Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: December 9, 2024, 3:15 pm

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
(August 5, 2013 at 5:28 pm)Rahul Wrote:
(August 5, 2013 at 2:59 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: Instability is why the atom decays, it isn't the cause of the atom's decay. If your house is unstable, the storm or whatever that brings it down is still the cause of its collapse.

It decayed because it's unstable.

Unstable: prone to change or fail. Saying something decayed because it's unstable is like saying something is tall because of the amount of height it possesses. It's not an actual explanation.

(August 5, 2013 at 5:28 pm)Rahul Wrote: In unstable nuclei the strong nuclear forces do not generate enough binding energy to hold the nucleus together permanently.

It's pretty likely that in a stable nuclei the strong nuclear forces do not generate enough binding energy to hold the nucleus together permanently either. Permanently is a very long time.

(August 5, 2013 at 5:28 pm)Rahul Wrote: The nucleus is electrically neutral in a stable nucleus. It contains an equal number of positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons and their charges balance.

So an electrically neutral nucleus never spontaneously decays...oh, wait: Tritium consists of two neutrons, one proton, and one electron. It's electrically neutral...and radioactive, with a half-life between 12 and 13 years. Hydrogen 4, 5, 6, and 7 are all electrically neutral, and increasingly radioactive. They all contain one proton.

(August 5, 2013 at 5:28 pm)Rahul Wrote: Strong nuclear force does not have enough energy to bind together an electrically positive or negative atom. That's just electricity. That's not some mystical black box.

I agree it's not mystical. Why does electrically neutral tritium decay, then? Note that it's not the only example of an unstable electrically neutral nucleus, just the least complicated.

(August 5, 2013 at 5:28 pm)Rahul Wrote: It's about as baffling as how a Seesaw works.

A superficial understanding tends in the direction of thinking things are simpler than they really are.

(August 5, 2013 at 5:28 pm)Rahul Wrote: Radioactive decay is a stochastic (i.e., random) process at the level of single atoms, in that, according to quantum theory, it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay.[1] However, the chance that a given atom will decay is constant over time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay

The above is correct and what everyone who disagrees with you has been saying all along. Do you think see-saws operate stochastically?
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
Well I'm not going to talk out of my ass. And if I tried to argue this point I would be talking out of my ass. Because, you're correct, I do only have a superficial understanding of physics. I have read a few physics books that were written in layman terms so non-specialists could understand it.

But that's all I got.

So I will concede this discussion and admit that I don't really understand enough to continue.
Everything I needed to know about life I learned on Dagobah.
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
Quote:Unless you can prove it is impossible for God to exist, I'll stick with mine

Last night the virgin mary appeared to me and gave me a blow job. Prove she didn't.

(And she ain't a "virgin" anymore, either.)
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
We're proving negatives?

Sweet. I don't think anyone has been able to do that yet.
Everything I needed to know about life I learned on Dagobah.
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
(August 6, 2013 at 4:12 pm)Rahul Wrote: Well I'm not going to talk out of my ass. And if I tried to argue this point I would be talking out of my ass. Because, you're correct, I do only have a superficial understanding of physics. I have read a few physics books that were written in layman terms so non-specialists could understand it.

But that's all I got.

So I will concede this discussion and admit that I don't really understand enough to continue.

That's a relief, if we got much farther, I'd be in the same boat. My understanding is just deep enough to start to appreciate the complexities involved. I don't know the math, for instance. A high school physics teacher is more qualified than me, but I promise it was my best effort.
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
Gather round my little atheist friends... Explain these miracles:

Father Hubert Schiffer, S.J.
and
The Protective Shield of Our Lady of Fatima

1. Father Hubert Schiffer, who was born in Germany in 1915, was one of the total of four Jesuit Priests who survived the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

2. He was only eight blocks away from ground zero when the explosion occurred.

3. Father Hubert Shiffer was 30 when the atomic bomb exploded at Hiroshima. He lived another 33 years in good health.

4. Father Shiffer recounted his experiences at Hiroshima during the Eucharistic Congress held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1976. At that time, all four members of the Jesuit Rectory were still living.


Father Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.

5. Father Shiffer also recounted his experiences at Hiroshima to Father Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.. Father Ruge has said that he met Father Schiffer sometime in the late 1970’s at the Tri-City Airport in Saginaw, Michigan when Father Shiffer was going to give a talk at the Blue Army Novena/Triduum. As he chauffeured Father Shiffer around, Father Shiffer told him stories about his life, especially about the atomic explosion at Hiroshima.

