When people ask me what my problem with religion is, one answer is not enough

[Mech]

I think a lot of religious people were massacred during Communists regimes under the assumption of a blank slate

... In what sense?

[JellyDonut]

A blank sheet of paper has no blotches, and so the newest and most beautiful words can be written on it.

http://polatulet.narod.ru/dvc/spbs/pinker_blankslate.html#ch_08
Steven Pinker explained it a lot better than I ever could. If you've got time to read a chapter

[slothpomba]

That doesn't really prove a lot?

None the less its a well known fact communist states have and do look down upon religion and repress it on a pretty serious scale half the time. Communist states, especially in the tradition of lenin tend to enforce a kind of state atheism. I think this arises out of Marxism though, in part because in the time marx lived the church was quite often not the good guy; that religion was used by the bourgeois to rule and suppress people according to him, in his time. We can all be reminded of his famous line that "religion is the opiate of the masses", so i'm sure we can tell his disposition towards that. I'll just use a slightly famous poster for illustration of this, not that i necessarily agree with it:



It's interesting in a political sense but i don't see the relevance all that much to whats at hand? I did skip through a couple pages though. Are you trying to illustrate that non-religious and even atheistic people and states also do bad things?

[MJRomeo81]

Same shit different thread.

Zero tolerance policies

ATAR Notes (AN) will always be a safe community environment for all denominations of society. This means no racism, homophobia, or discrimination of any kind. Any comments making mass generalisations on the basis of sex, race, religion, or sexual preference must be supported by citable empirical evidence.

A truly dangerous weapon that makes good people do evil things, and allows evil people a vehicle to exponentially grow the damage of their wicked actions.

Mass generalisation.

Without fail, whenever you have a religious community. Bad shit happens.

Real mature. This is the third time I've had to quote the forum rules. I have no problem with your beliefs. However I find it disrespectful that you insult and ridicule my religion. The rules are there for a reason. If they won't be enforced in future, it will become obvious that you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself.

It amazes me that an administrator would post such a topic considering the various religious faiths and beliefs held by members on this board. Seriously enwiabe, go and search for some other purpose in your life. The whole "I'm trying to help humanity" crap is getting old. You sound like a basement dweller who needs to confirm his non-religious beliefs.

[Special At Specialist]

I don't really want to enter into a discussion about whether religion is wholly bad or not, bound to wind up a circle jerk. I think people are creating false dichotomies here, only thinking there can be black and white, when there can actually be many shades in between.

We've moved on from that quite a while ago.
Now we're discussing the existence of a god and the ontological arguments.
Actually nvm, we've started talking about it again...

Yeah, still not working for me. Could you do it not in terms of graphs or anything mathematical (above arithmetic and things like that)

There is no easier way to explain an infinite regression, since infinity itself is a mathematical term.
Just picture a line that goes on forever. A line which has no start or end point. A line which has an infinite regression.
If the line can have an infinite regression, does that mean so can a chain of events?

[enwiabe]

Same shit different thread.

Zero tolerance policies

ATAR Notes (AN) will always be a safe community environment for all denominations of society. This means no racism, homophobia, or discrimination of any kind. Any comments making mass generalisations on the basis of sex, race, religion, or sexual preference must be supported by citable empirical evidence.

A truly dangerous weapon that makes good people do evil things, and allows evil people a vehicle to exponentially grow the damage of their wicked actions.

Mass generalisation.

Without fail, whenever you have a religious community. Bad shit happens.

Real mature. This is the third time I've had to quote the forum rules. I have no problem with your beliefs. However I find it disrespectful that you insult and ridicule my religion. The rules are there for a reason. If they won't be enforced in future, it will become obvious that you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself.

It amazes me that an administrator would post such a topic considering the various religious faiths and beliefs held by members on this board. Seriously enwiabe, go and search for some other purpose in your life. The whole "I'm trying to help humanity" crap is getting old. You sound like a basement dweller who needs to confirm his non-religious beliefs.

