The Impact of Religion in Shaping Modern Society.

[ProHypster]

A very good interesting philosophical question this time, +rep just for that.

 

By the way my last post about what would happen, of course maybe not in that sequence, just me predicting at that time, but I was saying that in the end there would be the same situation as ours

 

So far, I think for that to happen the robots would have a much lower IQ then us. I have nothing else on that so far, it seems like such an impossible or contradicting situation.

[Dan-95]

I got nothing else to say except: fair enough...

 

 

 

Consensus on a forum? Impossible!

[ProHypster]

Just looking at the voting poll scares me.

[Dan-95]

Whyso?

[ProHypster]

I meant results.

5 people think religion is bad and 2 that it's the worst.

Really??

It shows it affected their own lives in a bad way I guess, either that or they are voting uninformatively, or they are rebels.

[Bjossi]

Just looking at the voting poll scares me.

 

Same here. Someone actually thinks religion in modern and informed society is for the best.

 

No seriously, why do you feel the need to be insulting and attack people? Because it is so easy? You should challenge people's thoughts, opinions and principles, not them. As I have said before, ad hominems are lame, they accomplish nothing. It is not a learning experience for either/any side when one or both/all sides call people rebels or misguided just because they disagree with their world view. It is difficult by human nature to stay unbiased and calm in debates but we can all try and be respectful.

 

Polls are not a very good debate tool though, votes do not need to be backed up or discussed. But for that exact reason they are convenient for letting people express themselves who would otherwise not bother.

[BTGBullseye]

Same here. Someone actually thinks religion in modern and informed society is for the best.

That would be me... When I voted I thought the question was about the intent of the various religions, not how they actually ended up affecting the world.

 

No seriously, why do you feel the need to be insulting and attack people? Because it is so easy? You should challenge people's thoughts, opinions and principles, not them. As I have said before, ad hominems are lame, they accomplish nothing. It is not a learning experience for either/any side when one or both/all sides call people rebels or misguided just because they disagree with their world view. It is difficult by human nature to stay unbiased and calm in debates but we can all try and be respectful.

 

Polls are not a very good debate tool though, votes do not need to be backed up or discussed. But for that exact reason they are convenient for letting people express themselves who would otherwise not bother.

Agreed.

[ProHypster]

Just looking at the voting poll scares me.

 

Same here. Someone actually thinks religion in modern and informed society is for the best.

 

No seriously, why do you feel the need to be insulting and attack people? Because it is so easy? You should challenge people's thoughts, opinions and principles, not them. As I have said before, ad hominems are lame, they accomplish nothing. It is not a learning experience for either/any side when one or both/all sides call people rebels or misguided just because they disagree with their world view. It is difficult by human nature to stay unbiased and calm in debates but we can all try and be respectful.

 

Polls are not a very good debate tool though, votes do not need to be backed up or discussed. But for that exact reason they are convenient for letting people express themselves who would otherwise not bother.

 

What the hell, I didn't even realize I insulted anyone! It was obviously my pesona opinion on this topic.

I will keep standing on my ground, and pass information, you can learn/remember either by rejecting my information or by accepting it but I will not keep quiet.

 

As to my opinion:

 

What should I write, if not, what I think!

 

I'm certainly not a liar, sir, but I am not forcing you to change.

 

And I wil further think, for those who think all religions are false, then I say, lies/lying in general shaped the society we have today for the worst not religion specifically.

It is our own fault, and religion cannot be a scapegoat for all the lying bastards that most of us, humans in general are.

 

I further respect the opinion of the people, but I will not agree, and that is what I stated with the rest being some thoughts I had which are purely my opinion at the time and not a truth that I will defend.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Guest (see edit history)

[ProHypster]

Do consider content that I write for debated issues, take that as an offence, consider my personal view also, but don't take it as an offence.

 

You see if I was trying to offend you, I would curse to you, but I didn't curse to anyone yet so I didn't try to offend anyone yet. I don't even understand how the word "rebel" can offend anyone...

 

Maybe I really suck at expressing myself through writing, but I am not going on forums to offend people, everyone goes to forums when they have nothing better to do, or to learn something new, and share with people who are like you in some way (In this case we are all fans of Ross Scott)

 

And as far as I know Dan-95 wanted to talk about this subject here.

 

May I ask by the way what you think/what is your stance about your topic Dan-95.

 

I'm going to add personally, I've expored another reason why your poll question is improper.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Guest (see edit history)

[Axeldeath]

Just edit your posts SmartGuy.

[ProHypster]

Just edit your posts SmartGuy.