6. Here is a brief summary of Father Hubert Schiffer’s amazing experiences at Hiroshima, Japan as he recounted them to Father Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.:

a. On the Feast Day of the Transfiguration, Monday, August 6, 1945, Father Hubert Shiffer had offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Church which was dedicated to “Our Lady of the Assumption.”
b. After Mass, Father Shiffer went to the Rectory which was next to the Church. He went into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast table. He had sliced a grapefruit and had just put his spoon into the grapefruit when there was a bright flash of light. His first thought was that it was an explosion in the harbor because it was a major port where the Japanese refueled their submarines.

c. Father Shiffer is quoted as saying:

“Suddenly, a terrific explosion filled the air with one bursting thunderstroke. An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me 'round and 'round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind.”
d. The next thing he remembered, he opened his eyes and he was laying on the ground. He looked around and there was nothing in any direction. The railroad station and the buildings in all directions were leveled to the ground.
e. The only physical harm to himself was that he could feel a few pieces of glass in the back of his neck.

f. As far as he could tell, there was nothing else physically wrong with him although many thousands were killed or maimed by the explosion.

g. After the conquest by the Americans, the American army doctors and scientists explained to him that his body would begin to deteriorate because of the radiation. Many of the Japanese people had blisters and sores from the radiation. But, to the doctors amazement, Father Schiffer's body contained no radiation or ill-effects from the Atom bomb.

h. Speaking on American TV, the German Jesuit Priest, Father Hubert Schiffer, S.J., explained whey he felt that he received a protective shield from Our Blessed Mother which protected him from all radiation and ill-effects. Father Schiffer attributed this to his devotion to the Blessed Mother and to his daily Rosary and to living the Message of Fatima, a.k.a. God's Peace Plan, which Our Lady of Fatima gave to Catholics:
"In that house, the Rosary was recited together every day. In that house we were living the Message of Fatima".

--------------------------------------------------------

And theres more! Like: the church STANDING in the devastation around it, and rectory the ONLY wooden structure to survive the blast, etc. ETC...

http://www.shrineofsaintjude.net/home1345.html
Quis ut Deus?
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
(August 6, 2013 at 11:21 pm)ronedee Wrote: Gather round my little atheist friends... Explain these miracles:

Father Hubert Schiffer, S.J.
and
The Protective Shield of Our Lady of Fatima

1. Father Hubert Schiffer, who was born in Germany in 1915, was one of the total of four Jesuit Priests who survived the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

2. He was only eight blocks away from ground zero when the explosion occurred.

3. Father Hubert Shiffer was 30 when the atomic bomb exploded at Hiroshima. He lived another 33 years in good health.

4. Father Shiffer recounted his experiences at Hiroshima during the Eucharistic Congress held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1976. At that time, all four members of the Jesuit Rectory were still living.
There were non-Catholic survivors even closer to the center of the blast in Hiroshima.
Eiko Taoka and nine other people survived in a streetcar which was 750 meters from ground zero.
Akiko Takakura, was in a bank 300 meters away from the blast.
Eizo Nomura survived just 170 meters away from the blast, in the basement of the Hiroshima Prefecture Fuel Rationing Union.
Quote:
Father Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.

5. Father Shiffer also recounted his experiences at Hiroshima to Father Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.. Father Ruge has said that he met Father Schiffer sometime in the late 1970’s at the Tri-City Airport in Saginaw, Michigan when Father Shiffer was going to give a talk at the Blue Army Novena/Triduum. As he chauffeured Father Shiffer around, Father Shiffer told him stories about his life, especially about the atomic explosion at Hiroshima.

6. Here is a brief summary of Father Hubert Schiffer’s amazing experiences at Hiroshima, Japan as he recounted them to Father Paul Ruge, O.F.M.I.:

a. On the Feast Day of the Transfiguration, Monday, August 6, 1945, Father Hubert Shiffer had offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Church which was dedicated to “Our Lady of the Assumption.”
b. After Mass, Father Shiffer went to the Rectory which was next to the Church. He went into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast table. He had sliced a grapefruit and had just put his spoon into the grapefruit when there was a bright flash of light. His first thought was that it was an explosion in the harbor because it was a major port where the Japanese refueled their submarines.

c. Father Shiffer is quoted as saying:

