Thread: Religion is Old

Well I don't really want to debate about my religion... I'll just get out.

Originally Posted by ExoByte

Seriously.

Yeah; let's put the ol' boy teh sleeep.

I'll be waiting to see the egg on your face when you fail.

Well even if I do fail, the nuclear fallout will get rid of HUMAN religion and none of us would ever see the failure.

And there's the fail.

Where?!

*Grabs flyswatter*

It can never be done, religion is on the genetic level.

Originally Posted by psychology student

It can never be done, religion is on the genetic level.

I agree, the fact that humans are social creatures that require a feelings of saftey, hope, and a sense of belonging, pretty much eliminates the downfall of religion because it provides all these critical things.

Originally Posted by Lucid_boy

I agree, the fact that humans are social creatures that require a feelings of saftey, hope, and a sense of belonging, pretty much eliminates the downfall of religion because it provides all these critical things.

Well couldn't philosophy fit in that picture?

Originally Posted by Lucid_boy

I agree, the fact that humans are social creatures that require a feelings of saftey, hope, and a sense of belonging, pretty much eliminates the downfall of religion because it provides all these critical things.

What?

No it doesn't. As DW said Philosophy and common sense can pretty much prevent Theology from becoming very widespread if it were to be all but eliminated.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

What?

No it doesn't. As DW said Philosophy and common sense can pretty much prevent Theology from becoming very widespread if it were to be all but eliminated.

Your telling me that religion doesn't provide feelings of saftey, of acceptance, of hope for the future? Are you saying that these things aren't needed? I agree that if religion where killed right now and all memory of it was destroyed then if anyone tried to begin a religion they would be looked at as a moron but the fact that humans are attracted to things that provide the feelings that are required for a humans to be happy and healthy(mentally), and the fact that religion provides these things, guarentees its continuance in some form for all eternity. untill something that science comes up with can make people feel better about things like death religion will exsist.

Originally Posted by psychology student

It can never be done, religion is on the genetic level.

They found the religion gene???

*edit* PS. Is there a different gene for Islam,Christianity,Catholicism etc. etc.

...

Originally Posted by psychology student

It can never be done, religion is on the genetic level.

If that's true, you could in all honesty win the Nobel Prize for showing the difference between atheist and religious genetic make-up.

Or is this a case of a sarcastic faith head spewing forth rubbish over the intarwebz?

Which of the above sounds like a more feasible reason for Psychology Student's post?

^
Well it looks like Mr Atheist needs to open a science journal.

Religion correlates with superstition. Superstition can reasonably be seen as a behaviour promoted by Natural Selection; one professor at Bristol University certainly thinks so.

Moreover, recently, in a study conducted on the lebanese male population, there was found evidence of a Christian gene. Supposedly stemming from the Crusades. Men with this gene were more likely to be Christian than the normal population.

A "faith head spewing rubbish over the Intarwebz" as you put it, I think not.

Now where's my Nobel prize.

Originally Posted by psychology student

Now where's my Nobel prize.

With your references. Got any?

Hold on, I know the first is Professor Bruce Hood, Bristol University, don't know the study: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...icle627877.ece



The Christian gene, no citation but a link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7316281.stm

Originally Posted by Lucid_boy

Your telling me that religion doesn't provide feelings of saftey, of acceptance, of hope for the future? Are you saying that these things aren't needed? I agree that if religion where killed right now and all memory of it was destroyed then if anyone tried to begin a religion they would be looked at as a moron but the fact that humans are attracted to things that provide the feelings that are required for a humans to be happy and healthy(mentally), and the fact that religion provides these things, guarentees its continuance in some form for all eternity. untill something that science comes up with can make people feel better about things like death religion will exsist.

Um, how about education?

Unless you are saying you would rather people be scared and run to false hopes for answers?

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

They found the religion gene???

*edit* PS. Is there a different gene for Islam,Christianity,Catholicism etc. etc.

He's talking about humans as social animals-- It's a strawman used by theists.

Originally Posted by psychology student

^
Well it looks like Mr Atheist needs to open a science journal.

Religion correlates with superstition. Superstition can reasonably be seen as a behaviour promoted by Natural Selection; one professor at Bristol University certainly thinks so.

Moreover, recently, in a study conducted on the lebanese male population, there was found evidence of a Christian gene. Supposedly stemming from the Crusades. Men with this gene were more likely to be Christian than the normal population.

