THE SKY...who watches every thing you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten special things that he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for ever and ever 'til the end of time...but he loves you ...and he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money!"

i love this

[Scotaku]

man always has to be right, and he is willing to kill the other motherfucker that is arguing with him about it.

See just about any Internet forum on any subject for evidence; r3v, 'vortex, you name it.

[ACMF74]

the bible/commandments are trying to teach people how to live morally and w/o sin. if you don't like it fine, leave it and don't bash it.

[Massive Lee]

.. there's an INVISIBLE MAN...LIVING IN THE SKY...

Is that a reference to the comedy "The invention of lying"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc79ho-PzeE

[dirty30]

Can someone explain this to me?

If you are tempted by the devil, and you do right by him... why are you punished by him when you get to hell?