Is there a god?

[Kershaw]

I'm not religious, but saying we evolved from fucking tadpoles is an insult to the complexity of the human brain/body.

you realize that evolution is not even up for discussion, right?

it's a fact. that's it. end of discussion.

[cale]

You being offended in no way makes evolution any less true, you need to come to terms with that. If you want to intelligently approach the debate that's one thing, however you seem to want to argue it based on what you think seems right and not what the facts tell us.

[z31maniac]

I'm not religious, but saying we evolved from fucking tadpoles is an insult to the complexity of the human brain/body.

Nope, ID is stupid.

[DatUtahGuy]

Why was this discussion even started? But alas, the way I see it is I do think there is an alien form out there that created everything (God, Allah, Buddah... etc) and he chooses to remain hidden and tells us to be nice to each other and not be complete douch nozzles. Whatever his plan is, I do think he is more powerful/technologically advanced and if he found a way to keep humans alive after death(souls into heaven or hell) then I just want to be on his good side.

I'm not religious, but saying we evolved from fucking tadpoles is an insult to the complexity of the human brain/body.

Treat others as you want to be treated.

/fin

[be34st]

Summing up for me:

I don't think there is a god. I think religion should be actively discouraged and hope that we can see a marked decline in it this century. Main reason is because the only thing religion does is giving people excuses:

It started with an excuse because people didn't know where lightning came from.
Then came an excuse to elevate yourself to a higher position of power.
Now we've got: an excuse to have a bigoted view on things that only effect you in that they make you uncomfortable,
An excuse to not be responsible for the actions in your life,
An excuse not to think but to assume the most retarded shit, and to obstruct science and progress,
An excuse to see other people as less "good",
An excuse to make millions of dollars on the bad shit that happens in other peoples lives,
An excuse to kill and go to war,
An excuse to feel "discriminated against",
An excuse to discriminate (against race, gender,...),
....

An excuse to not be responsible for the actions in your life,
An excuse not to think but to assume the most retarded shit, and to obstruct science and progress,

If only more people thought like this.

[evandael]

the gods of men are man-made.

[Cliche Guevara]

That's news to me. Isn't that unconstitutional under the US constitution?

Yep, Article 6 states that there cannot be a test of faith required for any public office.

[frankenbeemer]

Just found out that there are seven states that have provisions in their constitutions that bar atheists from holding elected office. Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Shouldn't be surprised that they're almost exclusively southern states. Go 'merica!

I think it only applies to the office of Governor in SC. Article 4 section 2. Shameful. I am told it also applies to Notary Public.

That's news to me. Isn't that unconstitutional under the US constitution?

Yes it is. The South Carolina Supreme Court said so in 1997. It remains in the state constitution, however.

[herbivor]

Just found out that there are seven states that have provisions in their constitutions that bar atheists from holding elected office. Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Shouldn't be surprised that they're almost exclusively southern states. Go 'merica!

That's news to me. Isn't that unconstitutional under the US constitution?

[Cliche Guevara]

Just found out that there are seven states that have provisions in their constitutions that bar atheists from holding elected office. Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Shouldn't be surprised that they're almost exclusively southern states. Go 'merica!

[tttoon]

Summing up for me:

I don't think there is a god. I think religion should be actively discouraged and hope that we can see a marked decline in it this century. Main reason is because the only thing religion does is giving people excuses:

It started with an excuse because people didn't know where lightning came from.
Then came an excuse to elevate yourself to a higher position of power.
Now we've got: an excuse to have a bigoted view on things that only effect you in that they make you uncomfortable,
An excuse to not be responsible for the actions in your life,
An excuse not to think but to assume the most retarded shit, and to obstruct science and progress,
An excuse to see other people as less "good",
An excuse to make millions of dollars on the bad shit that happens in other peoples lives,
An excuse to kill and go to war,
An excuse to feel "discriminated against",
An excuse to discriminate (against race, gender,...),
....

[Cliche Guevara]

Any discussion of the effect that religion has on the actions of individuals is irrelevant to the question of whether or not there is a god and is purely red-herring.

[cale]

lol at people still believing getting ride of religion will end all violence/ religion is the root of violence. The base of all religions are a worldview; your beliefs, thoughts, ideas, opinions, etc. But don't these all exist outside of religion anyway? You still have differing beliefs and ideas, which will still lead to violence.

Who here is claiming that removing religion would rid all violence? I don't think anyone here would be so bold as to think that. I think it would remove a lot of conflict though, as well as many other issues. Even when religion keeps primitive societies peaceful (to a degree), it enables them to behave in ways not exactly beneficial to them. Condom's in Africa is a perfect example of this.

"With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. "

I think this sums it up quite well. Religion is an enabling force, it allows people to justify things that without religion probably would not be so easy to swallow. Theists will make the claim that atheism does the same, but criminals who are atheist aren't so because they do not fear persecution from god, they simply do not care about others. They then spin this into "well perhaps with god they wouldn't have done those terrible things", which is absolute bullshit. How many religious people actually hold back doing morally unacceptable things for fear of gods punishment? The Global Peace Index shows us that in fact nations with higher percentages of atheists top the list with more theist populated nations residing at the bottom. Whether or not theists are more violent is another debate all together that has to be looked at country by country, but the stats seem to side with atheists being slightly more peaceful. All I'm saying is that theism is not shown to make people more peaceful, and isn't that one of the major goals of religion?

[z31maniac]

lol at people still believing getting ride of religion will end all violence/ religion is the root of violence. The base of all religions are a worldview; your beliefs, thoughts, ideas, opinions, etc. But don't these all exist outside of religion anyway? You still have differing beliefs and ideas, which will still lead to violence.

My ONLY problem with religion, is those who follow it wanting to impose their lifestyle choices on myself and others.

Stop doing that and I couldn't care less.

[FunfGan]

lol at people still believing getting ride of religion will end all violence/ religion is the root of violence. The base of all religions are a worldview; your beliefs, thoughts, ideas, opinions, etc. But don't these all exist outside of religion anyway? You still have differing beliefs and ideas, which will still lead to violence.