Do you believe in God and why

[sirineou]

5 hours ago, Sunmaster said:

That's why I said, I don't claim it to be true or not. It's inevitable that controversy would erupt when such extraordinary claims are presented. 

The documentary by Discovry Channel shows a camera recording him for over 75hours straight, during which he barely shifted his body.

It's well known that certain yogis have a higher control of their bodies, so you never know. 

 

In any case, that was not the point of the post.

Sorry I missed it, What was the point? 

Anyway, There is an entertaining new show on Netflix called "the Messiah"   not sure if it is available in Thailand but if one has a VPN and a US netflix account .... also I don't know if I mentioned it also but "the Two Popes" with Anthony Hopkins was a very well made and enjoyable show. 

[mauGR1]

3 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

555 yeah ethical like...

it's OK to beat your slaves as long as they don't die within a day or 2. (Exodus 21:20-21) 

 

They are your property and may be passed on to your children. (Leviticus 25:44-46) 

 

Slaves obey your earthly masters with respect and fear. (Ephesians 6:5-9) 

 

Afaik you happen to come from a country who built its fortunes on a huge trade and exploitation of slaves, not to mention the clinical extermination of the native population, may i dare to ask from which high moral point are you speaking ?

Are you blaming Jesus for slavery ?

Try to pull the other one.

[sirineou]

6 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

That's because you are not sure if you're a believer or an atheist ????

It's amazingly clear for me, but maybe that's because at the moment i have not a woman pestering around.

My Mary Magdalen?   

Have you read "The Last Temptation of Christ " by Nikos Kazantzakis?

 

By the way, I am an Atheist in regards to a Biblical God. I am not closed to the concepts only to the degree that it lacks definition, once definitions apply so do problems with that particular sub concept appear, which why minds greater than our have thought about it for thousands of years and have only resulted in cyclical arguments.

 

[mauGR1]

5 minutes ago, sirineou said:

My Mary Magdalen?   

Have you read "The Last Temptation of Christ " by Nikos Kazantzakis?

 

By the way, I am an Atheist in regards to a Biblical God. I am not closed to the concepts only to the degree that it lacks definition, once definitions apply so do problems with that particular sub concept appear, which why minds greater than our have thought about it for thousands of years and have only resulted in cyclical arguments.

 

Nope, have not read it... But i am not tempted.

I think our position is similar, yes, it's an endless argument, but i think that if you dig a little deeper, there are undeniable clues of the existence of an intelligent design.

I am also convinced that, if not for religion, we would probably still divided in small tribes, throwing rocks at each other.

So, i am critical of organised religion, but far from despising it.

 

[sirineou]

1 minute ago, mauGR1 said:

Nope, have not read it... But i am not tempted.

I think our position is similar, yes, it's an endless argument, but i think that if you dig a little deeper, there are undeniable clues of the existence of an intelligent design.

I am also convinced that, if not for religion, we would probably still divided in small tribes, throwing rocks at each other.

So, i am critical of organised religion, but far from despising it.

 

Apparently you are not familiar with the social and technological advances of the Hellenistic time that Christianity put an end to for more than a Thousand years. and upon resumption of the Enlightenment, still stunted social development to the point that our technological advances have outperformed our social advances and and pose an existential danger. 

[Skeptic7]

14 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

Afaik you happen to come from a country who built its fortunes on a huge trade and exploitation of slaves, not to mention the clinical extermination of the native population, may i dare to ask from which high moral point are you speaking ?

Are you blaming Jesus for slavery ?

Try to pull the other one.

Please follow the posts being responded to if you're going to interject your 2 cents. Canuck said the bible gives guidelines for the ethical treatment of slaves. I specifically quoted chapter and verses to the contrary. Yet you continue to deflect, strawman and take the other side regardless, which is mind-boggling in this instance. 

