Nothing to do with magnetic fields. Explanation was given. Didn't you read it?

Honestly? Why not go the whole hog and just be a full-blown atheist?!

This is an interesting thread, but probably not for the reasons most of the contributors might think.

Firstly, science is not in the hands of any one government, state, country, religion, etc. Secondly, it is empirical. This basically means that it is tested. If you're a scientist and you have a theory you have to say how you got to make your conclusion to be taken seriously. You have to be willing to be thoroughly tested. Some scientific theories pass the test, but others are found to be wanting and are debunked.

So, science isn't a government scam, or whatever you want to call it, so why this thread?

You've got something you don't like. Something you disagree with, and you want a voice. You have access to a free internet where you can say what you feel and you don't have to 'prove' anything. When you've had a moan and a few people have agreed with you, you fEel better and you feel that your point of view had been vindicated; it's valid because someone else has agreed with you.

This isn't a serious forum for discussing science. There are places where that happens and you have to be pretty smart and very well qualified to be involved and taken seriously. (This isn't an invitation for some conspiracy theory, like "all the scientists are aliens and they just want to fool us so they can take over the world".)

So, what is this forum for? It's just a place for (some people) to winge and moan about all the people who have different oppinions and who they don't agree with and get their egos massaged by some other insular people who happen to agree with them.

I actually find it frightening and sad that some (so many) people are so insular. Is this a rant? Maybe so. Is it a valid opinion based on good science such as psychology? I'll let you think about that one

I can't help wondering just how much you feel you're going to die on a given date. If you're reaaly sure, would you bet all your worldly goods on it and sign them over to me so that from the next day, they're all mine, what ever happens. I know you've probably got people you love who you'd like to leave stuff too, but if you really believe what you say you do, then they're all going to die too. So, no harm in leaving everything to me. You also look kinda cute, so maybe you could sign yourself over as well. Not sure you could even do that, but hey, it's the end of the world. Who's going to be around to tell me I can't do anything, right? Promise I wouldn't try to collect on anything before 13th December 2012.

Yeah, and the 'religious' Mr Blair helped poke the nest. But it's OK, because Mr Blair said he though it was what god wanted him to do. I guess the crusaders thought something very similar as they put tens and hundreds of thousands of muslims to death during the crusades.

Actually, I think anyone with religious beliefs who has the potential to become as powerful as a president or prime minister should be banned from office in any government in the world. The only religion that has a positive effect with regards to peace and co-operation would seem to be buddhists. Imagine the Dalai Llama running the world. I think things might be a little better (and no, I'm not a buddhist!).

Not sure I get this at all. What's the point? This isn't god, or even a religion. It's basically a person or persons who've decided that they don't like the religions that are out there in their present form, so have decided to take a few ideas and cobble them together into a more appetising story and call it religion.

Whoever wrote this seems to want to bring together the ideas of Christianity and the Celtic traditions (Pagan). In their own mind this presumably works, but really, this is pure fantasy.

My thoughts? Like I said; what's the point? It's just the coming together of two stories. It's not god, and it's not even a religion, as such.

Oh, this is such a beautiful thread!

I'm assuming there may be people contributing to this thread from more than one religion (and maybe a few more just observing from the side-lines). I find it interesting because I spent more than 20 years studying the bible, Christianity, God, Jesus, you name it. I guess that really only makes me qualified to talk about Christianity, but there are some common threads that run through many world religions, and I don't mean love, peace, etc.

Around the time that Jesus was nailed to a cross and died, there were many religions in the world. I guess not much has changed, but many of the religious groups 'died out'. Basically, they lost battles, and when you lose battles, your God isn't as good as the God of the people who defeated you. When the Babylonians were defeated, their Gods fell from favour, as did the Roman and Greek Gods when these civilisations were defeated and fell into disarray.

So, about 500 years after Jesus' death, the ruler of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) decides he needs to cement his people together under one religion. Despite being a confirmed pagan until the very end, he chose to support and propagate the Christian religion, even though he didn't believe it himself. It was a convenient political tool to control the people and motivate them. By the way, this ruler (I forget his name, as if that makes any difference anyway) also got all the books of the bible together. Until then, what we know as the bible had been a collection of many independent books. This ruler decided which books fitted in with his political views, and which did not. The ones he didn't like, were simply discarded and not publicised, published, and put forward as the views of the state/church so faded away. So, we were left with what we'd call the basis of the bible we have today.

Well, that was fine as far as it goes, but there was still one little fly in the ointment. The gospels (and some still exist) finished with the death of Jesus on the cross and him being put in a tomb. Not the best end to a story, and not a good way to get people to believe in heaven, etc. So, some people in the church got together and wrote a new ending: the rolling away of the stone, the empty tomb, the meeting of the gardener and Mary in the garden (supposedly Jesus risen again) and to top it all, Jesus appearing to Doubting Thomas and the Transfiguration where Jesus is taken up into heaven. All made up 500 years after the facts to make a more convenient end to the story.

Ah, and Christianity isn't the only religion where this has happened. Mohammed was, from what I can remember an almost forgotten, insignificant character in Middle Eastern culture when a general decided that his writings would inspire his troops to great things on the battle field. After winning a few battles, the cult of Mohammed grew and as more people were defeated, and the nations of Islam became ever more powerful, the religion expanded.

Most religions got to the place they are today through a sort of self-fulfilling-prophecy. Have a religion: inspire the troops. Win the battle: grow the religion. Bigger religion: more people fighting and supporting you. Bigger support base: easier to win more/bigger battles.... and on it goes.

If God were really out there, he wouldn't be in so many forms in all the different places. He'd reveal himself in the same way all throughout the world. Different religions exist because different people had different views and agendas when they wrote the rule books (holy books). That's why there are different religions. The question is though, why are there religions at all. Well, they explain the unexplainable. Whatever is outside our sphere of understanding to a significant extent must be magic, or God. The second reason is this. If I have an idea and you have a conflicting idea, there could be stalemate, conflict, and lots of negative outcomes. Now, if my idea came from God (or so I tell you and everyone else) then I can get you and everyone else to go along with my idea.

This is just a rough outline of why there isn't a God, and why religions exist, not a definitive answer, so please don't bother mailing me, I'm not really interested (unless you're an atheist) and please don't pray for me. If you've got time on your hands to pray you've got too much time on your hands. Get off your backside/knees and go help someone who needs it, or help yourself!

Make the world a better place and stop waiting for 'God" to do it for us.