I try and edit them if I see I've written something obviously wrong and messed up my thoughts.

 

As far as that other post, I think it was useful in expressing my opinion though, and worth if there is a defensive response, so I am not editing it.

 

EDIT: Ok, I get what you are saying axel, never mind, I got used to ICQ too much

Edited May 18, 2011 by Guest (see edit history)

[Axeldeath]

No I don't mean edit the content of your posts, I mean instead of doing two posts one after the other just edit you're first post.

[Rover]

I voted negatively, and I'll say why.

 

Religious beliefs are a straitjacket for the mind. The claim to absolute truth is part and parcel to all 3 of the major monotheistic religions. When you claim an absolute untouchable truth you preclude the advancement of knowledge. There's a reason the dark ages are called as such. There's a reason breaking from religious dogma has advanced mankind immensely over the past 300 years. Religion imposes often arbitrary limits on our existence. It lends itself so incredibly well to be used to legitimize bigotry, hatred and animosity. It has always lent itself extremely well to the cause of war. I am not one of those people who claims all war is cause by religion, this would be false. But the increase in the number of people who consider themselves non-religious in the western world is a thing of the past 40 to 50 years. Before this, all wars have been fought by religious individuals. Their much vaunted religious morality has, in general (there are always exceptions), rarely if ever stopped a war.

As for the argument that Religion can be used for good, yes it can, but why is that? Why does religion motivate people to do good?

The more philosophically inclined here will be familiar with the thought experiment of a runaway train. You're at the switch and you can either switch the track and make it go to the platform with 8 people waiting there, or leave the train on it's current track where it will crash onto another platform on which there is a baby. I probably didn't do this justice but that's the gist of it.

 

Now here's the version that demonstrates religious morality.

Now suppose that while you can still switch the track to make the freight train crash into either of two platforms. Only one platform has people waiting there, which is the track the train is currently on, the other platform is empty. And there is a religious person at the switch.

In order to motivate this religious person to switch the train into the track with the empty platform, you have to stand there with a gun and a cake. And say: "If you do not move the train onto the empty platform, I will shoot you. If you do move the train onto the empty platform, I'll give you this delicious cake."

 

Is doing good in order to receive a reward, or avoid punishment still good?

Edited May 18, 2011 by Guest (see edit history)

[Dan-95]

Finally chose an option: positively, going off the old saying 'adversity is the grindstone of life' and diversity.

[Alyxx Thorne]

For me, values are more important than religion itself. To have good morals and values is more important in most cases than if you are Christian, Muslim or a Jew. I would say while religion has had a general positive effect on shaping modern society, since it has formed the basis for most of our laws, it has also had a lot of negative effects which can't be overlooked. A lot of wars are started on the basis of religious disagreements, not to mention terrorism, and the dark side of religion will probably always be there.

[BTGBullseye]

Religious beliefs are a straitjacket for the mind.

That was all it took for me to stop reading what you posted, and give you -rep.

 

I am a 160-170 IQ (last full test was almost a decade ago, so I'm giving a nice range to approximate for you) Catholic, and have yet to see any evidence of anything restraining my mind.

[Alyxx Thorne]

Einstein was religious. What more proof do you need?

[Rover]

Religious beliefs are a straitjacket for the mind.

That was all it took for me to stop reading what you posted, and give you -rep.

 

I am a 160-170 IQ (last full test was almost a decade ago, so I'm giving a nice range to approximate for you) Catholic, and have yet to see any evidence of anything restraining my mind.

 

"I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers."

- Stephen Hawking when asked about his IQ

 

If you are religious, there are certain truths you cannot touch certain truths you cannot question for they are the very basis of your faith. By being religious you automatically preclude the basic tenets of your faith from the possibility of them being wrong.

 

Speaking of -rep don't get me started on that, I read your evolution vs creationism topic.

 

Einstein was religious. What more proof do you need?

 

"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." (Albert Einstein, 1954, The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press)

 

"Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of Nature, and therefore this holds for the action of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a Supernatural Being."

(Albert Einstein, 1936, The Human Side. Responding to a child who wrote and asked if scientists pray.)

 

"The idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I am unable to take seriously." (Albert Einstein, Letter to Hoffman and Dukas, 1946)

 

Einstein was born a jew, he relinquished his faith at the age of 12, he lived and died an agnostic with a deep admiration and appreciation of nature's beauty.

[Alyxx Thorne]

I agree with Stephen Hawking about people who boast about their IQ.

[ProHypster]

Finally chose an option: positively, going off the old saying 'adversity is the grindstone of life' and diversity.

Wisely done.