Why does anyone need religion? Page 25

Quote: Pingl @ May 25 2013, 10:03 PM BST

Life of Brian is a great work with a religious theme. I hate Imagine I don't like to be told to imagine I have no possessions by a multi millionaire. Its not so much the art as the passion within the art, art without passion is like sunshine without heat pale and lifeless. That light doesn't have to come from religion but much of it has. There is great passion in Van Gough with little if any religious content. Great art does not have to come from religion, it can come from madness, love, hate any strong emotion. But there is no denying it has in the past and that art changed the world

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I think we're probably on the same page here.

Which is: there would have been just as much just as great art in the past even if there hadn't been any religion around to inspire it.

Quote: lofthouse @ May 25 2013, 9:38 PM BST

WTF do you call this??

Total crap

And if you had any decency you would apologize to Pingl for that remark

Anyway I'm not wasting anymore of my Saturday night talking to dickheads like you

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Don't worry Lofty I'm not easily offended and have the hide of an elephant wearing rhino skin pants

Quote: Kevin Murphy @ May 25 2013, 10:06 PM BST

I think we're probably on the same page here.

Which is: there would have been just as much just as great art in the past even if there hadn't been any religion around to inspire it.

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Yes I think there would have. But faith inspired many people to develop there art, we will never know what would have been the artistic results of a Godless world. Although I must say I am no fan of the art of Communist, fascist or totalitarian systems, it tends to be cold and clinical

Just days after she announced to the world from tornado-ravaged Moore, Oklahoma, that she is an atheist, it looks like Rebecca Vitsmun has found salvation.

Not from the Lord, mind you, but from other atheists and friends of atheists.

An Indiegogo campaign titled "Atheists Unite," launched late Thursday by stand-up comic Doug Stanhope, is raking in dollars to help her family rebuild. Less than 17 hours after going live, it met its 60-day goal of $50,000. A little more than an hour later, as we prepared to publish, donations were at $55,000 - and growing.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/24/has-the-oklahoma-atheist-been-saved/

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/atheists-unite

Weird that Americans refer to someone 'coming out' as an atheist.

Quote: zooo @ May 27 2013, 12:04 PM BST

Weird that Americans refer to someone 'coming out' as an atheist.

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Some British atheists have adopted the same terminology.

http://outcampaign.org/

The yanks really are quite backward on this count. The "separation of church and state" in the Constitution isn't worth the paper it's written on.

She's right in the middle of the Bible Belt there though isn't she. That was a brave thing to say on Oklahoma TV even though she probably only meant it in a light hearted funny way, by the sounds of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55h1FO8V_3w

Yes, it's stand up, but I think it's a pretty sound assessment.

And as to the original question?

Religion is for people who are uncomfortable with "I don't know".

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ May 27 2013, 12:18 PM BST

She's right in the middle of the Bible Belt there though isn't she. That was a brave thing to say on Oklahoma TV even though she probably only meant it in a light hearted funny way, by the sounds of it.

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She just said it because an annoying TV news man was trying to get her to say she thanked the Lord for surviving the tornado.

But yeah, it wasn't even that awkward a moment, although some of the stuff I've read has tried to make out that it was.

Quote: Lazzard @ May 27 2013, 12:19 PM BST

Religion is for people who are uncomfortable with "I don't know".

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Haven't watched the link yet, but couldn't that statement be just as easily applied to atheism? The existence of God can neither be proved or disproved. Atheists can no more more prove God doesn't exist than the religious can prove he does. So in a sense the only sane and logical position is to be agnostic.

Quote: chipolata @ May 27 2013, 12:34 PM BST

Haven't watched the link yet, but couldn't that statement be just as easily applied to atheism? The existence of God can neither be proved or disproved. Atheists can no more more prove God doesn't exist than the religious can prove he does. So in a sense the only sane and logical position is to be agnostic.

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If you want to be pedantic about it.

The most famous atheist in the world says he's technically agnostic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9102740/Richard-Dawkins-I-cant-be-sure-God-does-not-exist.html

Most atheists are atheists in the same way they're afairyists or aunicornists.

"I don't believe God exists" is not always the same as "God does not exist".

Quote: Kevin Murphy @ May 27 2013, 12:41 PM BST

If you want to be pedantic about it.

The most famous atheist in the world says he's technically agnostic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9102740/Richard-Dawkins-I-cant-be-sure-God-does-not-exist.html

Most atheists are atheists in the same way they're afairyists or aunicornists.

"I don't believe God exists" is not always the same as "God does not exist".

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Just say "Agree" next time. It's quicker.

Quote: chipolata @ May 27 2013, 12:43 PM BST

Just say "Agree" next time. It's quicker.

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I didn't agree. Your definition of atheism was flawed.

Quote: Kevin Murphy @ May 27 2013, 12:46 PM BST

I didn't agree. Your definition of atheism was flawed.

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Not really, surely if an atheist accepts that he can't know whether God exists or not then isn't he technically agnostic? It might be pedantic, but it's also accurate.

Did a little bit of research; aetheism as a commonly accepted term and form of belief didn't really start until the 18th century.

Albeit it could be argued that it existed in at least a conceptual form in Ancient Greece thousands of years earlier.

The idea of a Godless world is a relatively modern idea.

Beating up on the religious for what happened prior to the 18th century.

Makes as much sense as saying Fredrick Nietzche was a wally because he didn't have a mobile phone.

Really get some perspective on what your cricising.

Quote: chipolata @ May 27 2013, 12:53 PM BST

Not really, surely if an atheist accepts that he can't know whether God exists or not then isn't he technically agnostic? It might be pedantic, but it's also accurate.

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An atheist, by the definition most people use, is somebody who doesn't believe in any gods. You're suggesting that atheists are only people who believe God definitely doesn't exist, which isn't the case.

As I said, not believing that something exists is not the same as believing the opposite.

Quote: sootyj @ May 27 2013, 12:53 PM BST

Beating up on the religious for what happened prior to the 18th century.

Makes as much sense as saying Fredrick Nietzche was a wally because he didn't have a mobile phone.

Really get some perspective on what your cricising.

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I agree. Religion does far too much evil in the modern world. There's really no need to focus on historical abuses.