 

To be crystal clear...am not blaming the book nor the nonexistent man-god, but rather do take umbrage with those whom still today try to defend ancient biblical and religious atrocities and dogma with lame responses and nonchalance, instead of just admitting and accepting that which is glaringly obvious. 

[mauGR1]

31 minutes ago, sirineou said:

our technological advances have outperformed our social advances and and pose an existential danger. 

Fully agree with that !

Regarding your history, yep, nothing new under the sun.

[mauGR1]

25 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Please follow the posts being responded to if you're going to interject your 2 cents. Canuck said the bible gives guidelines for the ethical treatment of slaves. I specifically quoted chapter and verses to the contrary. Yet you continue to deflect, strawman and take the other side regardless, which is mind-boggling in this instance. 

 

To be crystal clear...am not blaming the book nor the nonexistent man-god, but rather do take umbrage with those whom still today try to defend ancient biblical and religious atrocities and dogma with lame responses and nonchalance, instead of just admitting and accepting that which is glaringly obvious. 

Of course i'm following the posts, but thanks for the remark ????

I'm simply trying to put things in a historical perspective for you to understand the reality of the times.

3000 years ago it was normal for the aristocracy to have slaves.

Even the great Aristoteles is criticised for claiming that the slaves had no soul, 2500 yrs ago.

When Jesus was talking about servants and slaves, he was just talking about the reality around him.

Understand ?

Glad to help.

 

[Sunmaster]

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

Sorry I missed it, What was the point? 

Anyway, There is an entertaining new show on Netflix called "the Messiah"   not sure if it is available in Thailand but if one has a VPN and a US netflix account .... also I don't know if I mentioned it also but "the Two Popes" with Anthony Hopkins was a very well made and enjoyable show. 

No problem. 

Yes, we can watch both shows on Netflix here in TH. Actually, I recommended both of them a few pages back, and in relation to the Messiah, wondered how we would react if a new Messiah came to spread his wisdom today. 

 

And that's why I also posted about the Nepalese boy. It shows very clearly the dynamics of such an event. You have this spiritual figure (prophet) and around him a fast developing structure (church/religion), you have the sincere devotees on one side and the scheming businessmen on the other. You quickly get the media, who cunningly spin the facts in every possible direction, until it's no longer clear what is true and what is fiction. You have people wondering and questioning if the superhuman feats are real or not and just like that the original message becomes secondary. (The boy did make a few statements calling for peace and condemning animal abuse).

 

Ps: I don't know about the month(s) long fasting, but even sitting cross legged for 2 hours straight without moving is a remarkable feat in itself! He did that for days!!

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Sunmaster

[Skeptic7]

28 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

Of course i'm following the posts, but thanks for the remark ????

I'm simply trying to put things in a historical perspective for you to understand the reality of the times.

3000 years ago it was normal for the aristocracy to have slaves.

Even the great Aristoteles is criticised for claiming that the slaves had no soul, 2500 yrs ago.

When Jesus was talking about servants and slaves, he was just talking about the reality around him.

Understand ?

Glad to help.

 

Of course I understand. You're not a help at all. No one (nor especially me) is disputing that slaves were commonplace!!! That is clearly not the point. The point is that you and others here seem to think it's just fine to make claims which are shown to be inaccurate or simply wrong, then y'all just carry on as if it never happened or worse...back each other up regardless of the inaccuracy. Why? 

 

Also do you realize that Fundies like Canuck and The Night Rider and Asian@heart think their book is the divine word of their god??? God-breathed so to speak. They take it literally and accept it without critical thought and defend it without question. IMO it's incredibly disturbing when they (and you in this instance) try to defend owning others as property, beating them, handing them down to others.

 

Regardless how common it was...does NOT make it right. It's cruel and immoral today and it was cruel and immoral back then. And their god should have known that, if it had a speck of morality in it's nonexistent being. 

 

Do you see the point and get the obvious difference now? 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Skeptic7

[mauGR1]

5 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

The point is that you and others here seem to think it's just fine to make claims which are shown to be inaccurate or simply wrong, then y'all just carry on as if it never happened or worse...back each other up regardless of the inaccuracy. Why? 

