That's it, I'm done

[Needcatscan]

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...ed_cracker.php No more pandering to religious people. This is the breaking point. I really thought the 1st world countries were beyond this, that some form of common sense had been instilled in us. Apparently I was wrong. I know there are a lot of extremely intelligent religious people, and there are a lot more extremely stupid religious people. Either or, the fact remains: Faith is a disease and needs to be ended (obviously by reason, logic, and talking with religious people, not by violence, although Bill Donahue really needs to kick the bucket). This may sound extreme and I think 99% of the people here will think this article is ridiculous as well, but let's think about it: Is an invisible sky-daddy who we talk to telepathically and controls every bit of human destiny less ridiculous that transubstantiation? Is a man/god being sent down to heaven to die for the sins we inherited from 2 supposed beings at the beginning of time more rational than Eucharistic desecration? Is a loving, perfect god who let's 4/5th's of the world's population burn in a lake of fire for not giving them sufficient evidence for his existence and/or putting them in a geographic location that caused them to be raised in the wrong religion any less insane than actually thinking a cracker turns into the flesh of a god/human? I used to think Hitchens and Dawkins could come down kind of hard on the religious, but they aren't coming down hard enough. This medieval stupidity needs to end. (Okay, so it's melodramatic, but I feel exactly like PZ Myers, i.e. beyond words irritated).

[Schmaven]

having some sort of belief is a good thing. But I think most organized religions are way outdated and should go. Not that I don't like any of them, but I prefer to have come up with my own beliefs and not have to learn what someone before me had believed and be expected to come to the same crazy conclusions as them. They had the right idea with trying to get people to be kind and overall better people, but there's a lot of extra baggage that un-necessarily comes along with that message. While I do agree with the idea that everyone should try to be better people, I don't agree with all the random shit.

[Needcatscan]

having some sort of belief is a good thing. But I think most organized religions are way outdated and should go. Not that I don't like any of them, but I prefer to have come up with my own beliefs and not have to learn what someone before me had believed and be expected to come to the same crazy conclusions as them. They had the right idea with trying to get people to be kind and overall better people, but there's a lot of extra baggage that un-necessarily comes along with that message. While I do agree with the idea that everyone should try to be better people, I don't agree with all the random shit. Come up with your own beliefs based on what? Correct me if I'm wrong but you sound like George Carlin when he said he worships the sun and prays to Joe Pesci. Are you talking about just making up something and then believing it?

[really]

Do you have faith in science?

[Needcatscan]

Do you have faith in science? Screwing around with the definition of faith is a very old trick. Science has evidence. Period.

[really]

Screwing around with the definition of faith is a very old trick. Science has evidence. Period. I haven't tricked you, and you haven't answered my question.

[bluefinger]

Do you have faith in science? You don't put faith in Science, you put knowledge into it and gain more knowledge from it. Evidence is what makes Science tick.

[CryoDragoon]

Do you have faith in science? Define "faith".

[Serkat]

I call for Barbara Streisand effect! Go to your local church and steal crackers. We can't let evil fascist assholes get whiny about it. Steal all the crackers and at some point they will have to surrender and accept that stealing crackers is a human right. Go go go go Barbara Streisand.

[Bosco]

Come up with your own beliefs based on what? Correct me if I'm wrong but you sound like George Carlin when he said he worships the sun and prays to Joe Pesci. Are you talking about just making up something and then believing it? You know what i hate about atheists most of all? They are all bashing christianity, muslims, islams....Major religions. Do you not understand there are people who believe in evolution and science that also believe in a higher power? Science in a way proves god in my opinion. The god i believe in is a God of just pure engergy, all knowning all powerful energy. Another thing about atheist i do not like is, they dont understand that hey maybe when we do die nothin happens but that does not mean "god" didnt give us this chance to live. Athiest always ask " if god is so great, why does he let bad stuff happen to good people?" My answer, shit happens in life we can not control. If only good things happened...this would be heaven. Lessons have to be learned some way. I think to myself everyday, there has got to be more than us just randomly poppin up in a body and living the lives we live, there is no way that is true IMO

