The Islamic theocracy in Iran continues to demonstrate its willingness to murder its own citizens to protect the theocracy they impose on their population.
I don't blame all muslims or all the tenets of Islam, for the actions of the nefarious group in power in Iran. I merely cite their actions as an example of what those who manipulate theism and theists can achieve. I know that there are counter claims from theists about the nefarious actions to be found in secular governments. We need to have sufficient checks and balances against all manipulations of human primal fears, theistic, political and social. — universeness
Science has found truth about the physical universe. There is no Christian chemistry, Islamic chemistry, and Buddhist chemistry. There is just chemistry — Art48
Religion has failed to find truth about the spiritual universe. — Art48
I made my points on page 1At any rate, I'm not sure what you want to discuss ... — Hanover
Well I think finding one's own meaning in one's life is the proper use of one's life. Religion, no matter how its personalistic, is always, in essence, totalitarian – often infantilizing – with it's ready-made, handed down from on high, canonical "meanings".Finding meaning in one's life, for me, is the proper use of religion.
And yet you offer no cite to this ancient doctrine and ignore all the cites set forth in the Wiki article specifically on the point of psychology of religion. — Hanover
What is your stance on mothers and puppies? Are you in favor of those?
Based upon the controversial statements you made about evil, I bet you stand in favor of good things. I just bet you do. — Hanover
Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived for so many generations. — universeness
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. — universeness
He taught that humans are subject to three innate fears: the fear of death, the fear of the destructive forces of nature, and fear associated with suffering and the physical demands of life. — universeness
No, Bert, it bloody well can't! Fear, like every other emotion, is with us to stay - unless you mean science can help us all to become cyborgs. Science can also give, and has given, a lot of brand new reasons for fear — Vera Mont
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
— universeness
And if someone wants both, they can have both. — Vera Mont
You can quote a lot of famous people who share your same opinion, and you all will even be right when assuming that is true - of some people. And famous people, too, like everyone else, can also be wrong. It's an opinion based in their own beliefs. But no generalization is applies to every case. However respected a man may be in some specialized field, he cannot know the experience, perception, motivations and inspirations of a stranger. — Vera Mont
Well I think finding one's own meaning in one's life is the proper use of one's life. Religion, no matter how its personalistic, is always, in essence, totalitarian – often infantilizing – with it's ready-made, handed down from on high, canonical "meanings". — 180 Proof
We can always act with courage when confronting that which we have "reasons for fear" (risk :chin:); it's the lack of "reasons" that paralyzes us with fear (terror), crippling denial and fetishizing infantilizing superstitions (e.g. religion :pray:). Reasoned fears are far more adaptive than the unreasoned fears from the childhood of our species.Science can also give, and has given, a lot of brand new reasons for fear. — Vera Mont
Of the extant major world religions, I don't know of one which is not. Which religion do you mean?What about those that are not? — Hanover
"We embarked on our journey to the stars with a question first formed in the childhood of our species and in each generation asked anew, with undiminished wonder: What are the stars?Carl Sagan again: (I have this quote beside a photo of Carl on my bedroom wall. Geek and proud to be!) — universeness
agree, but I can still challenge them on the 'delusion' part, yes? — universeness
Science WILL offer all sorts of transhumanism in the future and I think science makes many of us fear a lot less. — universeness
To boldly go.... does exemplify a human wish to conquer primal fear. — universeness
Reasoned fears are far more adaptive than the unreasoned fears from the childhood of our species. — 180 Proof
Of the extant major world religions, I don't know of one which is not. Which religion do you mean? — 180 Proof
So far, Hanover, your examples suck. — 180 Proof
Shadowbox with strawmen to your heart's content. — 180 Proof
None of those pretend to be scientific, but are just people, like you, offering their opinions. — Hanover
We can always act with courage when confronting that which we have "reasons for fear" (risk :chin:); it's the lack of "reasons" that paralyzes us with fear (terror), crippling denial and fetishizing infantilizing superstitions (e.g. religion :pray:). Reasoned fears are far more adaptive than the unreasoned fears from the childhood of our species. — 180 Proof
Challenge, sure. But preferably in the same courteous tones you would expect from them. People don't much care for being called liars, sight unknown, life unseen. — Vera Mont
When? Scientific enterprise has been chugging along for 500 years, and yet people are still acting paranoid. Not because they're scared of Nature (primitive people's were not) and fear of death suffering doesn't seem to be any less on this side of the church wall. People are mostly scared of other people, with good reasons and bad ones. Science hasn't made the tiniest dent in that. It has helped us make a lot more people to be afraid of... but then, it's also helped us create the conditions for our own extinction. — Vera Mont
You haven't met any cats or raccoons? — Vera Mont
none of those things alleviate fear. The only thing that does is a sense of personal security: when you know where your next meal is coming from, where you will sleep and who'll be there with you and you don't hear any gunfire or howling wind. We're not scared all the time (except maybe white supremacists), and we need to be scared sometimes. — Vera Mont
But notoriously, science cannot tell us how to live, only expand our options. — unenlightened
Just as one cannot fix a broken heart with a spanner, or even a scalpel. The right tool for that job is love, and the science of love is a disaster worse than any quackery, because you cannot have it, you cannot test it, you cannot repeat it, all you can do is kill it. — unenlightened
The book being promoted here attempts to make a religion of science, and necessarily fails. — unenlightened
You cant love if you are dead! — universeness
Does an image, directly from science, such as 'pale blue dot,' not have any affect on your personal views on how you should live and does it not impact your view of how others should live? — universeness
You have convincing evidence to the contrary?You claim! — unenlightened
but that dot cannot tell me whether to build more rockets or grow more beans. — unenlightened
A scientist is a person, so can measure beauty as all humans can. Just like you are able to measure beauty. Do you agree that such is in the eye of the beholder? When you compare/discuss your measurement and a scientists measurement of the beauty of the pale blue dot image, you may completely agree, mostly agree or agree that one persons meat is another persons poison.It can show me the dot, but not measure the beauty. — unenlightened
Science wins because the magic works. Making wine from grape juice works; making wine from water does not. — unenlightened
Especially when so many of them take certain quotes from people like Aquinas as one of their main purposes in life: — universeness
The speed of advances in science has been incredible and very impressive indeed imo. — universeness
We were always under threat of extinction. 99.9% of all creatures that have ever lived on Earth are extinct, the vast majority of those extinctions have nothing to do with the human race. — universeness
It can show us real pictures like pale blue dot and by doing so, demonstrate to us that we are indeed one little planet and one species that needs to globally unite. — universeness
Science and secular humanism is trying to achieve the protections we all want and I have more confidence that they will succeed, compared to the solution of pointing a Christian cross and a bible at our problems alongside praying for a nonexistent god to intervene. — universeness
I hoped you would at least use discernment: attack only those who are have done harm to you or someone who didn't deserve to to be harmed. I hoped you would give individuals the benefit of a doubt; judge them by their words and actions, not a label you've stuck on them. — Vera Mont
Sure. We can now ensure the death of everything on Earth in fifteen minutes flat. Of course, many creatures would take considerably longer to actually die. — Vera Mont
This one does. And I thought the benefits of science should include preventing extinction, not insuring it. — Vera Mont
Those pictures have been seen since since 1959. How many voluntary international unions have taken place since than, and how many divisions? — Vera Mont
We'll send out lots of space probes with friendly messages and maybe the advanced aliens will come and save us from ourselves.
They both sound like the same kind of wishful thinking in the teeth of all evidence. — Vera Mont
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