Religion Poll

[Farbin Kaiber]

I think the better people understand the concept of infinity, the less religious they are.

The more I understand the infinite, the more religious I become. I'm not trying to fight, in truth, I'm explaining a point of my faith.

[h0lmes]

On the flipside of that. The existence is infinite. So in an infinity, is absolutely impossible for there not to the proper circumstances for life on earth.


I think the better people understand the concept of infinity, the less religious they are.


And the poll left out agnostic.. Which is me!

What do you mean existence is infinite?

[CleanAzzE30z]

The issue is in the "organization", not necessarily the religion.

I belong to the #1 most misunderstood, easily most persecuted "religion" on earth. We offer no organization at all, nor do we believe in heaven or hell.

No one died on any cross to save me from sins I have not committed. My big issue is in fact with the entire concept of original sin...I just don't buy it.

You are my hero. I dont believe in an organization that insists on ruling its followers by guilt. Im agnostic.

Oh, and, IBTehL


Mariano

[davey101]

I guess other. Sorta undecided. Doing hallucinogens kinda changed my outlook on organized religion. There's just too many events that happened in the creation of the universe such that a little rocky planet like earth has just the right rotational speed and orbit around the pefect star to support life for there not to be a god. Just my opinion though.

you mean gravity?

[CleanAzzE30z]

you mean gravity?

w1nnnAr



Mariano

[Midnight Sun]

The more I understand the infinite, the more religious I become. I'm not trying to fight, in truth, I'm explaining a point of my faith.

Totally valid. Personally, I just think in terms of matter and time. For God to exist he would have to be outside of our universe in order to not get destroyed when it collapses and in order to exist before the Big Bang.

It is just interesting to think about the universe, whether you are religious or not.

What do you mean existence is infinite?

I know there are a few different theories floating around, so for the sake of argument lets just say that the fate of the universe is going to be The Big Crunch.


Well, our universe is supposedly ~13 billion years old, with an expected life of about 7 billion more years. Finite numbers, there was a big bang, expansion, and then it collapses on itself. End of time.

But... Suppose after the collapse, there is another Big Bang, it expands, and then collapses on itself. And then again, and again and again and again x10^1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000^100000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000

How many times has a universe existed over the past 100 billion, 200 billion, 100 trillion years? There is no way to ever know. My point is that, on an infinite time line of forever. There is no limit to how many universes could have existed and been destroyed. Maybe just one, maybe thousands. Using this theory, it is impossible for the proper conditions for human life to NOT exist. If the earth has to meet the requirements of one-one thousandths of a billionth of a trillionth percent in order to exist, there are no constraints for how long it would take to form.

Thus negating the argument that "There has to be an influencing hand behind it all, because life cannot be random."
Personally, I don't believe there doesn't HAVE to be a 'Master Architect (eg God)' but there are ways for the universe to exist without a plan.

[h0lmes]

Totally valid. Personally, I just think in terms of matter and time. For God to exist he would have to be outside of our universe in order to not get destroyed when it collapses and in order to exist before the Big Bang.

It is just interesting to think about the universe, whether you are religious or not.




I know there are a few different theories floating around, so for the sake of argument lets just say that the fate of the universe is going to be The Big Crunch.


Well, our universe is supposedly ~13 billion years old, with an expected life of about 7 billion more years. Finite numbers, there was a big bang, expansion, and then it collapses on itself. End of time.

But... Suppose after the collapse, there is another Big Bang, it expands, and then collapses on itself. And then again, and again and again and again x10^1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000^100000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000

How many times has a universe existed over the past 100 billion, 200 billion, 100 trillion years? There is no way to ever know. My point is that, on an infinite time line of forever. There is no limit to how many universes could have existed and been destroyed. Maybe just one, maybe thousands. Using this theory, it is impossible for the proper conditions for human life to NOT exist. If the earth has to meet the requirements of one-one thousandths of a billionth of a trillionth percent in order to exist, there are no constraints for how long it would take to form.