[Needcatscan]

You know what i hate about atheists most of all? They are all bashing christianity, muslims, islams....Major religions. Do you not understand there are people who believe in evolution and science that also believe in a higher power? Science in a way proves god in my opinion. The god i believe in is a God of just pure engergy, all knowning all powerful energy. Another thing about atheist i do not like is, they dont understand that hey maybe when we do die nothin happens but that does not mean "god" didnt give us this chance to live. Athiest always ask " if god is so great, why does he let bad stuff happen to good people?" My answer, shit happens in life we can not control. If only good things happened...this would be heaven. Lessons have to be learned some way. I think to myself everyday, there has got to be more than us just randomly poppin up in a body and living the lives we live, there is no way that is true IMO Bosco - Okay, it's fine that you believe that. Now where's your evidence? Bcomp - Please don't spout ignorance where it has already been refuted time and time again. Do puzzles assemble themselves??? Are you joking? This only shows that you have no proper understanding of the scientific theories that explain the natural world. Please do watch bluefinger's links, especially cdk007, then come back and talk about "puzzles assembling themselves." Beliefs may be precious to people, but they are just that, beliefs. I can believe that I have a diamond the size of a boulder buried in my backyard. It makes me feel great, makes me enjoy life more because I know one day I'll reap the reward of it. But that doesn't make it true. (Sam Harris' analogy).

[Rakjavik]

Bosco - Okay, it's fine that you believe that. Now where's your evidence? <------- Need I say more? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4yBvvGi_2A

[bluefinger]

You know what i hate about atheists most of all? They are all bashing christianity, muslims, islams....Major religions. Do you not understand there are people who believe in evolution and science that also believe in a higher power? Science in a way proves god in my opinion. The god i believe in is a God of just pure engergy, all knowning all powerful energy. Another thing about atheist i do not like is, they dont understand that hey maybe when we do die nothin happens but that does not mean "god" didnt give us this chance to live. Athiest always ask " if god is so great, why does he let bad stuff happen to good people?" My answer, shit happens in life we can not control. If only good things happened...this would be heaven. Lessons have to be learned some way. I think to myself everyday, there has got to be more than us just randomly poppin up in a body and living the lives we live, there is no way that is true IMO Science makes no claims on the existence of deities, whether for or against. Secondly, you are nearly just as much as an atheist as the rest of us are. You disbelieve in gods like Thor, Osiris, Mithras, Zeus, etc, no? Well then, the only difference between you and me is that I simply take it further and exclude that one god you still believe in.

[skysaw]

I think to myself everyday, there has got to be more than us just randomly poppin up in a body and living the lives we live, there is no way that is true IMO Assuming the standard use of the acronym, IMO="In my opinion..." I don't understand having an "opinion" over whether or not there is a God, or "more to life," etc... I believe the word you were looking for was "guess."

[Replicon]

This is exactly why fark.com has a florida tag.

[CryoDragoon]

You know what i hate about atheists most of all? They are all bashing christianity, muslims, islams....Major religions. And why exactly is that bad? Do you know why we bash those major religions? Because they're major. An awful lot of people believe in them, and therefore we get into contact with them a lot. Do you not understand there are people who believe in evolution and science that also believe in a higher power? I don't care... No matter how much evolutionists believe in God, it still doesn't make it true. If they have evidence for this god, then and only then will their opinion on God matter. Even then it'll be debatable. The god i believe in is a God of just pure engergy, all knowning all powerful energy. How does science prove this God of just pure energy? I think to myself everyday, there has got to be more than us just randomly poppin up in a body and living the lives we live, there is no way that is true IMO Question: Isn't that just wishful thinking? You know... It might be good and all, having some kind of loving god that wished everything into existant. Hell, even I would see how great that'd be. But no matter how much I'd wish for it, it still wouldn't be true. No matter how comforting or nice an idea might be, it still wouldn't be true. Just think about Santa Claus. The idea's nice and all, but he just doesn't exist. So it (still) all comes down to evidence: to prove something or someone exists, there must be evidence for it. You show me evidence for God, and then you can rant about us pesky atheists, mmkay? Another thing about atheist i do not like is, they dont understand that hey maybe when we do die nothin happens but that does not mean "god" didnt give us this chance to live. God didn't give me this life... My PARENTS did. And of course, again: what prove do you have that God gave us this life? We scientists actually have a few perfectly natural hypotheses which are called 'abiogenesis' which explains the origin of life.

