Just something to ponder. Click on it to get a bigger, printable version.
Recommend this:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Posted by Ian, filed under Atheism. Date: January 5, 2008, 9:49 pm |
34 Responses
Leave a Comment
January 6th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Hi Brain . . . well ya know it does say ‘image’, not ’spittin’ image’. C’mon ya know I am the One Who always has His loophole.
Nice try,
God
January 6th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Indeed, and with a selective and biased interpretation of the naturally vague and watery scriptures, you can make them mean anything you want them to. How convenient for the religious people. Of course, we shouldn’t take “image” too literally. I suppose it should have been obvious really!! The thing is, it’s not obvious. It’s not obvious at all. And the same applies to every bible “prophecy” you can think of too.
January 6th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
hey leave my dad alone it is not his fault that a few power mad humans have hijacked his message, in the begining it was very clear and some of you dressed it up so you can abuse it, i did not write the bible you twats did , i do not ask for people to bow down before me that is all human shit. all i say is enjoy life and dont hurt each other how simple to you fuckers want it
January 6th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
I don’t think Jesus would approve of your language.
January 6th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
This is Jesus. Ian’s right. I blame Luke and John for messing my story up. Now, can I just chill with my father?
January 7th, 2008 at 1:31 am
It says, in the image of god. In his/her mind we are the perfect being hence “the image of god”. But using our free will we slowly dumbed ourselves up and forgot what it was really like to be human. Now we are just the monsters that every animal has come to fear and the only ones capable of destrying an entire planet.
p.s. athiesm has become a religion as soon as atheists decided that you should force it onto people. rather then letting it be a thing of choice its a practice being forced. just like any other religion
January 7th, 2008 at 2:00 am
How do atheists force their beliefs on people?
January 7th, 2008 at 4:57 am
With logic and scientific method those filthy heathens!
January 7th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Sorry, just for not failing in the Final Days (you know what i mean…), when the Bible says: “an eye for an eye” it means really that old kind of tribal justice or it’s a metaphore that means “every one will became blind in front of God”?
January 7th, 2008 at 6:56 am
i approve of my language as shocking as i it however i do applogise if i upset anyone the point i am making is how can any sane person still belive in any god the evidence against it is huge and compleat the world was not formed in 7 days and most of the ot is beyond comment the koran is full of errors yet people hold on to the beliefs written down thousands of years ago and are wiling to go to war for them hiding behind the shield of faith, faith is an excuse for lack of evidence, if a god is so powerful why has he or she not shown themselfs to the masses or put a message for all to see, instead of supposed ones for a few power mad individuals to see in private and then for these same people to try and hold sway over everyone as if they are the chosen few
January 7th, 2008 at 7:02 am
if god had a son where is mrs god? and if he/she does not need to procreate as we humans do why would he have a son it seems to me it is a human idea to write about the son of god which means if you follow my argument i have talked myself out of existance i though therefore i am not
January 7th, 2008 at 10:38 am
@Winter:
p.s. athiesm has become a religion as soon as atheists decided that you should force it onto people. rather then letting it be a thing of choice its a practice being forced. just like any other religion
Shut up, stupid biblefucker. Calling atheism a “religion” just proves how retarded you are. Atheism has no dogma, no doctrine, no forced upbringing, no holy scripture. It has no buildings devoted to it, and no followers.
Thus, it’s only a religion in the minds of zealots such as yourself, clinging at straws trying to bring us down to your level.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Apparently, no one remembers what their dear ol’ mum said to them in childhood- “If you haven’t anything nice to say, don’t say anything at ALL.”
Ettiquette 101
In a philosophical debate of an intellectual nature, one does not call another names. (Poopy head!! el-o-el)
Let’s grow up a little and realize that the sad truth is NO one really KNOWS what the hell we’re doing on this planet, or what occurs afterward, as positive fact. I think that to pretend to is not only erroneous, but also pretentious, and simply as silly as a toilet bowl shaped bathtub. Hehe…
This lack of “proof” That doesn’t make it wrong to speculate, and live for whatever cause or hope one chooses (or lack thereof)- however different that cause or hope (or lack there of) may be from yours, personally. In fact, it is this passion that makes life so much more enjoyable. Very passionate commentary, indeed. Seems like we are programmed to entertain and sift thru these ideas!
January 7th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Finally, someone with sense. But to add my own, science is a religion in it’s self, with laboratories as churches, scientists as priests, and the scientific method as all the doctrine it needs. Most importantly, science is also completely based on faith. No one can prove that the sun will rise up in the east tomorrow, and what is east but a construct of the human mind’s desire for order. I digress, nothing can be proved without a device to measure such phenomena. Does a tree make a sound in the forest without anyone around? It can not be proved, therefore faith must be applied. Faith in “natural law”. Faith in the devices one measures. Faith in the mental saneness of the measurer. All faith, but this is coming from a Solip.