 

Ok, that could be the point in your mind, but more in general, it's just a figment of your imagination.

 

Sorry, but your arguments are laughable, perhaps instead of making strange comments, you could read some books.

[mauGR1]

10 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

IMO it's incredibly disturbing when they (and you in this instance) try to defend owning others as property, beating them, handing them down to others.

And i'm not defending any violence or wrongdoing, you got it wrong again.

[Skeptic7]

43 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

And i'm not defending any violence or wrongdoing, you got it wrong again.

But you are, and have consistently, taken the side of any believer...regardless how lame, how grossly immoral, how blatantly wrong they are shown to be. In this case as well as many other examples...I've literally quoted evidence (siting specifically where to find it) directly from the book they are crowing about as good and wise and moral. Why? 

[mauGR1]

8 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

But you are, and have consistently, taken the side of any believer...regardless how lame, how grossly immoral, how blatantly wrong they are shown to be. In this case as well as many other examples...I've literally quoted evidence (siting specifically where to find it) directly from the book they are crowing about as good and wise and moral. Why? 

..Taken the side..? Another gross misunderstanding .. I am not siding with anyone, but if somebody takes the effort of studying a book like the Bible, he has the moral right to talk and explain about it.

Regardless of my opinion on the subject, i respect that.

My opinion is that , not sure if deliberately or not, you are misunderstanding and confusing the issues.

 

I'm really glad to help, but i'm ready to give up if you carry on with judging the posters instead of respectfully discussing the ideas and opinions.

 

[Elad]

15 hours ago, geronimo said:

For humanity, it is now a race to get off this planet before we destroy it (50-100 years from now), otherwise us, and everything else on the planet will be no more.

If humanity can survive for another 200 years then we could become a Type I civilization, using all the energy that falls on the Earth from the sun which is more than the current world energy consumption.

There are three levels of advanced civilizations, Type I, II and III and we are currently a Type 0 ????

 

There is no known way for human civilization to use the equivalent of the Earth's total absorbed solar energy without completely coating the surface with human-made structures, which is not feasible with current technology. However, if a civilization constructed very large space-based solar power satellites, Type I power levels might become achievable—these could convert sunlight to microwave power and beam that to collectors on Earth.

[jimmybcool]

2 hours ago, Elad said:

If humanity can survive for another 200 years then we could become a Type I civilization, using all the energy that falls on the Earth from the sun which is more than the current world energy consumption.

There are three levels of advanced civilizations, Type I, II and III and we are currently a Type 0 ????

 

There is no known way for human civilization to use the equivalent of the Earth's total absorbed solar energy without completely coating the surface with human-made structures, which is not feasible with current technology. However, if a civilization constructed very large space-based solar power satellites, Type I power levels might become achievable—these could convert sunlight to microwave power and beam that to collectors on Earth.

We still need to expand to other planets if we expect our species to survive.  Earth is a planet.  They get hit by big rocks occasionally.  In our case every 500,000 years or so.  It isn't exact though so it could happen in 5 years or 1,000,000.  In any event energy usage change is a small factor in outgrowing this planet.  If we want to survive as a species we must master space travel that allows us to migrate to other planets capable of supporting us.

 

 

[canuckamuck]

5 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Please follow the posts being responded to if you're going to interject your 2 cents. Canuck said the bible gives guidelines for the ethical treatment of slaves. I specifically quoted chapter and verses to the contrary. Yet you continue to deflect, strawman and take the other side regardless, which is mind-boggling in this instance. 

 

To be crystal clear...am not blaming the book nor the nonexistent man-god, but rather do take umbrage with those whom still today try to defend ancient biblical and religious atrocities and dogma with lame responses and nonchalance, instead of just admitting and accepting that which is glaringly obvious. 