[Schmaven]

Come up with your own beliefs based on what? Correct me if I'm wrong but you sound like George Carlin when he said he worships the sun and prays to Joe Pesci. Are you talking about just making up something and then believing it? I believe that there is a God in everything and that it is all connected somehow. However, I also believe that this "God" doesn't sit up in heaven and decide the fate of our world with miracles and disasters. I think we bring shit upon ourselves. We have the power to make the world a better place, and we shouldn't leave it up to some "God" to do it for us. We also have the power to make the world a shittier place, which a lot of people seem to enjoy doing currently. Basically, I just think that life is too awesome for there not to be something else out there, some higher power, that I call "God" Although God might be a bad name for it now that I think about it. But to me, what I call it doesn't matter.

[bluefinger]

I believe that there is a God in everything and that it is all connected somehow. However, I also believe that this "God" doesn't sit up in heaven and decide the fate of our world with miracles and disasters. I think we bring shit upon ourselves. We have the power to make the world a better place, and we shouldn't leave it up to some "God" to do it for us. We also have the power to make the world a shittier place, which a lot of people seem to enjoy doing currently. Basically, I just think that life is too awesome for there not to be something else out there, some higher power, that I call "God" Although God might be a bad name for it now that I think about it. But to me, what I call it doesn't matter. Summary: Pantheism, or a variant of.

[Schmaven]

Summary: Pantheism, or a variant of. So there is a name for it kind of. I guess I'm not alone

[juroara]

1. I can't really take the blog seriously because of the language. therefore I can not take the death threats that he is talking about seriously as well. angry resentful people exaggerate and blow things out of proportion. 2. most churches, especially catholic churches will actually ask that only believers come up to receive the body of christ - since there are always a few christians in the church who don't agree with the catholic view regarding the body of christ *symbolic versus literal* 3. you don't believe, you've no business coming up. period. it wasn't the cracker being stolen, so much as a total disrespect in a ritual that is meant for only a catholic to participate in. the ritual I repeat, is not open to non-believers. the church is, the ritual is not. 4. church on a whole is a place for believers, and believers in the church. it's meant to be a safe happy little spot for church-based family. it's like inviting someone you trust into your home, only to have them take something of sentimental value from you without permission. or rather, what if you started an atheist only club only to discover a XIAN within your group =b and then the XIAN disobeys your rules 5. whether or not the angry people realize it, what really made them angry was the lie of being a believer, and being entrusted with something meant for only believers. its like entrusting a secret to whom you thought was a friend, only to have them say it to everyone behind your back. it was trust and disrespect of that trust that made them angry. 6. I am actually not catholic. And there are very few people who are more against dogmatic rituals as I am. HOWEVER, when in the walls of a religious place, it is like coming into someone elses home. you are a guest there, you need to show some respect. you don't want to show respect, be an adult and don't bloody go. I don't. I don't go. perrriooood. 7. the only people who have any real right to make a scene at church, are christians who are challenging the church. in this matter, it becomes a protest and a statement. Just as it is, that only the people of a specific country can really protest against their own government. What does a foreigners words mean, if no one in the country cares? 8. how weak is a statement at church from a non-believer. your actions and protest would mean NOTHING. and would only be counter-production. look at how mean the atheists are children? look at how the people who are going to hell behave? do you really think the actions of a non-believer at church can change anything? 9. if your aim isn't change, then you are just angry, bitter and resentful. get over what ever issue you have with church and move on with your pity life. 10. if you are wanting to see changes as a non-believer, you need to understand your only arena to challenge church is outside of its walls. the point that I am trying to make is, your view point, and the view point of the blogger is wrong. it is not that someone does not believe in the 'cracker' that made them angry. most christian churches last I checked do not agree with the catholic church regarding the literacy of the bread being Christ's body. this does not make anyone so angry they need to make death threats. and again, there are always such christians at catholic masses, because of marriages and such forth to non catholics. trust and respect belong to the ego. do I believe that someone was pissed enough to make a death threat? someones ego trust and respect being slapped in the face has made people angry beyond belief. I am not justifying the behavior. again, only explaining the behavior stems from human ego, NOT FAITH.