Man is the measure of all things, if he wants to create a god to explain things or whatever he wants, let him. It’s all in your head anyways.
All hail Discordia
January 7th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Loki
Science is not anything like a religion and it is not ‘ completely based of faith’
The mistake I think you are making is to ignore that Science changes its conclusion based on new evidence. These changes can be painful, especially when someone has ‘believed’ something their whole lives.
Religion has a conclusion (Generally a religious text) and then picks and chooses what evidence it would like based on if it fits their belief. These are very different things.
I agree that all things are prone to human perceptions and the sun may not rise in the east or at all (Obviously it doesn’t actually rise at all). However it is not faith that enables us to predict how the world around us actually is. This is done by testing models predictions and hypothesis by a wide range of people based on widely agreed measures and criteria.
My apologies for a poor explanation of how science works, I am not a scientist.
Listen to yourselves
I agree that a lack of proof doesn’t preclude something from being real but in my country I can be prevented from teaching in 20% of state funded schools because I am of the wrong religion or an athiest. (I live in England). If it was only speculation then I would have no issues with religion. The people who run my country are very strongly influenced by beliefs for which there is no more evidence for than there is evidence that pokemon really exist (A child I taught believed this, he was 10 years old)
The fear I have of basing your life on something for which there is no evidence is it may result in the leader of my country taking us to war for something that there is no evidence for - like WMD’s. And if they believe that to fight for ones religion will result in a pass to heaven then any sacrifice is worthwhile, maybe the beginning of a 3rd world war or maybe sacrificing your child because god tells them.
Surely no one believes they know everything for sure, speculation, imagination is the only way forward. I am an atheist because I don’t believe in things that there is no evidence for. EG zues, pokemon, my 14 inch penis, the tooth fairy, most conspiracy theories, a trustworthy politician, etc.
There may be a god exactly as any one of the religions say but there is NO evidence that I know of . And to be honest if god exists then when he condemns me to eternal pain and hell for not playing his twisted little games, I will kick his arse all over heaven for being such a twat.
Atheist (I don’t knowthe truth about anything for sure but if I was going to believe in something for which there is no evidence I will choose to believe I am a great lover)
Cheers
H
January 7th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Atheism is starting to look a lot like a religion from where I sit. It lacks a few of the less important trappings, but ultimately it’s a belief system. Now, I belive a coupla-three things, but in each case I have a data-driven basis for those beliefs. I also know that additiona data may change my beliefs, as may the discovery that some data I’d relied on was not correct. So, I’ve got no problem with belief.
There is only one particular sort of belief that causes problems. That would be faith, which is belief in the absence of reliable evidence. (Right now I’ll need to inform all of the theists out there that neither a beautiful day for you party, your favorite team winning, the structure of the human eye nor your useless brother-in-law going into rehab meet the test for “reliable evidence”. There are too many reasonable alternative explanations for all of those.)
Don’t get too smug, atheists. You have just as much faith that there is no god.
There is no proof either way. (All of life’s miseries and random tragedies also have alternative explanations.) So you must have just as much faith to insist in no god as a Fundy insisting there is. OK, there’s plenty of proof that the King James Bible Fundamentalists’ god is a fraud. Still, the position of the Deists is at least as reasonable as atheism.
The only thing I or anyone else can honestly say about the existence of a god is “I don’t know”.
Atheists can also be as smug as Fundies. I’ve heard agnostics referred to as “cowardly fence sitters”. But I disagree. Just as it takes more guts to advocate for peace when all around you are whipped into a frenzy of war, it takes more guts to say “I don’t know” when all around you are puffed full of their own artifical certainty.
In this way, science is agnostic and therefore not a religion. Science at its best admits the limitations of its knowledge, what it does not know. You can only learn constantly when you admit you don’t know everything already. Science is not in the business of certainty, but of ever reducing our uncertainty. I think…
January 7th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Calling atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:31 am
Who says you’re not?
January 8th, 2008 at 3:14 am
The problem is not whether or not we are made in the image and likeness of god, but we think that means the first commandment is talking about us.
Faith sees god, science sees dark energy, can someone explain the difference to me?
January 8th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Hi again
I don’t know much about this debate as I am just starting to get interested due to the very powerful influence of religion in my country and especially in my job. I am a teacher in England)
However, from my limited reading and discussions I think Atheists would say that they do not give equal respect for theories/beliefs that have differing levels of evidence. If an Atheist put forward a theory that was completely contradicted by science then they would give that as much credence as they do for religion.
If I said I was Superman and didn’t give any evidence for it, I would not expect people to take it as an equally valid argument as the one that says i’m a plain old human. I would expect people to say ‘I don’t believe you’ as Atheists say about Religion.
