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Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Remind us exactly how many religions are circulating in the world right now? Tens of thousands is how many.
Seems perfectly logical to equate religion with delusion my dear Watson.
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 7:11 pm
I know more about how to undermine the Bible than you.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 7:49 pm
(This post was last modified: April 15, 2015 at 7:50 pm by Clueless Morgan.)
Pweaze will you give me a rep?
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 8:05 pm
I have frequently rep'd theists. They are the most valuable asset we have on this site. Those who are articulate, sincere and not here to save souls by any trickery possible are extremely rare. Everyone should make a point of rep'ing all such theists. Without them, we are just talking among ourselves. Nothing wrong with the occasional circle jerk, but once in a while you want someone around to voice the opposing view or to sincerely answer a question that isn't just a set up. Too often they get used like punching dolls for nothing more than disagreeing with us about the existence of gods. The prevaricating missionaries and indignant trolls deserve some abuse. But drive them all out and the site is sterile.
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 8:12 pm
(This post was last modified: April 15, 2015 at 8:16 pm by IATIA.)
(April 15, 2015 at 2:55 pm)Minimalist Wrote: I don't have proof that there are no invisible pink unicorns drinking tequila in my garage at this moment. Are you sure? What made those footprints there in the corner? And who left the cap off the bottle? HUH? Huh?
(April 15, 2015 at 12:47 am)MysticKnight Wrote: How do you know a guiding God doesn't exist?
Because it is impossible and illogical.
You make people miserable and there's nothing they can do about it, just like god.
-- Homer Simpson
God has no place within these walls, just as facts have no place within organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. There are some things we don't want to know. Important things.
-- Ned Flanders
Once something's been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
-- The Rev Lovejoy
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 8:36 pm
(April 15, 2015 at 2:38 pm)MysticKnight Wrote: So you don't have any proof a guiding God doesn't exist but hold firmly that religion is all delusion. Doesn't seem logical.
That's because it isn't logical, as follows:
Given - Belief in the Divine is delusional.
Historically the overwhelming majority of humans have believed in the Divine.
Thus, historically, the overwhelming number of humans have been delusional.
A propensity to delusion is a reproductive disadvantage.
Reproductive disadvantages get bred out of a population.
Therefore, the propensity to believe in the Divine should have been bred out of humanity.
The tendency to believe in the Divine has not been bred out of humanity.
Therefore belief in the Divine is not delusional.
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 8:43 pm
(This post was last modified: April 15, 2015 at 8:44 pm by IATIA.)
(April 15, 2015 at 8:36 pm)Mezmo! Wrote: A propensity to delusion is a reproductive disadvantage. Why would "a propensity to delusion" be a "reproductive disadvantage"? Source, proof, elaboration?
You make people miserable and there's nothing they can do about it, just like god.
-- Homer Simpson
God has no place within these walls, just as facts have no place within organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. There are some things we don't want to know. Important things.
-- Ned Flanders
Once something's been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
-- The Rev Lovejoy
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 8:49 pm
(This post was last modified: April 15, 2015 at 9:22 pm by Whateverist.)
Depends on the delusion. Lets say your tribe shares the delusion that a room full of virgins (yada, yada) await every warrior who dies a martyr for the good of the community. It might be that your tribe demolishes the tribe in which each individual acts rationally for the betterment of himself and his near relatives. Besides those who reproduce the most tend to be the poor and uneducated - the same group most likely to be fundamentalists.
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 9:01 pm
(This post was last modified: April 15, 2015 at 9:03 pm by Faith No More.)
(April 15, 2015 at 8:36 pm)Mezmo! Wrote: A propensity to delusion is a reproductive disadvantage.
What exactly about delusion do you think is a reproductive disadvantage?
Hint: all it takes to reproduce is functional sexual organs.
ETA: I'm thinking you should just avoid talking about evolution altogether. You don't seem to have a grasp of it beyond what you would find at Answers In Genesis.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Dear Theists
April 15, 2015 at 9:16 pm
(This post was last modified: April 15, 2015 at 9:17 pm by Thumpalumpacus.)
(April 15, 2015 at 8:36 pm)Mezmo! Wrote: A propensity to delusion is a reproductive disadvantage.
Except that many delusions stress reproduction as a moral good, and damn those who practice birth control and/or abortion.
Your argument is flawed, and likely fatally.
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