• "Debating Creationists on the topic of Evolution is rather like trying to play chess with a pigeon; it knocks the pieces over, craps on the board, and flies back to its flock to claim victory." - Scott D. Weitzenhoffer

this is a very insightful answer...
since there really is no such thing as randomness,
all events are predicated upon a chain reaction leading up to the event
and all events ultimately impact all other events,
this at least may be the safest answer :)

what a great and insightful answer,
I would make this my #2 answer :)
(right after #1.. absence of religion)
Peter-Pan really doubts this is my personal answer (I am not sure why doubting this is my response would be his reply), but I still say it is my personal response :)

Peter-pan"s answer is Oppression...
a good response, much of religion is Oppression.....

and kudos to the people on this topic for staying on topic !!!!!!! :)

The world could be Eden, but JP Morgan was more interested in $$$.


Funny how the world spins... if you hit a wall and do not understand something, just think "follow the money" ...and wow, it begins to makes sense :(

If you could change just ONE THING in history, what would that be ????? The only limitation is your imagination and depth of historical knowledge....:) politics, heros, villans, natural or man made disasters, disease, religion etc.......



My personal answer follows:
Can you imagine where humanity would be with just this one change... the absence of religion

Mankind would be so much better off if we would take responsibility for our own actions, and loose the imaginary religious fear...(religion is imaginary, a delusion, therefore actually a type of psychosis)

"Religion is unusual among divisible labels in being spectacularly unnecessary. If religious beliefs had any evidence going for them, we might have to respect them in spite of their concomitant unpleasantness. But there is no such evidence. To label people as death-deserving enemies because of disagreements about real world politics is bad enough. To do the same for disagreements about a delusional world inhabited by archangels, demons and imaginary friends is ludicrously tragic." (written by Richard Dawkins)


"Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions." Blaise Pascal, of "Pascal's Wager" fame.

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." (written by Steven Weinberg)

Maybe a simple question, but maybe not such a simple answer.

Please follow me for a minute:
If religion is "any specific system of belief" (Webster's New World Dictionary), than I believe every person is religious. My personal beliefs are close to being a secular humanist, but this still is a belief system...a religion. Others are Jewish, Taoist, Baptist, Scientologist, Roman Catholic, atheist .. etc, etc....

My question....
(and can we try really hard to keep this topic only about this question)

If all people have their own different belief systems (religions),
then what elements of religions or beliefs do we all have in common ????

Maybe a few answers to start this discussion are:
1)a personal need to explain where we came from... (Adam & Eve or big bang etc...)
2)why are we here (serve God, have fun, help our kids and fellow man, no reason)
3) comfort (Jesus cares about us, we are one with nature, we are just protoplasmic goo)

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, ed :)

I guess the bottom line is...
It is so nice that my friends and family close to me don't buy into this mythology...

as your responses have shown....
religion is an imaginary belief system
you can't debate or argue what people imagine in their own minds...

We obviously don't agree here...
but I think we both would agree on:
Hoping you have a Merry Christmas,
and hoping I have a safe and happy holiday :)

QUOTE FROM ABOVE...
"What's amazing is that you buy into that story.


Show me "original sin" in the Bible.

Show me where God ordered the sacrifice.

Show me that you have no clue..."


original sin>>>>>> Romans 5:12

God ordered the sacrifice>>>> god is omnipotent, all powerful, he has his god/son die for human's sins

show me that you have no clue>>> it is amazing in the 21st century that some hang on to such an odd story....mankind will never progress until it looses it's fear of mythological zombies who want to control people :(

It is interesting how believers buy into this story, but when they have to admit how goofy it is, they deny it.....

Today's religion will be tomorrow's mythology

a classic "christian believer response"....

totally avoid the subject and attack the writer :(

so is this the "truth about god/jesus" to believers....
yes or no ????????????????
"I'm going to create man and woman with original sin. Then I am going to impregnate a woman with myself as her child, so that I can be born. Once alive, I will kill myself as a sacrifice to myself in order to save you from the sin I originally condemned you to."

a simple yes or no response is in order,
not more diversion from the question..
can the believers "faith-up" ??

I think this is a more accurate version of the God/Jesus story......

I'm going to create man and woman with original sin. Then I am going to impregnate a woman with myself as her child, so that I can be born. Once alive, I will kill myself as a sacrifice to myself in order to save you from the sin I originally condemned you to.

wow, what a story,
sounds .....unbelievable :(

This might make for an interesting thread... :)

Is terrorism the new religion ????

