Believing out of FEAR

No.
Question answered.
Science prevails!

Look at a country like France. A whopping 80% of its electricity comes from nuclear power, yet not once has there been a related accident in the country. If regulations are followed and common sense used, it is a safe, cheap, environmentally friendly and extremely effective energy source. ONE uranium fuel pellet, weighing on average 7 grams, has the same power output as approximately one ton of coal. Over a hundred tons of these pellets can be present in a single reactor.

Solar and wind power are cheap and easy and should be utilized, but each solar cell or wind turbine generates minimal electricity. You're not going to power a city with them alone, and that's where nuclear comes in.

EDIT: Sorry for swerving off-topic, ShockWaveee, I'll nip it in the bud here.

 

while it does produce less electricity, if used on a mass scale it could provide the same amount of electricity we use now.

so, after depleting one resource, we should start on another?
another that is dangerous. you name one small country that has had no accidents, that is hardly conclusive evidence. by your logic, we should all allow cocaine imports and exports, since it works for some countries.

 

France is hardly a small country, it has a population of over 60 million. I used it as the example because it's the highest nuclear-sourced electrical energy percentage in the world. They strictly follow procedure and aren't situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire, hence their great success story.

We're completely off topic so I'm not going to discuss it here any further, but I will gladly contribute to a nuclear debate thread, if you'd care to create one.

On-topic, the problem is that people accept the word of authority. If somebody isn't given unbiased exposure to the scientific problem solving process as a child, they will retain downright stupid beliefs throughout their lives, and even pass them on to the next generation on the basis that it's how they were raised. Even if they have an ounce of common sense, most don't dare to renounce their faith because of the fear of God instilled in them since they could first communicate. Strict religious upbringings and schools with selective curriculums are seriously dangerous things. If I am lucky enough to ever amass an enviable pile of cash, I'll fund critical thinking classes for all children and adolescents, because I hate inherited religion with a passion.

 

Unless you have read the Quran,Bible, and other Holy Books then you cannot argue by saying their belief is driven by fear. However if you have read all the book's and understand the meanings then you are entitled to your opinion. I don't think you can make such a bold statement without having any knowledge on the topic.

 

Their belief is driven by three possible 'things'.

Irrationality and ignorance.

OR

Fear.

OR

The need for God in order to alleviate their self destructing consciousness, as such they ignore irrationality and are ignorant, as the concept of a God mitigates their cognitive self made problems.

Irrationality in logical reasoning for the existence of a God, and ignorance of their own irrationality.

Fear of punishment, essentially Pascal's Wager.

 

Sigh, you have yet AGAIN posted without proper understanding of what I even meant. I am not saying that these religions base their belief systems on fear (even though it's very easy to argue that they do, but that's another argument for a different topic) I am only saying the people who choose to believe only because they're afraid of people wrong, or think they have "nothing to lose" by doing so, are stupid. If you make yet another post with the same bullshit I'm just going to report you as spam, you have posted pretty much the same thing like 5 times in a row and I've told you every single time you haven't understood a thing I said.

 

Or the people believe because they believe that the message a certain religion preaches, is true.

 

What if being yourself is believing in God? To me, it is just as far fetched to believe in any other scientific theory on how the earth and life came to be than believing that a God created it all. It had to start somewhere. Just saying, well, the solar system always existed, that is just silly.

I personally feel that it takes just as much faith to believe in a scientific reason explaining life as it does in believing that a God created life. I am a believer in God because I choose to be because after looking at many different things, I find it just as easy to believe as everything else and have chosen that that is what I feel to be true because of many different personal experiences.

I don't bash others for their beliefs, both of my brothers are agnostic and we have healthy conversations all the time on our different beliefs. The bottom line is, no one truly 100% knows how life came to be, and until it is proven and not just by theorys, there is no reason for people to not belive in what they feel strongest about.

 

From here on out, idiot replies such as the last two that do not pertain to anything I have posted WILL be reported as spam + ignored. I am not trying to argue which viewpoint is correct. I've said that about 100 times now. L2READ.

 

Read OP, edit2 is directed exactly at people like you. I don't give a fuck what you believe, this thread isn't about that. If you're certain about your beliefs and aren't only a theist because you're scared of being wrong, then this topic has NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. I warned you like 5 times, so I'm gonna go ahead and report you for spamming now. Please, stay the fuck off of my topic. You haven't added anything even remotely valid to the conversation, so please, just do me a favor and stay out of this until you can come to understand what I'm saying.

 

I don't understand why you are getting so mad. You posted a thread and im expressing my opinion regarding the topic. Just because im bringing good points onto the topic you feel like it's ruining the thread. I will not stop posting on this topic, because i feel like i can contribute to it a lot.

 

I believe the majority of why people believe in what they do is for two reasons:
FEAR of loss
WANT of gain

christians: afraid to burn in hell. want to go to heaven and live forever
Muslims: also afraid of hell, want to to go heaven and knock up their virgins

those are the only two religions i know very much about but i think it is a pretty good cross section of the worlds religions.

 

You reply saying anyone who does not agree with you is spamming and will be reported? What kind of thread is this? I read the topic. You talk about how you feel that it is stupid that people believe out of fear or believe in god to like "cover their bases" just in case it ends up being true. I agree with that part. What I was saying in my reply was the reasons why I believe, I thought that was pretty self explanatory to anyone with half a brain who read.

