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What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
#11
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
(December 11, 2015 at 5:13 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Meh, time.  For example..one day, the believers of -X- will look back on your barbaric religion and scoff at you for having ever believed it to begin with.   There will still be folks like me, too, reminding those new believers that their shit is the same old shit as your shit was.

That's awfully pessimistic. I don't think there's any place for religion in the future. Some other exotic forms of perceived irrationality, sure, but religion - not likely. In this century alone, science will very likely transform our world beyond recognition. Basically, my guess would be the whole world will be like Western Europe in this regard not very far in the future. Religion will die a quick death at the hands of sudden changes in society that can be expected to happen due to various transformative technologies that may very well not only change how we live, but how we think as well.
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#12
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
(December 11, 2015 at 5:24 pm)Evie Wrote:
(December 11, 2015 at 5:10 pm)SteveII Wrote: If 90% of the world believes in God and 31% (and growing) are Christians, it seems that your "there is no evidence for God" theme is not getting out.

That's irrelevant. It doesn't matter how many people believe in God, that doesn't change the fact that the evidence is absent.

Is it really so ridiculous to claim that there's almost certainly no evidence for God until it is provided? And that the whole "God" claim is absurd and requires absurd amounts of evidence and it doesn't even have any? Would you think it was ridiculous for me to say the same of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

I know that is your favorite tune. But that is not the topic of this thread.
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#13
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
You are the one who mentioned it. See what I quoted.
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#14
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
As long as there's space between our ears there will be space for gods Peng.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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#15
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
(December 11, 2015 at 5:17 pm)Amine Wrote: I think the arguments of both sides are evolving. New atheism was hugely effective, and now religious people are, predictably, responding by trying to adapt and come up with better arguments (or at least learn the arguments) for their position. Well, our side is adapting too. Atheists are also figuring out which arguments are good and bad, which approaches work or don't. In the end I think we will move slowly, in a see-saw pattern, toward the truth as long as open dialog continues to be permitted (which we are in some danger of, given the PC crisis).
There's nothing I despise more than PC retards. And there's a fair amount of them here too, albeit they are more likely to be dissuaded from the bullshit this culture of offensiveness indoctrinated them with.
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#16
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
(December 11, 2015 at 5:24 pm)SteveII Wrote:
(December 11, 2015 at 5:17 pm)Amine Wrote: I think the arguments of both sides are evolving. New atheism was hugely effective, and now religious people are, predictably, responding by trying to adapt and come up with better arguments (or at least learn the arguments) for their position. Well, our side is adapting too. Atheists are also figuring out which arguments are good and bad, which approaches work or don't. In the end I think we will move slowly, in a see-saw pattern, toward the truth as long as open dialog continues to be permitted (which we are in some danger of, given the PC crisis).

How are any of the arguments evolving in say the last 50 years? These arguments have been debated for centuries.

I would say people's arguments are evolving.
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#17
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
(December 11, 2015 at 5:32 pm)Rhythm Wrote: As long as there's space between our ears there will be space for gods Peng.

Again, not likely.

For one, we might very well achieve immortality during our lifetimes. (I'm not saying this will definitely happen, but there's a chance that it will.)The whole notion of God therefore will become completely irrelevant.

For another, we might achieve the means to substantially increase our intelligence, by studying the human brain and figuring out what makes it tick. It might happen through pharmaceutical means, nanotechnology, A.I., etc. It's hard to imagine with an I.Q. of 2743 one would believe ridiculous things on insufficient evidence.

Or we might create incredibly authentic virtual realities which we would inhabit for so long that it would become an essential part of what it means to be human. In these realities, it's not hard to imagine how much power and freedom one would have to control their own worlds. They would become Gods, essentially. That wouldn't really fit with believing in one at the same time.

Or, and this is the most terrifying prospect in all possible future scenarios, we might actually create God, and not just in our heads. It's unlikely that ASI would be content with sharing the world with us, or let us control it for that matter. This would be a real God, maybe not in the classical sense, but a god nonetheless.
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#18
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
I don't really see any of those things eliminating peoples beliefs in god, or stopping them from inventing new ones, as we've been doing for centuries, hell, as we do today every minute of every day.  

I'm not really a big fan of the idea of god belief going bye bye, personally.  Our ability to invest impersonal forces and coincidence with a sense of agency and intent is one of our more endearing traits.  It's why we instinctively yell at the hammer that hit's our thumbs..and that shit is awesome, lol. The current crop of religions, yeah..fuck em, they're spent and long overdue to be discarded. They had to kill people to keep time from taking it's course and even that didn't work as they simply changed from within. I want to see some new gods. That's my best case scenario, for my lifetime anyway. I'm tired of all these sequels.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
Reply
#19
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
Well, look, you seem to be implying that it's somehow an intrinsic part of being human, when we already know that's not true. Is it really that hard to admit that atheists are not some anomaly but merely the lucky ones in a quasi-crazy society? God belief, in this day and age, is about how much information you have, how were you educated, how you think, what kind of culture you're exposed to and so on. These are all things we can change. More exposure to rational arguments is actually changing things, although it may seem at times that it doesn't.
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#20
RE: What is needed to combat the overwhelming level of belief in God?
(December 11, 2015 at 5:20 pm)SteveII Wrote:
(December 11, 2015 at 5:13 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Meh, time.  For example..one day, the believers of -X- will look back on your barbaric religion and scoff at you for having ever believed it to begin with.   There will still be folks like me, too, reminding those new believers that their shit is the same old shit as your shit was.

How much time? It has been 150 years since Darwin and 130 years since Nietzsche declared "God is Dead". There are literally billions of more people that believe in God. 

Take all the time you need.  Take ten lifetimes.  Makes no difference to me.
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