World Religions - Atheism Discussion Thread

[ben says]

^ Joke, right?

[If_I_Loved_you]

^ Joke, right?

^ Joke, No! Ben says you could accept God into your heart and be just as free as I am. Amen 

[ronchamblin]

Stephen Hawking Says 'There Is No God,' Confirms He's An Atheist.

Stephen Hawking says he's an atheist, arguing that science offers a "more convincing explanation" for the origins of the universe and that the miracles of religion "aren't compatible" with scientific fact.

"Before we understood science, it was natural to believe that God created the universe, but now science offers a more convincing explanation," the celebrated physicist said in a video posted by Spanish newspaper El Mundo. "What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is we would know everything that God would know if there was a God, but there isn't. I'm an atheist."

Hawking's remarks came in response to a question from El Mundo journalist Pablo Jauregui, who quizzed Hawking about his religious leanings in the lead-up to this week's Starmus Festival in the Canary Islands. The "mind of God" reference was Hawking's effort to clarify a passage in his 1988 book "A Brief History of Time," in which he wrote that scientists would "know the mind of God" if a unifying set of scientific principles known colloquially as the theory of everything were discovered.

As NBC News reported, this isn't the first time Hawking has spoken about his religious beliefs.

In 2011, he told The Guardian that he didn't believe in a heaven or an afterlife, calling it "a fairy story for people afraid of the dark." In 2007, he told the BBC that he was "not religious in the normal sense," adding, "I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/stephen-hawking-atheist_n_5882860.html


See.  I've been right all along.  The argument's over.  Done with.

[ronchamblin]

Your nonsense ... disappointing me?  Certainly not.  It was expected.

I suggest you might consider the range and depth of this fellow's thinking, to give it some weight, and to perhaps consider his opinion that the god that millions have believed exists ... does not.  Certainly this fellow ... leading much of the scientific thinking in physics for decades, should be considered when he offers an opinion about something as important as the problem of the existence or the non-existence of the god that has consumed and confused mankind's thoughts for so many centuries.

[Rob68]

If there is a god i want nothing to do with he or it..all powerfull..all knowing all being and allows such suffering and madnes..what a dick...as ive said since my accention from childish ignorance...a god was created as a coping mmechanism for the early man..it worked..survival is dependent upon not being alone....hence..of course there must be someone overseeing us all...im a humanist...i think its a shame that we dont revel in the fact we arent fleas or cockroaches...lol...prefrontal cortexes are awesome.

[ronchamblin]

If there is a god i want nothing to do with he or it..all powerfull..all knowing all being and allows such suffering and madnes..what a dick...as ive said since my accention from childish ignorance...a god was created as a coping mmechanism for the early man..it worked..survival is dependent upon not being alone....hence..of course there must be someone overseeing us all...im a humanist...i think its a shame that we dont revel in the fact we arent fleas or cockroaches...lol...prefrontal cortexes are awesome.

To be disrespectful to the individuals and communities of the past centuries who have, as a consequence of their ignorance of the sciences, and their fear of the powers of nature, sought comfort and direction in believing in a god of some kind, is not my wish.

My wish is to offer the opinion that to continue belief in a god at this time in the history of thought and knowledge should be questioned -- because to continue belief and promote belief will perpetuate the conflicts we see year after year throughout the world .. conflicts often born of these same religious beliefs. 

Beliefs in a god of such great power that he or she will somehow give approval to most any insane assumption or behavior will continue to promote a scenario suggesting individuals depend on a god, when they should depend on themselves ... a scenario suggesting that some spirit is responsible, when they themselves should be responsible.

[ronchamblin]

Your nonsense ... disappointing me?  Certainly not.  It was expected.

I suggest you might consider the range and depth of this fellow's thinking, to give it some weight, and to perhaps consider his opinion that the god that millions have believed exists ... does not.  Certainly this fellow ... leading much of the scientific thinking in physics for decades, should be considered when he offers an opinion about something as important as the problem of the existence or the non-existence of the god that has consumed and confused mankind's thoughts for so many centuries.

I do give Dr. Hawkings thinking weight.

Its yours that I do not.

Your loss sir.  Would you care to repeat some words I've contributed lately that you consider not worthy of reasonable weight ... perhaps explaining the deficiencies therein?  Or do you wish to simply convey nonsense ... no substance ... and your usual insults? 

I suspect a little jealousy on your part because you seem unable to discuss anything of substance with any depth.

[Ocklawaha]

Can anyone tell me with a simple answer:

Do you have a body?
or
Are you a body?

[ronchamblin]

I see.  And of course accusing people who discount your opinions of jealousy is terribly substantive.  Thanks for the depth, Chamblin.

Check my wording sir.  Its not an accusation.  Its a suspicion. That's the only depth the issue requires sir.

[ronchamblin]

Can anyone tell me with a simple answer:

Do you have a body?
or
Are you a body?

An interesting question Ock. Although I might know what a body is, I'm not sure how to define "you" or "I" or "self". 

But yes, as far as I know, I do have a body ... "I" being for the most part within my mind, which is in my brain.   

As to the question "Are you a body?"  ... a simple answer seems impossible to me.

My opinion is that "I" (the self) is in the mind, which is in the brain, but that perhaps, if one recognizes the fact that the motor and sensory nerve endings extend completely throughout the body, I am, to some degree, also "body".
 
So ... if the mind is within the brain, which extends via motor and sensory nerve cells throughout the body, then we might wonder if "all" of the "I" (the self) is in the brain or, by way of nerve cells, does some of the "I"  extend into the body?  If much of the "I" essence exists in the peripheral parts of the body, then my answer to your second question would be "Yes", I am body, but only to the degree that the "I" essence is partitioned to it via the nerve cells.

Somehow, I suspect that you did not expect this answer, and that you had prepared your response for the simple answer of "no" or "yes".  But ... this is the best I can do sir. 

 

[ronchamblin]

Can anyone tell me with a simple answer:

Do you have a body?
or
Are you a body?

Further consideration allows me to say that the answer to the second question would be "No" ... and the answer to the first would be "Yes", which is a consequence of my belief that we, the self, or the "I" of the individual actually exists within the brain.  So, yes, I do have a body ... "I" being in the mind, which is in the brain, which is in the body.

And if one were to extend the idea, one could say that I would exist without a body if a medical team succeeded in an effort to cut away my body and keep my brain alive by feeding whatever nutrition or oxygen it needed.  After this feat, then one could say that I would not have a body. 

If they were able to connect my brain to another body, then I would "have a body" again. 

[ronchamblin]

Pay attention sir.  You must learn to think clearly.  You too often gravitate to nonsense and insult simply because your intellent too often cannot grasp the fundamentals of the subjects at issue.