Zika

[wolfriverjoe 1,371]

gowlerk

Quote

Since there are something like 6000 "gods" worshiped around the world, how is it that any of them are right?

They are all equally right, and equally wrong.

Equally right in "Your God doesn't exist"?

Equally wrong in "My God is the only true God?"

Agreed.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[billvon 2,478]

>Equally right in "Your God doesn't exist"?

Not quite. No one can make the above statement with any certainty.

[winsor 192]

billvon

How did this become a religious thread? Zika is a threat to everyone. Religious types are helping out. Secular organizations are helping out.

Viruses are the means of smiting the wicked.

[winsor 192]

billvon

>Equally right in "Your God doesn't exist"?

Not quite. No one can make the above statement with any certainty.

If you have 100 people that each believe in a different deity, and each claims that all the others are wrong, I submit that each is accurate in the latter assessment.

[gowlerk 1,956]

billvon

>Equally right in "Your God doesn't exist"?

Not quite. No one can make the above statement with any certainty.

God is like Elvis, She is everywhere. She is in everything. Some people can only see Her in a few places, but She is universal. (BTW, God does not really have a gender, why would the creator have need of gender? I just choose feminine pronouns as a personal choice, I like the idea.) So therefore, all the Gods that people worship are real, to them.

You can choose differently as you like. I'm making this all up as I go. And it is as valid as anyone else's belief.

One belief that I find particularly absurd is that God created man in His own image. Just how conceited does a man have to be to make that up?

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[winsor 192]

gowlerk

***>Equally right in "Your God doesn't exist"?

Not quite. No one can make the above statement with any certainty.

God is like Elvis, She is everywhere. She is in everything. Some people can only see Her in a few places, but She is universal. (BTW, God does not really have a gender, why would the creator have need of gender? I just choose feminine pronouns as a personal choice, I like the idea.) So therefore, all the Gods that people worship are real, to them.

You can choose differently as you like. I'm making this all up as I go. And it is as valid as anyone else's belief.

One belief that I find particularly absurd is that God created man in His own image. Just how conceited does a man have to be to make that up?

Elvis has left the building.

[headoverheels 292]

gowlerk

One belief that I find particularly absurd is that God created man in His own image. Just how conceited does a man have to be to make that up?

Not as egotistical as to think that God has any interest in our daily activities.

[gowlerk 1,956]

headoverheels

***

One belief that I find particularly absurd is that God created man in His own image. Just how conceited does a man have to be to make that up?

Not as egotistical as to think that God has any interest in our daily activities.

The world is just God's lego toy set, or like a model railway. She looks down from her heavenly perch and runs it like a conductor. Hey, wait a minute, no wonder male pronouns are normally use to refer to Her!

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[kallend 1,683]

billvon

>Equally right in "Your God doesn't exist"?

Not quite. No one can make the above statement with any certainty.

We could use Bayes Theorem to calculate the conditional probability for the existence of any of the 6,000 gods referred to.

Of course, the evidence for the existence of any of them is exactly the same - ZERO.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,478]

>If you have 100 people that each believe in a different deity, and each claims that all
>the others are wrong, I submit that each is accurate in the latter assessment.

But if you have 100 people with different beliefs, but also think that other people may be just as right, they would be equally accurate.

Since reality is somewhere between the two extremes, you can't say either with certainty.

[billvon 2,478]

> And it is as valid as anyone else's belief.

I wouldn't say they are equally valid, but most are valid to _some_ degree.

[winsor 192]

billvon

>If you have 100 people that each believe in a different deity, and each claims that all
>the others are wrong, I submit that each is accurate in the latter assessment.

But if you have 100 people with different beliefs, but also think that other people may be just as right, they would be equally accurate.

Since reality is somewhere between the two extremes, you can't say either with certainty.

There is a finite likelihood that a book on my shelf will undergo a spontaneous chain reaction and cause a nuclear explosion.

This likelihood rounds of to any significant digits to zero. This likelihood is, however, many orders of magnitude greater than the likelihood that anything resembling any common definition of a deity exists.

Calling bullshit is thus not a stretch.

[kallend 1,683]

winsor

***>If you have 100 people that each believe in a different deity, and each claims that all
>the others are wrong, I submit that each is accurate in the latter assessment.

But if you have 100 people with different beliefs, but also think that other people may be just as right, they would be equally accurate.

Since reality is somewhere between the two extremes, you can't say either with certainty.

There is a finite likelihood that a book on my shelf will undergo a spontaneous chain reaction and cause a nuclear explosion.

This likelihood rounds of to any significant digits to zero.