“Suddenly, a terrific explosion filled the air with one bursting thunderstroke. An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me 'round and 'round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind.”
d. The next thing he remembered, he opened his eyes and he was laying on the ground. He looked around and there was nothing in any direction. The railroad station and the buildings in all directions were leveled to the ground.
e. The only physical harm to himself was that he could feel a few pieces of glass in the back of his neck.

f. As far as he could tell, there was nothing else physically wrong with him although many thousands were killed or maimed by the explosion.

g. After the conquest by the Americans, the American army doctors and scientists explained to him that his body would begin to deteriorate because of the radiation. Many of the Japanese people had blisters and sores from the radiation. But, to the doctors amazement, Father Schiffer's body contained no radiation or ill-effects from the Atom bomb.

h. Speaking on American TV, the German Jesuit Priest, Father Hubert Schiffer, S.J., explained whey he felt that he received a protective shield from Our Blessed Mother which protected him from all radiation and ill-effects. Father Schiffer attributed this to his devotion to the Blessed Mother and to his daily Rosary and to living the Message of Fatima, a.k.a. God's Peace Plan, which Our Lady of Fatima gave to Catholics:
"In that house, the Rosary was recited together every day. In that house we were living the Message of Fatima".

--------------------------------------------------------

And theres more! Like: the church STANDING in the devastation around it, and rectory the ONLY wooden structure to survive the blast, etc. ETC...

http://www.shrineofsaintjude.net/home1345.html

I see no miracles here.
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
(August 6, 2013 at 11:21 pm)ronedee Wrote: Gather round my little atheist friends... Explain these miracles:

Simple answer? He got lucky. Sometimes, people do; if you want to prove a miracle, then you actually need to prove a miracle, not just point to something unlikely and go "see? see?"

Incidentally, there were non-Catholics closer to the blast that survived too: there was no special protection extended here. Take a look:

[Image: tsutomu.jpg]

Meet Tsutomu Yamaguchi: He survived both the atomic blasts.

Eizo Nomura- of whom I could not find a picture- was almost directly beneath the blast that supposedly needed your god to protect people from. He survived, just by being in a basement.

Maybe do some research next time, huh?

EDIT: Oh, dang. Chas got there before me. Tongue
"YOU take the hard look in the mirror. You are everything that is wrong with this world. The only thing important to you, is you." - ronedee

Want to see more of my writing? Check out my (safe for work!) site, Unprotected Sects!
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
I didn't feel like doing the research, but I knew there were other non-catholic survivors. One could say that there were more Shinto survivors than Catholic ones...perhaps the Gods of Shintoism are more miraculous than Yahweh!
[Image: 10314461_875206779161622_3907189760171701548_n.jpg]
Reply
RE: Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism
Not to mention this Shinto Shrine still standing.

[Image: nagasaki-1945.jpg]

It take so little to impress a fucking jesus freak.
Reply



Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Three in five British adults say miracles are possible zebo-the-fat 15 2489 September 30, 2018 at 2:32 pm
Last Post: Pat Mustard
  Miracles in Christianity - how to answer KiwiNFLFan 89 21346 December 24, 2017 at 3:16 am
Last Post: Nay_Sayer
  Satan, anti-christ, false prophet vorlon13 43 9710 November 14, 2017 at 12:06 pm
Last Post: Harry Nevis
  How does "Science prove that the miracles of the Bible did not happen" ? Emzap 62 13533 November 4, 2016 at 2:05 am
Last Post: dyresand
  Question for the anti's.......? ronedee 57 7519 March 12, 2016 at 2:54 pm
Last Post: Nihilist Virus
  Is Christianity responsible for anti gay bigotry? 1994Californication 35 8595 March 12, 2016 at 7:48 am
Last Post: Panatheist
  Anti-christ? wolfclan96 225 40890 August 20, 2015 at 3:50 pm
Last Post: Redbeard The Pink
  Jesus' imperfect miracles. Brakeman 32 7958 June 25, 2015 at 4:29 pm
Last Post: robvalue
  An Anti-Gay Preacher In My Hometown Was Busted On Grindr Faith No More 50 15953 May 25, 2015 at 8:55 pm
Last Post: Cyberman
Rainbow Bloody miracles from a bloody cult. Bob Kelso 22 5438 March 26, 2015 at 11:24 am
Last Post: KevinM1



Users browsing this thread: 7 Guest(s)