Thus negating the argument that "There has to be an influencing hand behind it all, because life cannot be random."
Personally, I don't believe there doesn't HAVE to be a 'Master Architect (eg God)' but there are ways for the universe to exist without a plan.

Heh, I was expecting you to ramble on about steady state or something. I was going to rip you a new one.

I see what you are saying but one thing that needs to be understood is that time is not independent of the universe, it is a property of the universe. To say that there were other big bangs and big crunches before or after the existence of this universe may not be entirely correct. You see what I am saying?

Infinity is a really crazy subject. I think a lot of people think of infinity as going on forever without boundaries. If you sent a spaceship out to travel the universe, it would just continue to move farther and farther away from Earth forever. When you think about it though, this view makes no sense. With this kind of thinking, there HAS to be boundaries. A better way of thinking of infinity is to view it like a globe. If you were to sail around the earth, you would eventually end up back in the same spot. I think this is the best way to view the universe. If a spaceship was sent out to explore the universe, it would eventually end up back in the same spot.

[OrganicMechanic]

what would you call reason and science?

[1991 318is]

what would you call reason and science?

Maybe a "Logical Positivist".
William James summed up the common elements of all religions as being the belief that there is more than what is defined by ourselves. That part of ourselves is part of this "more" and that it can be experienced by the individual. In Christian terms, the Kingdom of Heaven is a reality unto itself and also lies within.
The belief that it can be known and experienced by the individual without any intermediary such as a church or an embodiment such as Christ, Mohammad, etc. is the core of Gnosticism. An agnostic believes that it cannot be known - the finite mind is incapable of comprehending the infinite.
I think/believe I'm a Gnostic.

[Midnight Sun]

Heh, I was expecting you to ramble on about steady state or something. I was going to rip you a new one.

I see what you are saying but one thing that needs to be understood is that time is not independent of the universe, it is a property of the universe. To say that there were other big bangs and big crunches before or after the existence of this universe may not be entirely correct. You see what I am saying?

Infinity is a really crazy subject. I think a lot of people think of infinity as going on forever without boundaries. If you sent a spaceship out to travel the universe, it would just continue to move farther and farther away from Earth forever. When you think about it though, this view makes no sense. With this kind of thinking, there HAS to be boundaries. A better way of thinking of infinity is to view it like a globe. If you were to sail around the earth, you would eventually end up back in the same spot. I think this is the best way to view the universe. If a spaceship was sent out to explore the universe, it would eventually end up back in the same spot.

Globe... yea... I like to the think of the universe as a bubble.

And yes... I see exactly what you are saying. I do understand time as a property of the universe, I may have been vague about that or not stated it at all. It is really hard for me to propose what is in my brain into actual words though... Ya know?

Here is another thing I often think about. God is everywhere, God is responsible for everything, God is the answer, and God is constant.

Mathematics=God?

[andyman2487]

you mean gravity?

Buy books. You know, the bound paper things with words in them. Try to find some that aren't just full of pictures. Read those books.


And as for the infinite thing, it's only a theory. Not much in cosmology can be proven, and even Einstein was upset with the direction that unified field/string theory is going. And as stated above, time is linked to the universe. It's called the 4th dimension.

[delatlanta1281]

ROB
WTF is going on with these polls!

[ragged325]

I was told that the theory that the universe will crunch back down is not so popular any longer. Supposedly it's believed that it is expanding at increasing rate to the point that eventually we won't be able to see anything but our own galaxy (100 billion years from now).

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-end-of-cosmology

[Midnight Sun]

I was told that the theory that the universe will crunch back down is not so popular any longer. Supposedly it's believed that it is expanding at increasing rate to the point that eventually we won't be able to see anything but our own galaxy (100 billion years from now).

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=...d-of-cosmology

Yea... the big crunch isnt sitting on top anymore. I believe the theory you speak of is called the Big Freeze.

[Sean]

Wow...there's tons of Atheists on here! WOW - guess you guys are headed to Hell! lol

I'm Catholic for what it's worth. :)