BOHICA

(January 3, 2015 at 9:12 am)Gawdzilla Wrote: BOHICA

And going in dry

This might be interesting.

https://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty...theism.pdf

There is not a lot of evidence, if any, that religion supports a stronger and healthier society.

(January 2, 2015 at 11:44 pm)ronedee Wrote: I am troubled that no one here is vigilant, or even concerned about our ever encroaching, corrupt government. Its just accepted as "progress"!!

In a day and age when there is more and more investigative reporting and more people recording each other (audio and video) and more cynicism and more transparency (often to the chagrin of those who used to take privacy for granted) it may just be that it seems as if things are getting worse. But all it might mean is that the stuff that used to go on in secrecy is much more likely to be brought to light. That's a good thing. But it also can make it seem as if we're suddenly being overwhelmed by bad people doing bad things. No... there have always been bad people doing bad things, but now we catch more of them in the act.

Mind you, I can recall people lamenting the state of the world for as long as I've been alive, and I know that my parents and their parents heard the same. We tend to filter the past through a very different lens than we use to observe the present and guess at the future. So it may simply be natural to worry that things are getting worse and that there is no end in sight because no one cares enough to change it.

(January 3, 2015 at 10:50 am)Natachan Wrote: This might be interesting.

https://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty...theism.pdf

There is not a lot of evidence, if any, that religion supports a stronger and healthier society.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...heist.html

(January 3, 2015 at 4:30 am)Huggy74 Wrote:

(January 2, 2015 at 6:30 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: Consider for a second that often the most secular, least religious societies also tend to be some of the most prosperous financially and socially, and also the happiest.

You can't be serious.

You of all people should realize communism introduced "state atheism" FIDEL....

Go study Stalinist Russian and see how much of a "utopia" it was.

Which part of "often" do you find so challenging?

(January 3, 2015 at 4:30 am)Huggy74 Wrote: You can't be serious.

You of all people should realize communism introduced "state atheism" FIDEL....

Go study Stalinist Russian and see how much of a "utopia" it was.

Can you try to wrap your mind around the terms secular vs atheist? Secular only means, religion keeps it's sticky fingers out of politics, which is how most European governments operate. What it doesn't mean is religion being forbidden.

(January 3, 2015 at 4:30 am)Huggy74 Wrote:

(January 2, 2015 at 6:30 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: Consider for a second that often the most secular, least religious societies also tend to be some of the most prosperous financially and socially, and also the happiest.

You can't be serious.

You of all people should realize communism introduced "state atheism" FIDEL....

Go study Stalinist Russian and see how much of a "utopia" it was.

While he's doing that, you might want to take some remedial English. He didn't say one word about state atheism, but was instead referring to countries like Denmark and Norway, where the society is secular (meaning free of religious influence in societal structures).

Additionally, the GULags of the USSR weren't created in order to punish the religious. They were established in order to punish those who violated Article 58 of the Soviet Consdtitution, which concerned itself with counter-revolution, subversion, treason, and other crimes against the state. Being faithful was not considered one of those crimes.

I looked up atheism in my thesaurus and I came up with the following:

Science
Evolution
Secularism
God haters
Devil worshippers
Big bangers
Atheistic science
Worldview from nothing
Humanist
True atheist
Sceptic
Skeptic
Sckeptic
Guy who doesn't understand spiritual science

(January 3, 2015 at 4:30 am)Huggy74 Wrote: You can't be serious.

You of all people should realize communism introduced "state atheism" FIDEL....

Go study Stalinist Russian and see how much of a "utopia" it was.

Whoa, two examples! I guess Denmark, Sweden, Australia and so on just ceased to exist!