So, why discuss religion?

[Buck]

Isn't that a matter of faith, not a matter rationality?

[Klaymen]

:lalala:

[ao fan]

yeah, i don't get it either. i'll find out what happens when i'm dead or not if it's nothing.

[Travis]

Why do you post anything?

[abt5]

yeah, i don't get it either. i'll find out what happens when i'm dead or not if it's nothing.

that'll be too late!

[ao fan]

that'll be too late!
oh, i don't believe in that jesus bs. either there is a heaven or there isn't. if there is one, i'm in.

[ao fan]

oh, i don't believe in that jesus bs. either there is a heaven or there isn't. if there is one, i'm in.
and now i'm discussing religion.

[Hero3128]

Theology is the least interesting science, IMO.

The one thing all of the world's religions have in common is that they say you shouldn't put yourself first. That's what we should focus on.

[r. mutt]

If only people would stop bringing it up. Oh the humanity!

[Wigmeister General]

Isn't that a matter of faith, not a matter rationality?

Why discuss science? Isn't it a matter of faith, not a matter of rationality, too?

[Sloop John B]

Faith is a fact!

[Sentinel]

Isn't that a matter of faith, not a matter rationality?

It's a matter of purpose, which atheists lack.

[TheGillotine]

It's a matter of purpose, which atheists lack.

What purpose do you speak of that nonbelievers lack? The only purpose I can think of is that most theists believe that their purpose is to worship a powerful magical spirit, whereas nonbelievers aren't bound by such demands.

[ao fan]

religious discussions on the ao help highlight who the crazy people are.

[Sentinel]

ain't it the truth. Somebody's gotta pray for these atheists.

[Sentinel]

What purpose do you speak of that nonbelievers lack? The only purpose I can think of is that most theists believe that their purpose is to worship a powerful magical spirit, whereas nonbelievers aren't bound by such demands.

that is true, atheists are not bound by any objective moral spiritual principles.

[TheGillotine]

that is true, atheists are not bound by any objective moral spiritual principles.

Not true, we are bound by certain principles which pertain to things spiritual in nature.

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/141/d/6/don__t_cross_the_streams___sign_by_dejitarudavis-d3gvu44.jpg

[gosuruss]

"The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next."

[Gentle Giant]

religious discussions on the ao help highlight who the crazy people are.
On both sides. (...it goes without saying...)

[ao fan]

On both sides. (...it goes without saying...)

yep

[The Drunken Actuary]

Why discuss science? Isn't it a matter of faith, not a matter of rationality, too?
I have faith that science is rational.

[Buck]

"Faith" = "Believing when there is zero evidence support"

"Believing when there is zero evidence support" = "Faith"

Religion is built on "Faith". In that category, religion is alone -- nothing else is like religion in terms of "Faith".

[limabeanactuary]

The headline for this thing is not really what it's about:
A Point of View: Can religion tell us more than science? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14944470)

But it does bolster the OP: nobody is really that much interested in discussing beliefs.

When he recounts the story of his conversion to Catholicism in his autobiography A Sort of Life, Graham Greene writes that he went for instruction to Father Trollope, a very tall and very fat man who had once been an actor in the West End.

Trollope was a convert who became a priest and led a highly ascetic life, and Greene didn't warm to him very much, at least to begin with.

Yet the writer came to feel that in dealing with his instructor he was faced with "the challenge of an inexplicable goodness". It was this impression - rather than any of the arguments the devout Father presented to the writer for the existence of God - that eventually led to Greene's conversion.

The arguments that were patiently rehearsed by Father Trollope faded from his memory, and Greene had no interest in retrieving them. "I cannot be bothered to remember," he writes. "I accept."

....
Evangelical atheists who want to convert the world to unbelief are copying religion at its dogmatic worst. They think human life would be vastly improved if only everyone believed as they do, when a little history shows that trying to get everyone to believe the same thing is a recipe for unending conflict.

We'd all be better off if we stopped believing in belief. Not everyone needs a religion. But if you do, you shouldn't be bothered about finding arguments for joining or practising one. Just go into the church, synagogue, mosque or temple and take it from there.

