Oh I forgot that he also told her it's selfish to not believe. That one confused me.

(February 9, 2014 at 11:02 pm)Shaggy Wrote: Oh I forgot that he also told her it's selfish to not believe. That one confused me.

If that isn't a compelling argument, I don't know what is.

She probably thinks it's rape if hubby makes her have sex when she doesn't want it. How very selfish of her. Very unchristian.

Selfish? Huh?

Whenever a fundie says "scientifically proven", I ask for the peer review. Although the scientific community has recently shat on that.

There are in fact studies that show specific parts of the brain lighting up in fMRI's when people are having "religious experiences," showing that these experiences share at least something in common. Not surprisingly, the interpretation of what this means is vastly different in the two camps...

I'm not aware of any statistics on happiness per se, most times what is represented is that there are studies showing better health outcomes for the religious than the non-religious. On the other side of the coin, excluding former Soviet bloc countries, on most measures of well-being, people in the more secular countries do better than those in less secular countries. But the research is mixed. The best article I've seen on it was a review by Phil Zuckerman a number of years back.

The part of the brain being referred to is typically called "the God center," and as with most things, is more myth than reality. From the way V.S. Ramachandran describes it, it's more that there are areas of the brain associated with the feelings involved in mystical experiences, not so much specifically relating to God. (Two of them, in fact, in the temporal lobes, iirc. [bilateral symmetry])

Thanks for the insight peeps. That's all pretty much what I was expecting. I was just disappointed I wasn't there when this guy was saying all this, because my wife doesn't call bullshit on people like that.
Seems like no one ever gives me a chance to talk like that.

As you know (*), we only use 10% of our brain. The other 90% are for God, you see?

But more seriously, there is quite some interesting material in Dennett's "Breaking the Spell", and already in Darwin's very own "Descent of Man" discussing the evolutionary origin of religion. In a sense, it is hardwired. In a very particular sense. Of course that don't mean that there is a God

The thing about being selfish for not believing is just a restatement of the old trope that atheists just want to live an immoral life without facing consequences, and therefore don't believe in God. It doesn't make sense, I know, but it is an absolute standard respons.

(*) As in: it's a silly, long disproven urban legend.

(February 9, 2014 at 10:05 pm)Shaggy Wrote: So am I missing something, or is that absolutely ridiculous?

You're not missing anything. I think that as we learn more about our universe and continue to not find god anywhere, theists are shoving god into some metaphysical domain where we will never find him. Be it "heaven" or "within each of us," they will keep god alive as long as possible.

Personally I find it heartening that they're reduced to pushing him out of our existence and into these little pockets of imagination. Yes, it lets them hold on to the illusion longer. But it makes it easier for everyone to see that it is an illusion. And that's a good thing.

Yeah. Heaven wasn't described as a metaphysical place in the old testament. His throne was right on top of the firmament, which was basically a solid roof over the world. He even had to wreck a tower once because of it, though it's unclear if they wanted to go to Heaven, or just the heavens/sky. I mean, why build a city on the ground if you're trying to get to where god is?