Having met you, I think you seriously underestimate the likelihood for a book on YOUR shelf.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Coreeece 2]

DanG

***We were essentially talking about an instinct that predisposes one to acknowledge the possibility of a deity. You said that if people didn't independently come to the same conclusion, it would prove that the deity didn't exist. I'm simply asking you to explain that logic.

The logic is pretty clear. If, as you believe, Man has an innate desire to search for God

[Coreeece 2]

wolfriverjoe

Ok, here is the question posed above by DanG:

Quote

yadi, yadi, yada...

Sigh...

Since you insist, I went back and replied to Dan's question in the post above.

Never was there an answer....not without listening, without seeing - Gilmour

[wolfriverjoe 1,371]

You mention the beginning of the NPR story involving Jesse Bering.

You left out the 2nd part.

The part where he looked at the evolutionary (survival) value of believing in a God.
Which turned out to be pretty high. That belief had serious and valuable consequences.

It doesn't make God any more (or less) real. It just offers an explanation as to why that belief structure seems to be "hard wired" into our brains.

Sort of like pattern recognition.

We now see faces in clouds and stuff like that. That ability is a direct carryover from the ability to recognize camouflaged predators that were hunting people. We've taken the ability to spot a tiger in the brush to "There was a civilization on Mars!!!"

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Coreeece 2]

wolfriverjoe

You mention the beginning of the NPR story involving Jesse Bering.

You left out the 2nd part.

The part where he looked at the evolutionary (survival) value of believing in a God.
Which turned out to be pretty high. That belief had serious and valuable consequences.

It doesn't make God any more (or less) real. It just offers an explanation as to why that belief structure seems to be "hard wired" into our brains.

Just as I suspected.

You and Dan seem to be under the impression that I was using this to somehow give validity to my flavor of religion or prove the existence of God. I wasn't - which is why I didn't offer up any specifics about my faith. Dan is the one that interjected my beliefs into the conversation and offered up false assumptions in an attempt to trample underfoot something that I hold very dear to my heart.

This instinct doesn't prove God's existence anymore than the varying experiences derived from that instinct prove his non-existence, as Dan suggested.

Never was there an answer....not without listening, without seeing - Gilmour

[billvon 2,478]

>This instinct doesn't prove God's existence . . . .

Correct. It just gives an explanation of why people would come up with a God, whether or not God exists.

[Coreeece 2]

billvon

>This instinct doesn't prove God's existence . . . .

Correct. It just gives an explanation of why people would come up with a God, whether or not God exists.

Or even whether or not you actually believe in him - as I stated in the second paragraph of post 64.

My point is that people are born this way, yet people still mock religious belief. Don't they know that if you mock people in today's society for the way they are born, you'll be labeled a bigot that suffers from various phobias?

Never was there an answer....not without listening, without seeing - Gilmour

[gowlerk 1,956]

Yes, I find the Chris Hutchins angry in your face atheism, the kind of people who feel obligated to try to show how foolish belief is, to be just as irritating as those selling religion.

Faith and God can not be proved, and it also can't be disproved. Believe anything you want. My God will judge you on your behavior, not your belief.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[Coreeece 2]

gowlerk

Yes, I find the Chris Hutchins angry in your face atheism, the kind of people who feel obligated to try to show how foolish belief is, to be just as irritating as those selling religion.

I still don't think there's anything wrong with sharing your perspective on belief, or lack thereof. Prior to my acceptance of Christianity at 27, I explored a variety of religious texts and entertained various spiritual ideas. Ultimately, it was the character of Christ that most accurately embodied the idea of what I thought God to be - or perhaps more accurately - what I would want him to be.

For me, the relation to Christ lent validity to scripture and I started to apply to my life, the principles found within - things like proverbs and various teachings of Christ. It's all been very beneficial and quite an interesting journey thus far - but without insight from other christians, it's doubtful I would be traveling down this path of such an amazing experience - and I'm thankful for that, even in the midst of trials along that path.

gowlerk

Faith and God can not be proved, and it also can't be disproved. Believe anything you want. My God will judge you on your behavior, not your belief.

Christianity has taught that the heart or belief behind your behavior is important as well. You can give to charity all you want, but are you really doing it out of empathy because you really care, or are you doing it more for self serving reasons like media exposure, financial gain or personal praise?

Never was there an answer....not without listening, without seeing - Gilmour

[kallend 1,683]

Zika transmission confirmed in Florida.

Medicaid funds can be used to help fight against Zika, but Florida is among the states that refused to expand Medicaid so as to thumb its nose at Obama.

www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/health/zika-south/

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[normiss 644]

Seems like Congress was also of little help.