Reasons

[Demonaura]

btw who embeds my videos and how do I do that? I know we have the code but I can never remember it.

Ignore me, I just did a quick edit on my last post and saw it.

[WWLD]

no idea

[leo-rcc]

Code:

[youtube]7S3K9kEASOw[/youtube]

The numbers in between the youtube tags is what comes behind the v=.

[athoughtfulman]

I don't believe in god because I simply asked too many questions and didn't get answers. I used to be a christian, going to church all the time and so on, but when I started critically analysing my beliefs, I found they simply did not hold up. Things like:

- the validity of the bible is god's inspired word. Men wrote it, translated it, preserved it, printed it, and men read it, yet we're told that it's inspired by men. At which point did 'god' jump in and 'inspire' it? His inspiration would have to be present at every point during it's history, including when people read it, for it to be truly inspired. Yet we have millions who disagree on various things throughout the bible, so who's got the right picture? I never heard a good answer to that.
- the obvious incapability of christianity to solve the problems in this world, despite having that aim. Countless verses in the bible describe that one can only be truly satisfied and live life to the full by believing in jesus, but there is a huge amount of christians who aren't satisfied, and aren't living life to the full. And at the same time, there are a huge amount of non-christians who are the exact opposite - they enjoy life, are satisfied and live it to the full. Alongside that is the countless evil things done in the name of god.
- the stupidity of attributing god's power to anything we can't understand. this 'god of the gaps' theory is dangerous to theism because as science gets bigger and learns more about our world, this 'god of the gaps' is going to get smaller and smaller.
- the foolishness of believing in a god who can neither be seen nor proven. If so many millions of people can experience him, then why can't science experience him? If science can't then I must believe he is not real. If evidence was to be found of his existence then I would have to change my beliefs, however I do not think that will ever happen.

By the way, great video!

[Kyuuketsuki]

I can't be arsed to say this for the millionth time, enjoy if you care to learn, or ignore it like everyone seems to do when they think they understand what atheisim is.

That was most excellent, I have an article that takes much the same kind of stance though doesn't go into as much detail.

Contrary to popular opinion being open-minded is not about treating garbage as if it were the equal of proper research science nor is it about believing everything one hears nor even about giving every fantasy world someone claims to have experienced the same credibility as reality.

In fact being open-minded is about:

* Establishing exactly what phenomenon is being tested or evaluated.
* Establishing all possible explanations to account for the phenomenon and ...
* Setting up and executing a series of strictly controlled tests or observations designed to systematically and rationally eliminate the wrong possibilities and establish which accounts for the phenomenon in question.

Open-mindedness requires observation, evidence, hypothesis, verification, tentativeness, falsifiability & it requires logic ... in short, true open-mindedness requires science. Furthermore open-mindedness is fairly evidently necessary to investigate the universe & world in which we exist.

I have often been accused of not being open-minded indeed some have accused me of being a fundamentalist atheist because they imply I am "unwilling to expand my borders" when in fact what they mean is that I am not able to suspend my objectivity enough to accept a pile of fetid dingo's kidneys as a valid hypothesis. However those people are wrong ... science is open-minded, science is empirical, I am an adherent of such science and an atheist because of it so I am as open minded as science.

However, that ones mind is open, does not give anyone the right to pour their crap into it! Nor does it justifiably give others the right to say that one is not open-minded because they are not prepared to tolerate fantasy views touted as fact or because their views are based on logic & reason ... I would argue that such individuals, like science, are open-minded in the most objective sense!

Having watched your video I feel it might be in need of an update.

Kyu

[athoughtfulman]

Indeed. I've never really thought about open-mindedness and what it actually was, just thought I already had it. But now I know why I am open-minded and why those people who are willing to believe things without evidence are not open-minded.

I think that video should be required watching for anyone wishing to study religion and science, and also, it should be shown at schools everywhere. Or at least kids should be taught exactly what it means to be open-minded.

[fr0d0]

I agree with the video, but I think it totally misses the point, when facing serious question. I don't assert that you're narrow minded for not believing in God. I call you narrow minded for not entertaining anything not exactly describable by science, now or in the future. Essentially it's fatally flawed. You need to be gullible to think that is conclusive, which I guess supports my point.

[Kyuuketsuki]

I agree with the video, but I think it totally misses the point, when facing serious question.

Which serious question would that be?

I don't assert that you're narrow minded for not believing in God. I call you narrow minded for not entertaining anything not exactly describable by science, now or in the future.

And I contend that if you genuinely believe that to be so, you have lost all grasp on reality; you don't think outside the box, you've confined your mind to a cage ... admittedly a pretty gilded cage but a cage all the same.

Essentially it's fatally flawed. You need to be gullible to think that is conclusive, which I guess supports my point.

Yet curiously it is anything but fatally flawed because it seems this world, our being here, our living here, our loving here, everything we do, everything we are, the entire meaning of our lives is inherently requires a grasp of science to understand and whether you like it or not religion adds precious little of value and more often than not detracts, destroys and generally fucks things up.

Honestly mate, if there really is a god he's one seriously fucked up twat!

Kyu

[WWLD]

Honestly mate, if there really is a god he's one seriously fucked up twat!

Couldn't have said it better myself

[fr0d0]

You don't get it. I have no problem with that. *shrugs*

Again you completely avoid the point.