If you want a discussion to take place, stop threatening people who come in and express their views and assuming they didn't read or don't know what you are saying. We know, it's just, what more do you say about it? People of both sides of the field will always feel that it is stupid. People who are religious will feel it is stupid that people believe out of fear or people believe because they want to just in case kind of thing, and thiests will feel the same because they will feel it is a stupid reason to believe.

Just because someone replys with something that doesn't directly talk about what you said doesn't mean they don't know what they are doing, it is part of discussion. Also, take some of your own advice and read. Where in my post did I say which one was correct? I said which one I believe and why. It has everything to do with the topic because it relates to why people believe. You posted what you thought was a stupid reason to believe.

Seriously, just quit bashing people who you don't agree with and actually argue a point. All you say is, "thats not what i intended this topic too be about". Big deal, discussion moves topics into different views of the original post. It's not like we are off-topic, it's not like we have went from talking about people believing in god out of fear to talking about our favorite carnival ride.


FFS.

EDIT: And just because I know you are going to reply and say, I am not bashing people who I don't agree with, I am bashing people who can't read and need to stay on topic. Look through the messages in this thread. There are tons that are off topic, some as far as talking about France. Some are also talking about reasons to not believe in God, like the dude who posted the 3 reasons why people believe in God, with all of them being super bias and pretty much saying, you either do it out of fear or because you are ignorant, you don't reply to these people saying they are off topic and bash them saying they need to read the topic title and threaten to report them for spam. The only people you do that to are the people who believe in God. Check mate?

 

Honestly, I'm not even reading your replies at this point. I skimmed over it but that's about it, because I know the jest of what you're trying to say is that I'm only being confrontational with people who are trying to argue about religion, and yeah you're right, I am. I'm getting pissed more so at the people who post shit trying to back up their beliefs because that's NOT WHAT THIS FUCKING TOPIC IS ABOUT and have no interest in discussion religious beliefs, and I've said this MULTIPLE TIMES. Everyone else that went off topic pissed me off as well, but at least it stemmed from something I said! I've said like 5 times that you don't need to explain your reasoning to me, because I do not give a flying fuck why you believe or why you don't believe. My SOLE reason for posting this thread was to enlighten people with the mindset that they have nothing to lose by believing, that they have something to lose. That in and of itself is not me saying "Oh you're going to lose ____ because you're wrong", I'm only saying IF you are wrong, you've wasted quite a bit of time and energy pretending to believe in something you are obviously doubtful about in the first place (if you have the mindset that you have nothing to lose, you show DOUBT, not faith. A person with true faith would not be questioning themselves, nor would they have to make up an excuse to believe). I honestly have NO idea how to explain that any further to you idiots.

Now, do you have anything else you'd like me to clarify for you? I DONT NEED TO KNOW WHY YOU BELIEVE OR DONT BELIEVE, If this topic doesn't pertain to you, and therefore you have nothing to add to the discussion, then DONT POST! It's really that simple..

 

We know exactly how the solar system formed, and your ignorance on this matter is not proof of god's existence.

Science has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with faith; it is a methodical study of the world based on observation and experiment -- the very antithesis of faith.

Science does not seek to prove anything absolutely as it is based on inductive, rather than deductive, reasoning. Additionally, a scientific theory is vastly different than a mere hypothesis.

I suggest that prior to criticizing science for being based on faith, you actually try to understand what science is.

 

To Jimmy, You claim you know how the solar system was formed? Go write a book about it and become a millionaire, because you are apparently the only person in the world who beyond a shadow of a doubt knows. Also, you contradict yourself in your post multiple times. At first, you say you know how the solar system was formed, yet later on, you say nothing is known for sure in science because it does not seek to prove anything absolutely, yet you also say in your post that science does not require faith? How is it that it does not prove anything absolutely, yet does not require any faith or belief, and yet even though nothing is proven absolutely, you somehow happen to know for sure how the solar system was formed? A post full of contradictions, you make it too easy for me, honestly.

And to Shockwavee, it is very hard to have a conversation about something like this an not expect people to back up their beliefs, mainly because everyone else, like the dude above me, comes and posts about how they think the beliefs are dumb based on whatever their belief is. People who post stuff off topic in your eyes is just as much a hindered on the topic because this is what causes people to come in and defend their beliefs.

As I said in my last post, I don't know if you caught it while skimming. I think people from both sides of the fence will always agree believing in anything out of fear is a stupid reason to believe and is not actually believing in it, but more so being too afraid to not believe in it, so they kinda force their self to claim to believe. Also, some people I have known have said they believe in god just to "cover their bases" like they found some kind of super secret loophole that will allow them into heave just in case it exists. I wonder what kind of lawyers God has?

 

If people do not believe in God, then what do they believe in?
I mean I do not understand Athiest.
You didn't just pop up on earth, god created you.
How do you think the planets were created? Etc.
For all you Athiest's I have nothing against you, think outside the box.

 

You can start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science

Here is a textbook explanation:

I consider adaptable theories based on observation and evidence a far superior reference than an ancient book composed by long-dead anonymous authors and endorsed by notoriously corrupt church leaders (likely after they ripped out the forewords, which stated that "the following is a work of fiction and please don't murder millions in its name")

'Faith' in a scientific theory is not absolutistic belief in it, it is considering it the most probable reality based on the masses of evidence available.

 

And what is the theory on where the giant molecular cloud came from? All I am saying is in either situation there is a lot of room for doubt, so people will believe whatever they feel is true.

 

Just another gas cloud. There are plenty of them in the Universe.