[vee]

1. I can't really take the blog seriously because of the language. therefore I can not take the death threats that he is talking about seriously as well. angry resentful people exaggerate and blow things out of proportion. 2. most churches, especially catholic churches will actually ask that only believers come up to receive the body of christ - since there are always a few christians in the church who don't agree with the catholic view regarding the body of christ *symbolic versus literal* 3. you don't believe, you've no business coming up. period. it wasn't the cracker being stolen, so much as a total disrespect in a ritual that is meant for only a catholic to participate in. the ritual I repeat, is not open to non-believers. the church is, the ritual is not. 4. church on a whole is a place for believers, and believers in the church. it's meant to be a safe happy little spot for church-based family. it's like inviting someone you trust into your home, only to have them take something of sentimental value from you without permission. or rather, what if you started an atheist only club only to discover a XIAN within your group =b and then the XIAN disobeys your rules 5. whether or not the angry people realize it, what really made them angry was the lie of being a believer, and being entrusted with something meant for only believers. its like entrusting a secret to whom you thought was a friend, only to have them say it to everyone behind your back. it was trust and disrespect of that trust that made them angry. 6. I am actually not catholic. And there are very few people who are more against dogmatic rituals as I am. HOWEVER, when in the walls of a religious place, it is like coming into someone elses home. you are a guest there, you need to show some respect. you don't want to show respect, be an adult and don't bloody go. I don't. I don't go. perrriooood. 7. the only people who have any real right to make a scene at church, are christians who are challenging the church. in this matter, it becomes a protest and a statement. Just as it is, that only the people of a specific country can really protest against their own government. What does a foreigners words mean, if no one in the country cares? 8. how weak is a statement at church from a non-believer. your actions and protest would mean NOTHING. and would only be counter-production. look at how mean the atheists are children? look at how the people who are going to hell behave? do you really think the actions of a non-believer at church can change anything? 9. if your aim isn't change, then you are just angry, bitter and resentful. get over what ever issue you have with church and move on with your pity life. 10. if you are wanting to see changes as a non-believer, you need to understand your only arena to challenge church is outside of its walls. the point that I am trying to make is, your view point, and the view point of the blogger is wrong. it is not that someone does not believe in the 'cracker' that made them angry. most christian churches last I checked do not agree with the catholic church regarding the literacy of the bread being Christ's body. this does not make anyone so angry they need to make death threats. and again, there are always such christians at catholic masses, because of marriages and such forth to non catholics. trust and respect belong to the ego. do I believe that someone was pissed enough to make a death threat? someones ego trust and respect being slapped in the face has made people angry beyond belief. I am not justifying the behavior. again, only explaining the behavior stems from human ego, NOT FAITH. HUH?

