God Did Not Create the Universe
wrote in message ... On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 21:23:24 -0400, "Ed Huntress" wrote: wrote in message . .. On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 19:07:04 -0400, "Ed Huntress" wrote: "Tim Wescott" wrote in message ... On 09/04/2010 05:39 AM, Shall not be infringed wrote: On Sep 3, 12:16 pm, wrote: http://english.donga.com/srv/service...&biid=20100903... "Stephen Hawking Says God Did Not Create the Universe" [ British physicist Stephen Hawking says God was not necessary for the creation of the universe, just as Charles Darwin eliminated the necessity of God from biology. Perhaps Mr. Hawking doesn't sufficiently understand that creation requires a creator. So because you call it creation there must be a creator? Oh, of course -- how could Mr. Hawking have missed the fact that _you_ call it creation, and thus, logically, there must be a creator! Said creator, of course, being someone who looks just like you. These physicists are such dolts. It's maaaa-gic, it's word magic, and the word came first, remember? Actually not, according to some Biblical authorities. But once you have a creator, he needs something to create. Maybe. Or he could decide just to sit there idle, and not to bother creating. According to his followers he retired from creating quite a while ago. They be deists. Now he's busy flattening trailer parks for no good reason. Their God is an angry God. Although the believers claim that all major disasters, no matter how many innocent lives are snuffed, are skydaddy's revenge for gays or whatever. Typical old fart, able to get in a snit about anything. :-) Don't get me started. People believe anything they want to. Among the smart things that Jefferson said, "But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." That's cute, but it's an oversimplification. The popular ability to believe in the unbelievable is at the root of a lot worse things than picked pockets or broken legs. Consider the Toyota thing again - no real evidence, just a "belief" that the computers must be making the cars run away. Then a flood of reports of runaways, even on Toyotas without computers. Followed by claims that the reports prove there's a serious problem. Now, try to tell the believers that *they* will be the ones paying for their pointless hysteria. Heck, all they gotta' do is say they don't believe that either! So here we are, in an era where the unbelievable can become "true" in a few hours with the help of the Internet. Jefferson was well aware of the consequences of religious irrationality, but he couldn't have guessed how low we'd sink due to irrationality in general. Wayne If you think we're progressing toward a rational world, I'm afraid you're in for some big disappointments. d8-) People are hard-wired for religious belief, some psychologists are now telling us. It sounds reasonable to me; it agrees with my experience. As for picked pockets and broken legs, I think we have little choice but to go with the essential nature of people and work with it as much as possible. I favor tolerating every belief system I can, as long as it doesn't do too much damage. Look at someone like Tawwwwwwwm, or Roger -- where would they be, armed with guns but without their belief? Do you really want to see them acting of their own will, full of resentments, without an externally imposed set of values and prohibitions? It keeps them under reasonable control, off the streets and out of serious trouble. In the balance, I'll go with Jefferson. -- Ed Huntress |
God Did Not Create the Universe
On Sun, 5 Sep 2010 23:36:27 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote: wrote in message .. . On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 21:23:24 -0400, "Ed Huntress" wrote: wrote in message ... On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 19:07:04 -0400, "Ed Huntress" wrote: "Tim Wescott" wrote in message ... On 09/04/2010 05:39 AM, Shall not be infringed wrote: On Sep 3, 12:16 pm, wrote: http://english.donga.com/srv/service...&biid=20100903... "Stephen Hawking Says God Did Not Create the Universe" [ British physicist Stephen Hawking says God was not necessary for the creation of the universe, just as Charles Darwin eliminated the necessity of God from biology. Perhaps Mr. Hawking doesn't sufficiently understand that creation requires a creator. So because you call it creation there must be a creator? Oh, of course -- how could Mr. Hawking have missed the fact that _you_ call it creation, and thus, logically, there must be a creator! Said creator, of course, being someone who looks just like you. These physicists are such dolts. It's maaaa-gic, it's word magic, and the word came first, remember? Actually not, according to some Biblical authorities. But once you have a creator, he needs something to create. Maybe. Or he could decide just to sit there idle, and not to bother creating. According to his followers he retired from creating quite a while ago. They be deists. Now he's busy flattening trailer parks for no good reason. Their God is an angry God. Although the believers claim that all major disasters, no matter how many innocent lives are snuffed, are skydaddy's revenge for gays or whatever. Typical old fart, able to get in a snit about anything. :-) Don't get me started. People believe anything they want to. Among the smart things that Jefferson said, "But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." That's cute, but it's an oversimplification. The popular ability to believe in the unbelievable is at the root of a lot worse things than picked pockets or broken legs. Consider the Toyota thing again - no real evidence, just a "belief" that the computers must be making the cars run away. Then a flood of reports of runaways, even on Toyotas without computers. Followed by claims that the reports prove there's a serious problem. Now, try to tell the believers that *they* will be the ones paying for their pointless hysteria. Heck, all they gotta' do is say they don't believe that either! So here we are, in an era where the unbelievable can become "true" in a few hours with the help of the Internet. Jefferson was well aware of the consequences of religious irrationality, but he couldn't have guessed how low we'd sink due to irrationality in general. Wayne If you think we're progressing toward a rational world, I'm afraid you're in for some big disappointments. d8-) I don't know where you'd get the idea that I might think that. Quite the opposite. Jefferson might have reasonably expected us to do better though. People are hard-wired for religious belief, some psychologists are now telling us. It sounds reasonable to me; it agrees with my experience. As for picked pockets and broken legs, I think we have little choice but to go with the essential nature of people and work with it as much as possible. I favor tolerating every belief system I can, as long as it doesn't do too much damage. I've said the same. The trouble is that the cultists refuse to acknowledge damage, or even any reasonable definition of the word. Take the case at hand - not word one from the antis admitting that there's a predictably high price for their position. And what do they care about that anyway? A lot of these "love thy neighbor" folks are the ones whose solution to everything is "nuke em and let god sort em out". Look at someone like Tawwwwwwwm, or Roger -- where would they be, armed with guns but without their belief? Exactly where they are now. For example, it takes a certain mentality to talk of erecting a slaughterhouse next to a community center. They have that mentality, and obviously their religious upbringings didn't cure them of it. Heck, it may have encouraged it. Particularly since one of the tenets of their belief is that one can be a supreme A-hole member, and still be forgiven. Do you really want to see them acting of their own will, full of resentments, without an externally imposed set of values and prohibitions? I don't see any evidence that they're living the good part of their beliefs. They might as well be engorging at a steak house while wearing a T shirt that says "committed vegetarian". It keeps them under reasonable control, off the streets and out of serious trouble. Not hardly. If an atheist or a cult member each find a wallet, they either return it intact or they don't. It generally has nothing to do with religion either way. In the balance, I'll go with Jefferson. Me too, but I won't assume that one quote from long ago would cover his thoughts on current events. By now even he might be ready to entertain the notion that religiousness does more harm than good. Wayne |
God Did Not Create the Universe
On Sep 5, 10:36*pm, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
wrote in message People are hard-wired for religious belief, some psychologists are now telling us. It sounds reasonable to me; it agrees with my experience. As for picked pockets and broken legs, I think we have little choice but to go with the essential nature of people and work with it as much as possible. I favor tolerating every belief system I can, as long as it doesn't do too much damage. Look at someone like Tawwwwwwwm, or Roger -- where would they be, armed with guns but without their belief? Do you really want to see them acting of their own will, full of resentments, without an externally imposed set of values and prohibitions? It keeps them under reasonable control, off the streets and out of serious trouble. In the balance, I'll go with Jefferson. |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:12 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 DIYbanter