Since we've gotten told to stop talking generally about religion twice in the Homosexuality and Religion thread and were told that, if we want to talk generally about religion, we need to make a new thread, I have made a new thread.
Full disclosure: I am an agnostic atheist and anti-theist, but I'm very interested in theology and religion.
Mod Edit: All right, there are a couple of ground rules here:
- This is not a thread for mindless bashing of religion or of atheism/agnosticism etc. All view points are welcome here. Let's have a civil debate.
- Religion is a volatile subject. Please don't post here if you can't manage a civil discussion with viewpoints you disagree with. There will be no tolerance for people who can't keep the tone light hearted.
- There is no one true answer for this thread. Don't try to force out opposing voices.
edited 9th Feb '14 1:01:31 PM by Madrugada
And who says principles only come from the head?
Lost in Space
There is nothing strange in identifying a set of principles, such as "the world is a better place if X", then taking actions that further those principles. The heart is notoriously fickle, and our emotions tend to be terrible judges of truth.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
@Handle Exactly! That's why all important words need to be objectively defined beforehand.
But when you have to use words to define words, you have to have variables that'd seem pretty axiomatic or you'd never get off definitions.
Anyway, about the heart and the head...all emotion is basically in the mind, so it's mostly between parts of your brain and the heart is just taking on the consequences. ;p
See? Semantics are the devil.
Who Am I?
Handles right, because intellectual principles are weak predictors of behavior, but if you literally share other peoples joy and suffering, then you are very powerfully motivated to help other people. I have a difficult time imagining a stronger set of incentives.
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
United Earth
Principles taken to the logical extreme end up in things like Principles Zealot and/or Totalitarian Utilitarian. Empathy and sympathy are the real guides, together with enlightened self-interest; ideals are just attempted, imperfect attempts at formalizing them.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
You never see the Doctore anywhere that isnt the UK. This fanfic is a little weird
United Earth
So Atlantis was Gallifrey and the Sonic Screwdriver is a Magic Wand? Maybe HPTRJEP eventually becomes a Time Lord?
edited 29th Mar '15 11:04:49 PM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Shop Owner
That's a good argument, true, on both accounts. But still, ideals and principles they call me and I not one to turn them away.
P.S.: What the fuck has the Doctor got to do with anything.
Guys, he said, "Doctore". Pay attention.
This is a signature.
United Earth
Now I'm even more confused!
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Now my opinion on God is that he's essentially a "Static point" in the universe/omniverse (if more than one exist) containing what might be called "perfection" (as in, omnipotence and omniscience). Where as humans have a broken sense of reality (each perceiving their own little world), God actually experiences objective reality (effectively, making him the Only Sane Man). God is all-loving because he's all-rational, and hatred is irrational. However, his morality could still be very alien to humans, for the same reason that dogs might not understand why jumping on the couch or peeing on the floor is bad.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
Relativity, dude. There is no objective reality.
Lost in Space
Rather, there may be, but we are forever limited by our ontological framework from being 100% certain that we perceive it correctly.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
The law in the night
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Like the deep South in the US, everyone is relative.
edited 30th Mar '15 2:05:57 PM by AngelusNox
Inter arma enim silent leges
A nice butterfly
Is there a name for the thing where people believe they are a god waiting to reincarnate or they are god within themselves or something weird like that?
It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
No, I mean that someone in one reference frame will perceive it one way, someone in another will perceive it another, and you can prove mathematically that they're both correct.
Lost in Space
Math doesn't prove that things are real or correct. It proves that they are logically consistent. Garbage in, garbage out.
edited 30th Mar '15 2:21:12 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Aszur, gimme a sec.
Pick a culture or time if you narrow it down.
"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
A nice butterfly
The 60's.
I am sorry I cannot get any more specific than that and "probably a bunch of hippies were into it".
It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
That helps. I am working on it
"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
A nice butterfly
If it helps any more, they would probably also make a great target for a joke like "So, during sex, do you scream "OH YES, ME!"?"
It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
For people who really like to congratulate themselves out loud.
The law in the night
Aszur not exactly self proclaiming god but parents think
their children may as well be.
I would say that there is objective reality. However, we don't actually experience it. An omniscient being theoretically could.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
It's kinda hard for your principles not be affected by emotions when you are taken to an impoverished community that lives in the late XIX century to do charity work in order to build your empathy. Those Jesuit priests, oh them.
edited 29th Mar '15 12:20:59 PM by vandro