[Lëzen]

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...ed_cracker.php No more pandering to religious people. This is the breaking point. I really thought the 1st world countries were beyond this, that some form of common sense had been instilled in us. Apparently I was wrong. I know there are a lot of extremely intelligent religious people, and there are a lot more extremely stupid religious people. Either or, the fact remains: Faith is a disease and needs to be ended (obviously by reason, logic, and talking with religious people, not by violence, although Bill Donahue really needs to kick the bucket). This may sound extreme and I think 99% of the people here will think this article is ridiculous as well, but let's think about it: Is an invisible sky-daddy who we talk to telepathically and controls every bit of human destiny less ridiculous that transubstantiation? Is a man/god being sent down to heaven to die for the sins we inherited from 2 supposed beings at the beginning of time more rational than Eucharistic desecration? Is a loving, perfect god who let's 4/5th's of the world's population burn in a lake of fire for not giving them sufficient evidence for his existence and/or putting them in a geographic location that caused them to be raised in the wrong religion any less insane than actually thinking a cracker turns into the flesh of a god/human? I used to think Hitchens and Dawkins could come down kind of hard on the religious, but they aren't coming down hard enough. This medieval stupidity needs to end. (Okay, so it's melodramatic, but I feel exactly like PZ Myers, i.e. beyond words irritated). Sorry, good sir, but you are ignorant of so many things about religion, it's barely even funny... I'm not even really religious myself, and yet I see so much drivel that looks like nothing more than atheists trying to get back at theists for crapping on their beliefs (or lack thereof). It only makes you seem whiny and incompetent. Think about it - the ones accusing theists of being so closed-minded, turn out being just that themselves! What a notion! Not even gonna bother arguing my point. Only gonna tell you to listen to what religious people have to say (particularly Mormons), because you obviously don't know enough about religion to make a valid argument about it...

[Serkat]

Think about it - the ones accusing theists of being so closed-minded, turn out being just that themselves! What a notion! You lost.

[Dreamworld]

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...ed_cracker.php No more pandering to religious people. This is the breaking point. I really thought the 1st world countries were beyond this, that some form of common sense had been instilled in us. Apparently I was wrong. I know there are a lot of extremely intelligent religious people, and there are a lot more extremely stupid religious people. Either or, the fact remains: Faith is a disease and needs to be ended (obviously by reason, logic, and talking with religious people, not by violence, although Bill Donahue really needs to kick the bucket). This may sound extreme and I think 99% of the people here will think this article is ridiculous as well, but let's think about it: Is an invisible sky-daddy who we talk to telepathically and controls every bit of human destiny less ridiculous that transubstantiation? Is a man/god being sent down to heaven to die for the sins we inherited from 2 supposed beings at the beginning of time more rational than Eucharistic desecration? Is a loving, perfect god who let's 4/5th's of the world's population burn in a lake of fire for not giving them sufficient evidence for his existence and/or putting them in a geographic location that caused them to be raised in the wrong religion any less insane than actually thinking a cracker turns into the flesh of a god/human? I used to think Hitchens and Dawkins could come down kind of hard on the religious, but they aren't coming down hard enough. This medieval stupidity needs to end. (Okay, so it's melodramatic, but I feel exactly like PZ Myers, i.e. beyond words irritated). Instead of trying to end religion, why don't you try to change religion? Do atheists offer any form of moral teachings,? Or a community where people can gather? This thread would only anger theists.

[bluefinger]

Instead of trying to end religion, why don't you try to change religion? Do atheists offer any form of moral teachings,? Or a community where people can gather? This thread would only anger theists. Religion teaches us to be moral? lolololololololol Societies dictate how we define our morals, not religions. Religions are used to justify or object to the societal norms of morality, but either way, it ain't religion that is responsible. It isn't about whether Atheism provides us with moral teachings, it is about whether we need religion at all in order to be moral. If for some, the only reason they obey the laws of the land because of the threat of eternal damnation, then who is the more moral person? The atheist who abides the laws and is good under his own volition, or the religious person who keeps in line for fear of eternal damnation and in hope of eternal reward?