Cheers
H (Hopefully still moving towards the truth)
January 8th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Atheism is NOT a religion. Faith is not a component of atheism. Atheism means you do not believe in a/any god(s). It doesn’t mean you believe they don’t exist, it means you LACK belief. Important distinction. Agnostics don’t say they don’t know, they say they haven’t chosen. Atheists don’t KNOW that god doesn’t exist, they simply lack the belief that he does exist.
People have in more recent times come to make distinctions between different kinds of atheists which is where I think a lot of the confusion comes into play. “Strong” atheists would contend that God does not exist, which is a positive stance. Not simply a lack of belief, but a belief in non existence. This however is still drastically different than a belief in the existence of something. To assert that something exists, evidence is required.
January 8th, 2008 at 3:33 am
I see there being a few types of atheists. There’s the ones that are just happy to be one and keep it to themselves. Then there are ones that actively try to spread atheism like Richard Dawkins. I try to fit myself in the middle. I’m not afraid to tell people I’m an atheist and I like to share my opinions on my website but I don’t actively go looking for people to “preach” atheism to. I’m just glad people enjoy my opinions enough to spend time reading and posting on here. Thanks everyone for your opinions!
January 8th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Richard Dawkins books on his beliefs are backed up by proven accepted sience, he puts across his arguement in a concise way and is only to happy to meet and talk about it, he does not hide behind an outdated law and scream death threats or demand the law stops people questioning his beliefs, and his work is based on the work of many other people who have stood up to be counted, atheism is not a religion it is a collective of proof ie it is fact that the world is not thousands of years old it is billions the proof is in carbon dating solid proof not something written a few thousand years ago and changed to fit the current state of belief
January 8th, 2008 at 4:09 am
and on the sun appearing each morning the law of probability covers that one the sun would only not appear if there was a change in the earths orbit or the suns position and if one of thoses things happened people of earth would know about it however if there is no change the sun will appeare each morning from the east ( a human name for a certain direction ) as that is the direction the earth spins
January 10th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
good point man… why arnt we invisible dudes
January 10th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Guys.
Chill. I’ve got everything under control.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I look like God!
January 16th, 2008 at 8:05 am
I’m growing this groovy beard now, so I kinda look like Jesus.
Also, atheism is about probability. It’s about the proven chance that something is real, as opposed to being made up by man.
Take the case of God or the bible. It’s all fiction, created by man. Evolution on the other hand has real life examples to back it up. It’s based on logic, not fairy tales.
Dare I say atheists (at least on average) are far more logical than religious people.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Religion (according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary online) is defined as such:
(1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2): commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
Since the principle of atheism denies the existence of the supernatural and therefore cannot be considered a religion as its basic principle is against the very definition of a religion. Merriam-Websters defines it as:
2 a: a disbelief in the existence of deity b: the doctrine that there is no deity
Furthermore, “a” is the Latin prefix equivalent to the modern English “non-” prefix. Theism is religion (again Merriam-Webster):
: belief in the existence of a god or gods; specifically : belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world
In basic terms Atheism is No Religion. And no religion means no supernatural beings. To say that Atheism is a religion is to say Asexual reproduction (ie. Bacteria and Cells) is sexual reproduction or that Abiotic (non-living) is biotic (living).
All definitions were taken from:
http://www.m-w.com/
The rest is common sense that a lots of people lack.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:28 am
@ Rebenga:
Sorry for making you mad, i should have stated i am not a cristian nor do i follow any religions nor have i ever. I simply believe there is a god and that we were given free will. Sure some people believe that all the wrong in the world proves there is not a god or that he/she does not care but if god were to step in then where would our free will be.
the only reason i say atheism is becoming or should be considered a religion is because of the actions some atheists carry and this question always comes to mind, what did all religions start out as? well it was a few people with a set of beliefs such as cults. As these cults grew so did the number of followers and with enough followers it was not a cult anymore it was considered a religion. Don’t get me wrong it wasnt just the numbers that made this a religion but the actions. They started to force it upon others and try to convince people it was a higher truth, “the right path” and with the cristian system alot of people ate that load of bull up. but when i first learned of atheists i never seen or heard of any pressure or “my way is right, your way is wrong” terms being used but but now the more this is growing in popularity the more these actions are taking place.
I dont mean to make anyone angry i just see so much of this now it begs the question, where is atheism heading?. im not saying im right, all im saying is it is beggining to come across as a religion. it’s just my opinion, besides that what this site is for
p.s. i used winter but my name is kurt and from now on that is the name i will post my comments under.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 am
Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank you all for your comments and keeping this from turning into a flamewar.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:28 am
Does he need eyes to see and ears to hear etc.? Dogs have better noses than him? Daredevil doesnt need eyes to see. Don’t you have any other god patterns?
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Thanks for sharing
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I’am a person that who really wants to know what God looks like. Share with me his image please….