Religion

I notice a falling away of people from their faiths. And I wonder. What would be the "perks" for becoming Atheist? With faith one has hope in prayer to help them through difficult times. Faith brings comfort. Comfort that a higher existence is looking out for that one. Faith allows one to face death without any fear. "Each person views their own death in their own way."[sic]→ Niche← With faith it's not "lights out" it is not an end but a new beginning; whether true or not, the assurance that death is just a transition, not a delegation of oneself has a pacifying effect upon the truly faithful facing death. It seems to me the faithful are enhanced through the…

Did GOD or nature decide that there would be "food chains" among all living creatures? And can science save us from this ignorance? Hope this is a better explanation.

Are all gods gods of the gaps?

Is there really a conflict between religion and science? Or is it more that religion cannot be proven and assumed to be true using our current scientific methods? What exactly is it that the religions of the world propose which contradict the teachings of science? Would anyone be able to provide a list of these contradictions if this is indeed the case?

Dear atheists, agnostics, theists, and antitheists, There's so much squabbling on this board about religion, about God. But let me ask you something...what difference does it make? The theists will continue being theists, the atheists will keep on being atheists. Flaming each other never changes anything, especially on such a place as the internet. Why can we not simply get along? No matter if we believe in a creator or not, sometimes we forgot the core truth that in the end, we are all Human. One of the best things about being human is our diversity, is it not? Being but Human, we will never have the same ideas or beliefs, but one thing we can have is tolerance. …

Is "evolutionist" a common term in the USA? I find it a worrying piece of newspeak (or perhaps resurgence of a victorian epithet). Ten years ago (when I was a callow youth and more importantly without physical and ethereal (via the ether?) experience of the USA) I would have assumed that it meant something weird - a linguistic formation akin to the fact that a scientologist has nothing to do with science. Now I realise that perhaps it is a necessary word to describe that portion (minority?) of the USA that understand evolution and its scientific basis (and thus must acknowledge that it is almost certainly the best way to describe the change in species over time)…

What is an Atheist? While I think of myself as a SKEPTIC and not an IDIOT, Steve Martin pretty much sums it up in this video. He's pretty much a rich dude and never stolen a penny that I'm aware of. Am I missing something? If nothing else, the group sing was humorous.

Came across this, perhaps can help someone : ----> http://nedhardy.com/2012/01/05/a-flowchart-for-choosing-your-religion/

Firstly please don't make the mistake that our prehistoric ancestors were less intelligent than ourselves we just have more education than they did. I think Gods evolution went something like this: The tribe's leader has a problem to solve, how to control the tribe? He knows the problems that uncontrolled people can do. Hunt one animal too much and it disappears for example. He has a light bulb moment and thinks I know I'll scare them into not doing that. He invents the spirit world and assigns different spirits for different everyday things that need careful handling and so reduce the excess' we humans can go to. A moral compass if you will but we humans are s…

How can there be a loving and good-hearted God if so many good people in the world are constantly suffering, are in persistent pain or are in great trouble like hunger, disease, disability, homlessness or persecution? More Than 1 Billion People Are chronically hungry in the World. These people just don't have enough money to buy food. These people are in a state of persistent hunger pains. 100 million people and especially children in the world live and sleep on the streets. These people are called the chronically homeless. Many of them have no access to food (because they probably have no money), safe drinking water or medicines when they are sick. If you a…

Who is the epitome of Evil, God or Satan? Though shalt place no one above me. Satan did not as he followed God’s instructions with Job. He was firmly under God’s control. Many have jumped through hoops to make anyone other than God the most evil in existence yet scripture says that God gets the Gold star in all categories. Even as the most evil. After all, he is said to have created the concept of law. The Word. All Goods and Evils. The first divisive tool for social manipulation and control. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh1qWZWNGGE God is said to have just about all attributes that man has been able to imagine. God has been reduced to our wish lis…

i got a question. how does science explain soul and GOD? why heart keeps on pumping for several years and most certainly to stop working at 60 :/ why i am here? who i am? i didnt asked any one to create me? why i have interest in games? why i like computer? what is inspiration? please answer my questions

Reading Genesis, the garden of Eden doesn't seem like a very nice place to me. Never changing, no challenges, nothing new or stimulating, not allowed to question anything or try anything, never dying. What use is free will if you can't exercise it? Does anyone really think living like that would be pleasant or have any meaning? This seems worse than the descriptions of hell I've seen. Discuss.