You pointed out verses from the Bible that are guidelines to owning slave. You are looking at the situation with the point of view of our modern society where slavery is illegal and immoral. However, For most of the world's history there were powerful people who owned everything, and there were peasants who owned nothing. It wasn't like you got to go to school and then you went out and got a job, or got a piece of land. Many people were slaves because that was the only way to survive, or, they were slaves because they were taken in a war, or they had debt from legal ruling, or some other instance.

Even people who were technically free, were often time no more than slaves, to landlords and other powerful people. The serfs and peasants had very few rights. They would be called slaves under modern definitions.

 

Those rules you pointed out, are better than not having rules, and that was my point. Making it illegal to beat your slave to death, was progress. Other cultures didn't have this rule. If you had a slave that was violent or destructive, or was stealing from you. What could you do about it? If you took the issue to court, what would the court say? They would recommend some punishment that was short of death. Beating punishments were common. You never heard of people getting lashes on ships? Yes it is better in our society that we don't have slaves, and as I pointed out, that is because the Christians ended slavery. But it was difficult to end slavery and it only happened after the enlightenment.

 

The other two rules for slaves that you showed, Your slaves can be inherited by your children, and that Christian slaves should obey their masters are not unrealistic statements in the context.

 

 

 

[Elad]

1 hour ago, jimmybcool said:

We still need to expand to other planets if we expect our species to survive.  Earth is a planet.  They get hit by big rocks occasionally.  In our case every 500,000 years or so.  It isn't exact though so it could happen in 5 years or 1,000,000.  In any event energy usage change is a small factor in outgrowing this planet.  If we want to survive as a species we must master space travel that allows us to migrate to other planets capable of supporting us.

If we had the technology for interstellar travel, then I'm certain we'd have the capabilities to detect and deflect any asteroids/comets that's on a collision course with Earth. There's still 4 or 5 billion years before our sun starts to run out of fuel, so we could potentially live on this planet for millions of years to come. We have a few billion years to master space travel. ???? 

[Skeptic7]

7 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Ok, that could be the point in your mind, but more in general, it's just a figment of your imagination.

 

Sorry, but your arguments are laughable, perhaps instead of making strange comments, you could read some books.

Sorry for stating facts and trying to make you think reasonably. Also my reading habits tend not to include fantasy. 

[thaibeachlovers]

13 hours ago, VincentRJ said:

Some kids might have been. I wasn't. I thought life was <deleted> when I was a teenager in the U.K. At the age of 19, in 1961, I left the U.K. for an exciting adventure, hitch hiking around the world. My first stop was Iran where I worked in a few different jobs for 10 months, such as Proof Reader for an English newspaper, a Warehouse supervisor, and a private English teacher.

 

When I left to continue on my travels, I got no further east than Thailand, where I taught English for 14 months, even getting a work permit eventually, despite having no teaching qualifications.

 

I was extremely impressed by the 'apparent' happiness of the Thai people and their friendliness. Despite being much poorer than the average person in the U.K., they seemed much more content and happy. I had a great time, and couldn't resist returning to Thailand on a few occasions many years later to see how things have changed.

 

What I now see, whenever I travel on the BTS in Bangkok, are crowds of Thais sitting next to each other, all glumly staring at their iPhones. ????

In my experience of life in several countries, the less "advanced" the society, the happier the common people. Eg the rural people of Fiji in the 70s were apparently far happier than the middle class of NZ; and in the 90s the common people of Thailand were apparently far happier than the middle class of NZ, despite the middle class of NZ being more wealthy and technologically advanced than either country in those days indicated.

Far as NZ goes, IMO people were far happier in the 60s/ 70s than now, when technology and greed reigns supreme.

 

What I now see, whenever I travel on the BTS in Bangkok, are crowds of Thais sitting next to each other, all glumly staring at their iPhones.

Bangkok is, IMO, such a <deleted><deleted> that it makes anyone that lives there unhappy.