What we believe doesn't in the end matter very much. What matters is how we live.
I found that an interesting point of view.

[Sentinel]

Isn't that a matter of faith, not a matter rationality?

Its a matter of spreading wisdom and promise of salvation.

[Sentinel]

"Faith" = "Believing when there is zero evidence support"

"Believing when there is zero evidence support" = "Faith"

Religion is built on "Faith". In that category, religion is alone -- nothing else is like religion in terms of "Faith".

There is no zero evidence with faith. People have experience and historical documents which is what drives people to faith. Interaction with Living and True God drives people to faith.

[TheGillotine]

There is no zero evidence with faith. People have experience and historical documents which is what drives people to faith. Interaction with Living and True God drives people to faith.

Which True God would that be? Because it seems to me that billions of people are driven to faith by what would have to be False Gods.

[Listeria]

If only people would stop bringing it up. Oh the humanity!
Don't blame me -- it brought itself back up some time after I swallowed it.

[Sindel]

There is no zero evidence with faith. People have experience and historical documents which is what drives people to faith. Interaction with Living and True God drives people to faith.

Actually, the definition of faith is believing something without having good reason to. If there was evidence for it, they wouldn't be believing in it based on faith.

Now go ahead, make your claim. Or do you really think the Bible is a credible historical document that God exists?

[MountainGirl]

My experience of "god" is all I need to believe in "god"... do not care about the bible.

[Jasper07734]

:lalala:

:iatp:
This thread, and all other threads like it ever again, should have ended with this post.

[FacebookWidower]

Actually, the definition of faith is believing something without having good reason to.^{[citation} ^{needed]} If there was evidence for it, they wouldn't be believing in it based on faith.

Now go ahead, make your claim. Or do you really think the Bible is a credible historical document that God exists?

IFYP

[Sentinel]

Actually, the definition of faith is believing something without having good reason to. If there was evidence for it, they wouldn't be believing in it based on faith.

Now go ahead, make your claim. Or do you really think the Bible is a credible historical document that God exists?

Faith is believing God will provide for you even when no current physical or sensible evidence (based on limited senses) indicates that God can do it. However, your faith arises in first place because you know God can do because He has done it on your behalf. So this whole "zero evidence" is misleading. Faith is trusting God will keep promises in future no matter the scenario, but you are basing that on your experience of Him fulfilling other promises.

[JohnLocke]

Faith is believing God will provide for you even when no current physical or sensible evidence (based on limited senses) indicates that God can do it. However, your faith arises in first place because you know God can do because He has done it on your behalf. So this whole "zero evidence" is misleading. Faith is trusting God will keep promises in future no matter the scenario, but you are basing that on your experience of Him fulfilling other promises.

God promised me a Furby in 4th grade and I didn't get one. :tear:

[TheGillotine]

Faith is trusting God will keep promises in future no matter the scenario, but you are basing that on your experience of Him fulfilling other promises.

God makes promises to you? Can you give an example of that?

[ao fan]

God promised me a Furby in 4th grade and I didn't get one. :tear:

are you confusing santa claus for god?

[Hugh Jass]

why NOT discuss religion?

[Hugh Jass]

Faith is believing God will provide for you even when no current physical or sensible evidence (based on limited senses) indicates that God can do it. However, your faith arises in first place because you know God can do because He has done it on your behalf. So this whole "zero evidence" is misleading. Faith is trusting God will keep promises in future no matter the scenario, but you are basing that on your experience of Him fulfilling other promises.

this has got to be a troll post because it's so stupid

[Dismal Science]

To answer the original question: Because people are bored.

[Lucy]

The headline for this thing is not really what it's about:
A Point of View: Can religion tell us more than science? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14944470)

But it does bolster the OP: nobody is really that much interested in discussing beliefs.


....

I found that an interesting point of view.
I liked that. I mostly agree with it, too.

[TheGillotine]

Someone sent me this, I thought it was pertinent to the subject and added a new layer of baloney to this discussion :P

part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFISW7M8uv0&feature=channel_video_title)
part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWA3eUEzUWo&feature=relmfu)