A "faith head spewing rubbish over the Intarwebz" as you put it, I think not.

Now where's my Nobel prize.

Superstition comes from ignorance.

Education solves ignorance.

Therefore, education removes superstition. Religion, however, wants to keep superstition in place. Just look at the catholic church:

Keep people stupid so they will give you their money out of fear.

^
Its not reductio ad absurdum, but science. Look at the links I gave, and with that information you can research further into the theories and studies I gave.

Furthermore if negating genetic tendencies were so easy as you suggest: "education". Then there would be no racists, violent people or sexual predators.

You obviously do not know what you are talking about. There is no "Believe Bullshit out of fear gene". It is just a social habit that exists because when humans lacked complex thought believe without thought usually lengthened their lives.

If someone told another person not to go to somewhere because <insert exaggeration here>, given the chance that it WERE life threatening and they DID challenge it, they would end up dead thus not passing on their genes.

There is no "Superstition" gene-- That's an exaggeration.

Once again, education and logic combined with decent intelligence and reasoning should be enough to get rid of supersition.

And your last argument utterly fails because of three things:

- Racial intoleracnce is EXACTLY the same as religion-- Educate people on it, and it subsides. But on that same note people always look for differences because it is a habit that promotes movement of the species.

Violence is nature, and CAN be removed-- Just look at Tibetan monks!

Pedophila is caused by a mental illness and cannot be fixed without elimination of the specimen before they can reproduce.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

You obviously do not know what you are talking about. There is no "Believe Bullshit out of fear gene". It is just a social habit that exists because when humans lacked complex thought believe without thought usually lengthened their lives.
If someone told another person not to go to somewhere because <insert exaggeration here>, given the chance that it WERE life threatening and they DID challenge it, they would end up dead thus not passing on their genes.

There is no "Superstition" gene-- That's an exaggeration.

"Even the most rational people behave in these irrational ways, and supernatural beliefs are part of the same continuum, Professor Hood told the British Association Festival of Science in Norwich today.

To demonstrate, he asked members of his audience if they were prepared to put on an old-fashioned blue cardigan in return for a £10 reward, and had no shortage of volunteers.

He then informed them that the cardigan used to belong to Fred West, the mass murderer.

"Most hands went down," he said.
"When people did wear it, most people moved away from them. It’s not actually Fred West’s jumper. But it’s the belief that it’s Fred West’s jumper that has the effect. It is as if evil, a moral stance defined by culture, has become physically manifest inside the clothing."

Similar beliefs, which are held among the most sceptical of scientists, also explain why few people would agree to swap their wedding rings for identical replicas. The difference between attaching significance to sentimental objects, and believing in religion, magic or the paranormal, is only one of degree, Professor Hood said.

These tendencies, he said, are almost certainly a product of evolution. The human mind is adapted to reason intuitively, so it can generate theories about how the world works even when mechanisms cannot be seen or easily deduced."

Quoted from the article above.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

- Racial intoleracnce is EXACTLY the same as religion-- Educate people on it, and it subsides. But on that same note people always look for differences because it is a habit that promotes movement of the species.

So what your saying is that racism is negated by education, but racism still exists because its a "habit that promotes movement of the species"? Please clarify because this sounds contradictory to me.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

Violence is nature, and CAN be removed-- Just look at Tibetan monks!

So your evidence for educations' prevalence over violent genetic tendencies is that of a single token culture. On these same terms I could pick out Zimbabwe, and decide that all humans, in all nations have a life expectancy of the mid 40's.

No, this would be wrong, because such token instances lack demographic validity.

You don't seem to get that supernatural belief is not invented-- It is passed on.

And racial selection is innate that determines what you see as "desirable". It is also attributed to racial tensions caused by cultural clashing such as slavery.

You also seem to miss that violence isn't taught as bad in many countries. Tibet and Norway are the most peacful people in the world according to the peace index.

And regarless of your arguments, saying Religion because genetics does NOT make it "correct".

I have already demonstrated that things CAN be removed if people made an effort.

I didn't say it was "correct".

But your shying away from the argument means that you were wrong in some instances i.e. in wrongly questioning my understanding.

Notice correct was in quotes :s

You are using genetics as an excuse for the existence of irrationality.