The rural people even now are happier than Bangkokians despite being poorer.

[thaibeachlovers]

22 hours ago, geronimo said:

In the past 2,000 years, not a single shred of evidence has been found for the existence of a deity, so it is my considered opinion that all of them are fictitious characters created by humans to achieve their ends.

For starters disregard every religion started by humans, which is all of them. That leaves only faith.

You make the common mistake that religion is the same as faith, which it is not.

You also make the mistake of thinking that a being capable of creating life the universe and everything is provable or disprovable by such a primitive species as mankind. We know nothing, Jon Snow.

The biggest joke on us is that we are so foolish as to even think we know the Creator. The Creator is so far advanced from us insignificant specks of nothingness in the universe that it is insulting to even think we know what the Creator is.

2,000 years!!!!!! That's less than a blink in cosmic terms. Humans haven't even advanced mentally since we left the cave- war, destruction, hatred define us, which is why God will never allow us to spread our evil out of this solar system.

[thaibeachlovers]

19 hours ago, yodsak said:

If Atlantis existed it is quite possible that it was destroyed by an event that removed all trace of it, such as a volcanic explosion, an asteroid striking it, or if an advanced race lived on it a nuclear type explosion. That would fit the fire and earthquake scenario.

[mauGR1]

1 hour ago, Skeptic7 said:

Sorry for stating facts and trying to make you think reasonably. Also my reading habits tend not to include fantasy. 

I admire @canuckamuck's patience.

He took the time to explain your mistake, as a good teacher does with a stubborn child, but instead of thanking him, you gave him a "confused" emoticon.

Perhaps you can fool yourself and a couple of others with saying that you are reasonable, but that's a fantasy of yours.

..But if trolling here makes you feel better, carry on, the world needs happy people.

Glad to help.

[yodsak]

On 12/31/2019 at 12:16 PM, Sunmaster said:

I don't know...carbon dating may not be without faults, but to say that dinosaurs were roaming the earth 5.000 years ago seems quite a stretch, don't you think? ???? 

[Skeptic7]

???? The dogma-woo-and-donkey-apologist-show is getting wearisome. ????

[canuckamuck]

1 minute ago, Skeptic7 said:

???? The dogma-woo-and-donkey-apologist-show is getting wearisome. ????

 Hang in there. 

[mauGR1]

1 hour ago, Skeptic7 said:

???? The dogma-woo-and-donkey-apologist-show is getting wearisome. ????

On the positive side, (there is always one) i am grateful for you contribution here, when things get dull, some different opinion can help for the debate to go on.

Edited January 6, 2020 by mauGR1

[Tagged]

30 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

On the positive side, (there is always one) i am grateful for you contribution here, when things get dull, some different opinion can help for the debate to go on.

You never thought about how you express your self, as a bitt higher than others, and use quite a few master suppression techniques to lower others opinions? 

 

 

 

master suppression techniques

[mauGR1]

25 minutes ago, Tagged said:

You never thought about how you express your self, as a bitt higher than others, and use quite a few master suppression techniques to lower others opinions? 

 

 

 

master suppression techniques

I noticed that, thanks for your honest remark.

I'll have a look at your link too.

I think your argument is not quite right.

I try to be short and clear, and opinionated in my posts.

That's because i enjoy a discussion, it's easy to go over the top.

If you need some criticism, i have for you too ????

 

[Sunmaster]

11 hours ago, Tagged said:

You never thought about how you express your self, as a bitt higher than others, and use quite a few master suppression techniques to lower others opinions? 

 

 

 

master suppression techniques

Nobody's perfect.

One of the traits I like the most in me is also the one that gets me in trouble. When I'm passionate about something I have a lot of enthusiasm about it and I invest a lot of energy into it. It becomes the center of my attention and when I'm in a discussion about it, it can get quite overwhelming for the listener, especially after I had a couple of glasses of wine. 
I'm sure some of you noticed too... ????