What is your religion?

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Originally Posted by Billionfold

Interesting outlook, but I believe that with this one life you get one shot. You better make the best of it, and never take it for granted. Not everyone is as lucky as you or I, and you should remember that every day.

It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody. :stoned:

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Your right we do only have one chance, in my eyes when i die i will never change, my personality will be set in stone. To me makeing the best of it is following my religion and its virtues. I never take life for granted, i know that free will means death is unpredictable. So i do what i can to make sure the eternal me will be respectable and loyal to god.

And your totaly right, believe whatever you want. As long as you dont force it on other people, or hurt them of course. Not that trying to convince someone casually is against the rules :). Your fun to talk to i wish pms were still around.

Atheist.

I was baptised as a Catholic though.

I still enjoy learning about other religions. I feel that you can't make such huge decisions on faith unless you have educated yourself.

i'm really surprised at how many have said science is a 'religion.' religion is based on faith; the unknown; subjective reality. science is based first on question, then investigation, then conclusion; facts.

atheism is pro-logic, pro-reason. we [mankind] have been given no evidence or proof of a higher 'authority.' if you can prove it that's fine. but you can never be called upon to prove a negative - that's a basic law of logic. people have been trying to prove god for thousands of years and all it has done is lead to great eras such as the Dark Ages and the Crusades.

men and women have looked to faith and emotion to guide their life and have gotten nowhere. more people have died in the name of faith than any other reason in history. look at the failure of the middle east vs the prosperity of Western culture. faith vs reason.

there is one thing that separates us from animals and that is our ability to turn perceptual data into complex concepts. when you surrender your mind to faith or emotions or whim you are no more than a sacrificial animal, or 'lamb' or 'sheep' or however that great work of fiction puts it.

now go out and think dammit!

tonight's rant brought to you by :pipe:

^:thumbsup:

db

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i'm really surprised at how many have said science is a 'religion.' religion is based on faith; the unknown; subjective reality. science is based first on question, then investigation, then conclusion; facts.

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I have to disagree, man, science tends to become a religion and a HALF. If you look at religion as a set of tenets and practices centered around some sort of moral or supernatural claim about the nature of reality (definition lifted from wikipedia), and then consider the way an average individual (not necessarily a scientist) who identifies as "agnostic, atheist, spiritual" or any liberalized belief set that usually grounds it's moral tenacity in a scientific rationale of the environment or inter-personal relationships, the "science" they follow is never pure in it's logic or even accurate by the scientific method.

Examples include the religion of Environmentalism (this one is the most evident nowadays), the religion of Pantheism, the religion of Atheism.

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Originally Posted by TurnyBright

I have to disagree, man, science tends to become a religion and a HALF. If you look at religion as a set of tenets and practices centered around some sort of moral or supernatural claim about the nature of reality (definition lifted from wikipedia), and then consider the way an average individual (not necessarily a scientist) who identifies as "agnostic, atheist, spiritual" or any liberalized belief set that usually grounds it's moral tenacity in a scientific rationale of the environment or inter-personal relationships, the "science" they follow is never pure in it's logic or even accurate by the scientific method.

Examples include the religion of Environmentalism (this one is the most evident nowadays), the religion of Pantheism, the religion of Atheism.

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i would have to give wiki a thumbs down for defining religion as ...centered around moral or supernatural reality. religion is always based on a transcendental universe. if someone claims science as their religion they have no concept of science or religion. a set of values and practices centered around morality is a philosophy (though, some hold christianity as a good philosophy) and, if reason guides this morality then its based on scientific thought. science is and should be a part of thought and rational action. to compare religion to science is to compare apples to a sirloin steak: they aren't even on the same level of the intellectual pyramid.

religion of atheism?
atheism is not based on faith - it is a conviction.

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religion is always based on a transcendental universe

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What about Unitarian Universalism? They believe in believing whatever the heck you want, while maintaining a basic connection and community with other people.

Tenrikyo is specifically based on living joyously on earth by specific values.

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to compare religion to science is to compare apples to a sirloin steak: they aren't even on the same level of the intellectual pyramid.

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I love Freeman Dyson, so I'll leave you with this quote (in addition to my new signature)

"Science and religion are two windows that people look through, trying to understand the big universe outside, trying to understand why we are here. The two windows give different views, but they look out at the same universe. Both views are one-sided, neither is complete. Both leave out essential features of the real world. And both are worthy of respect.

Trouble arises when either science or religion claims universal jurisdiction, when either religious dogma or scientific dogma claims to be infallible. Religious creationists and scientific materialists are equally dogmatic and insensitive. By their arrogance they bring both science and religion into disrepute. The media exaggerate their numbers and importance. The media rarely mention the fact that the great majority of religious people belong to moderate denominations that treat science with respect, or the fact that the great majority of scientists treat religion with respect so long as religion does not claim jurisdiction over scientific questions." -Dyson

sure i think you can believe in whatever you want. i may not approve or accept but i grant you the right. what you mentioned sounds like a philosophy, not a religion that holds the human mind subservient to some guy in the sky.

Dyson is right about one thing: both are somewhat incomplete.
Religion is like a math equation with missing variables yet still has an alleged answer. With science we start with what we know then continue from there - incomplete because we simply don't know everything. but, we can prove what we do know.

I agree with above poster.

I think that science and spirituality can co-exist. Just look at physics. A lot of physicists believe in God or some sort of spiritual nature to reality because of the things that they are discovering right now. I personally find it difficult to not see a spiritual side to things, but I also find it difficult to discredit science as well. Evolution, another heated debate, I believe is a very spiritual process, but also you can study it in a scientific matter, leaving God out of it if you choose. To me, both can exist simultaneously.

i think they will coexist simply because there will always be an intellectual issue. however, they are contradictions. contradictions are impossible in a proper social system, philosophically.