Religion is based upon fear,
constant unseen, imaginary fear..
and the penalty is the ultimate penalty.. burn in hell for eternity

Our thoughts about Terrorism are fear driven.
We attacked two countries on the other side of the world to make us safer... Our military budget has doubled in 10 years, mainly to help fight terrorism..... The news is filled everyday with credible but unconfirmed terroristic threats.... The penalty for terrorism is death, but the odds of US citizens dying from a terroristic attack is so small, we have a better chance of dying from just about anything else... drunk driver etc.... (unless you are a US soldier sent into harms way, which is another topic....I have the utmost respect for our soldiers, that is why I personally want them home)

Terrorism is an action, and it is defigned by the observer (a terrorist to one is a freedom fighter to another.. the British thought we were terrorists in our War for Independence, but since we won, we look back into history and call ourselves freedom fighters), just like Religion is a thought or ideology. Neither exist except in our minds......

Mykesorrel said it well....
I know this is just my opinion, but i find it interesting that both top world religions have fear mongering and they are both based off a religion that started the whole crap, that don't even really believe in hell. It's like little kids making up a game, then i try to set new rules mid game and because everyone else don't want to play by these new rules state "either you don't play or get kicked off, don't care how good you are and my gang will beat you up".


re-read Morning Song's beginning post.... It is just a rambling of imaginary "truths" all imagined and made up.... the scriptures are...words in a book..nothing more or less, Jesus may or may not have lived, but to make him a god or the god or 1/3 god or whatever is just "unbelievable". And the Jesus followers.. true sheep...just answer the rediculous with..... faith :(

The most incredible aspect of the Jesus myth is that .... in 2011 there are people who still believe it !!!!

Atheism can mean lack of a god belief, which is different than saying there is absolutely no god....and Agnostic just means "do not know"..... so a person can be an atheist and agnostic. Just because a person does not know what the real truth is about god or no god, doesn't automatically default that Abrahamic Myths are true (like Jesus).




And non-believers make up the third largest belief group in USA... Protestants 51%, Catholics 25%, non-believers 15% or more...... etc…

You might think that some faith group must have grown during the last thirty years, and you’d be right: atheists and nonbelievers more than doubled in the eleven years between 1990 and 2001, from 14 million to 29 million: from 8% of the country to 14%. From 2000 to 2005, church attendance fell in all fifty states.

My head spins at the illogic of the Jesus myth and how believers just fill in the blanks with what they imagine to be true ...bingo, here we go again... imaginary, made up...

"Jesus wasn't "created". He was with God our father in the beginning." I thought God came down to earth and insemminated Mary, giving birth to Jesus... then Jesus died for 3 days.... a monotheistic religion...so I guess the universe had no God for 3 days... but them Jesus floated up to heaven, to sit with God and judge us, answer prayers etc.... (this makes no sense) Oh< I forgot the one ingredient that makes all of this "real"...FAITH !!!!!

I wrote this earlier in this blog, and no one touched it ????
Any responses ????

Jeanniebean said it so well......
just imagine, you are in line at Starbucks, and a girl (or guy) says she has a strong personal relationship with Bob. You say "that is so nice, where does he live ??" she replies "in the heavens, up in the clouds somewhere", "how long have you known him"...."I have known him ever since the day I was born again and took him into my life"..."Ohhh, have you ever seen him ??"... "no, but I have faith he is there"...."Hmmm, why do you feel so strongly about this relationship"..."that is easy, if I believe in him, I won't get in trouble for being a sinner, and if I don't believe in him, I will burn forever in Hell"......"Wow, where is Hell??".... "not sure, but I think it is deep in the earth, where it is very hot"............etc, etc, etc

get my drift, we would think this girl is delusional, imagining things and imagining and talking to an invisible friend.... bingo !!!

go to House of Blues downtown,
a cool place with great clubs and restaurants around it...

Saturday night
Battleground speedway races down 21)) south-east of Houston

Galveston,
seawall and Strand...restaurants and clubs, some live music

good luck :)

some people can talk themselves into anything (sounds like yet another definition of religion) ... Webster's definition of evil is "a great misfortune, a disaster" so god makes disasters and misfortunes and that isn't evil???