And you sound like someone who is so insecure about his beliefs that he cannot stand them being opened up for debate. FYI, the evidence I have for religion being a bad thing is, well, all of history...

[JellyDonut]

It's interesting in a political sense but i don't see the relevance all that much to whats at hand? I did skip through a couple pages though. Are you trying to illustrate that non-religious and even atheistic people and states also do bad things?

I think (my thoughts aren't always coherent) that I was trying to point out that even the most ardent atheists do commit the same systematic murders (in the case of communitsts, happened countless times throughout revolutions) as religious people, with the same degree of dogmatism. So yeah.

[Mech]

A blank sheet of paper has no blotches, and so the newest and most beautiful words can be written on it.

http://polatulet.narod.ru/dvc/spbs/pinker_blankslate.html#ch_08
Steven Pinker explained it a lot better than I ever could. If you've got time to read a chapter

I have read that book. Tabula rasa is the term. But, I am not quite sure how it relates to communism.

EDIT: Wait up, I just realized what you meant. Sorry, I have not read Pinker's book in a while.

(Thanks for the link, btw )

[JellyDonut]

Tabula rasa makes me sound like some monk in an unknown monastery discovering the secrets of fortified wine and getting drunk off that. Actually, I might become a Scottish monk now

Edit: A blind, mad monk at that. Actually, anything latin would conjure up this image

[Planck's constant]

I havent kept up with the debate for a few hours ... who's winning ?

[Special At Specialist]

I havent kept up with the debate for a few hours ... who's winning ?

The debate is kind of gone lol. Everyone keeps going off-topic and no-one is arguing properly. It's either an attack against another person or an off-topic statement about some event that happened in the past.

[EvangelionZeta]

I havent kept up with the debate for a few hours ... who's winning ?

It's an internet debate.  Nobody wins.

[Mech]

Tabula rasa makes me sound like some monk in an unknown monastery discovering the secrets of fortified wine and getting drunk off that. Actually, I might become a Scottish monk now

Edit: A blind, mad monk at that. Actually, anything latin would conjure up this image

Does not sound so bad to me

I havent kept up with the debate for a few hours ... who's winning ?

I do not think anyone is "winning"; I think bickering occurred for the most part.

I havent kept up with the debate for a few hours ... who's winning ?

The debate is kind of gone lol. Everyone keeps going off-topic and no-one is arguing properly. It's either an attack against another person or an off-topic statement about some event that happened in the past.

Here I was thinking I was being respectful and not attacking anyone. 

[MJRomeo81]

Same shit different thread.

Zero tolerance policies

ATAR Notes (AN) will always be a safe community environment for all denominations of society. This means no racism, homophobia, or discrimination of any kind. Any comments making mass generalisations on the basis of sex, race, religion, or sexual preference must be supported by citable empirical evidence.

A truly dangerous weapon that makes good people do evil things, and allows evil people a vehicle to exponentially grow the damage of their wicked actions.

Mass generalisation.

Without fail, whenever you have a religious community. Bad shit happens.

Real mature. This is the third time I've had to quote the forum rules. I have no problem with your beliefs. However I find it disrespectful that you insult and ridicule my religion. The rules are there for a reason. If they won't be enforced in future, it will become obvious that you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself.

It amazes me that an administrator would post such a topic considering the various religious faiths and beliefs held by members on this board. Seriously enwiabe, go and search for some other purpose in your life. The whole "I'm trying to help humanity" crap is getting old. You sound like a basement dweller who needs to confirm his non-religious beliefs.

And you sound like someone who is so insecure about his beliefs that he cannot stand them being opened up for debate. FYI, the evidence I have for religion being a bad thing is, well, all of history...

I'm not insecure. You're the one who started this discussion out of nowhere, almost as I am bound to respond with a scientific argument that proves the existence of God. What response are you trying to elicit?

[Special At Specialist]

I am bound to respond with a scientific argument that proves the existence of God.

Please provide one.