Theist. Who is your Lord and Monarch? Satan or Jesus? Dogma says that God evicted Satan from heaven because he would not bow to man. God also gave man dominion in Eden and this sovereignty was somehow given to Satan. We know this because he used it to tempt Jesus. His dominion thus had to be real or the temptation is a lie. Dogma also says that through Jesus is now the only way for man to reach heaven. The hierarchy of powers over man seems to thus be God at the top, if allowed by Jesus. Second would be Satan as man’s rightful sovereign. Third would be Jesus who usurped the position of the Trinity as the final judge for our admittance to heaven. The variou…

Christians and/or Jews, please post as many detailed examples of biblical prophecies which have been fulfilled as you can think of, and others can discuss their validity. People of other religions, please feel free to do the same.

One thing has been bothering me lately. I seen a video of this old african man standing under a tabernacle using a microphone screaming how the white man as brought nothing but torture and sin to the black people. My very first thought was, but he is using the tools created by the white man to preach his hate about the white man. I seen nothing but Irony. I try and apply this same logic to Christians, modern day Christians or not. Should they enjoy the benefits of automobile transportation, medicines or anything that had to use math and science to further its progression My argument is should the religious use anything that was made with science?

Merry Ibetchathroughoutthe8,000yearsofhumanhistorytherewasanimportantpersonthatwasbornondec25th-mas!

(whee, the first post in this forum) So, this is a problem that's been discussed over and over and over and over again, but perhaps SFN has something unique to say about it. Here's the problem. Suppose we create a set of propositions: If God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient, good people will never suffer disproportionately. God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient. Job is good. (I refer here to the book of Job in the Bible; see Job 1:8 for evidence for this proposition.) Job suffers disproportionately. (See Job 3 and the rest of the book of Job.) So, we have four propositions. What happens if we follow some to their conclus…

Please respect my religion, an unusual take on religion... http://freethoughtnation.com/contributing-writers/63-acharya-s/614-please-re

If there really is a superhuman being out there with a strength levels on par with say Galactus or Eternity in the Marvel comics universe, then what is this being really made of? Is he/it even made from normal atoms of matter? What about dark matter? In case you don't know who Galactus and Eternity are then please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternity_(comics)

I have thought of this extensively and I always wonder if it could be ever possible for the universe to not have consciousness, subconsciousness, or something lower in the past or the future...a kind of like a really low level god idea. My reason(not logic) is that pure nothing seems impossible. And everything seems possible ....kind of like a sort of many worlds idea....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation...like everything that has been thought up...including "supernatural" things is possible. Actually my "something more" thought is probably the most convincing idea I have thought up to make myself believe that there is perhaps…

Often the first premise of the Kalaam Cosmological Argument (All things which begin to exist have a cause) is justified via induction and appeal to our everyday experience as evidence for the inductive inference. However, I posit that this is possibly the weakest inductive inference possible. The Kalaam argument is universally understood to be referring to what is called Creation Ex Nihilo. That means the universe was created from nothing; it was not assembled from previously existing matter and energy. This presents us with a problem since all available information for this inductive act is that regarding what is known as Creation Ex Materia. That means something is crea…

Dear Everyone...atheists,agnostics, religious, spiritual, etc. people, ...I believe you can fly. Think of a logical thought sometimes or don't and then think of a happy thought sometimes or don't; you exist and are free to think of both or one or none. "To entertain a thought without accepting it is the mark of an educated mind" - Aristotle I believe that beliefs should never be altered even slightly through our Mind AND mouth. Beliefs should only be changed through Mind and ears OR Mind and eyes OR Mind and nose OR Mind and touch. That doesn't mean we can't speak of our beliefs...it means that when we speak of our beliefs that our voice should never be intend…

If god existed, we would never be able to comprehend him. If we could comprehend him, he would no longer be god. God is a being that exists beyond our universe. If god existed in our universe then he would have the laws of the universe applied to him, he then is no longer god. As a being that exists beyond our universe, we would never be able to comprehend him as he is beyond the universe and everything we understand. How can we comprehend something that exists beyond the universe? That is like saying, how can a blind child from birth comprehend colour? If you can comprehend him, then he is part of the universe. …

From the beginning of times, space became divided into very small proportions. And then they became added to one another on one to one bases, but their additions were limited to seven layers. And the first four layers (1,2,3, and 4) are subject to an inverse square of their numbers; Whereas the last three layers are subject to a reverse inverse square (4, 3, and 2 squares). And thus the seven layers amount to 59 equal spheres (space divisions). And each of these spheres can maximally accommodate one complete reality, or two semi complete realities. Consequently their extent is limited up to 118 realities, which relates directly to atoms and electrons, meaning that the max…