So who started the 666 Satanic symbol after making a 3 pointer in NCAA BB?

[Illini]

I completely agree with you that religion will fade in time. However, in my experience, trying to convince a religious person that there is no God is about as pointless banging your head against the wall. In fact, it will probably have the opposite affect. People will commit even more to their religious beliefs (i.e. cognitive dissonance).

As I suspect it was for you, coming to the conclusion that there is no God is a personal journey that requires a rigorously honest evaluation of the mounting scientific evidence (or lack thereof). Most people just aren't willing to embark on that journey because it poses a threat to the comfort of faith.

Let's face it, being an atheist is not easy. In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that we are pre-programmed from birth to believe in a higher power as a way to psychologically deal with the knowledge of our mortality.

That being said, as an atheist, you tend to savor every day you're above ground because you know when it's over, it's over.

The masses are never going to have enough faith to believe that absolute nothingness exploded and the result was a beautiful creation. That order and logic and gravity and physics and mathematics all came to be, and that there was nothing behind it. That humans evolved from single cells and became intelligent beings with a will and emotions and a capacity for good and evil. That we have needs for oxygen and water and food and a planet that provides those needs. That the earth spins on its axis continually and also revolves around a random star that is the absolute perfect distance to sustain life and not kill us.
NOT GONNA HAPPEN. You atheists have great faith.

 

[ALSportsJunkie]

The masses are never going to have enough faith to believe that absolute nothingness exploded and the result was a beautiful creation. That order and logic and gravity and physics and mathematics all came to be, and that there was nothing behind it. That humans evolved from single cells and became intelligent beings with a will and emotions and a capacity for good and evil. That we have needs for oxygen and water and food and a planet that provides those needs. That the earth spins on its axis continually and also revolves around a random star that is the absolute perfect distance to sustain life and not kill us.
NOT GONNA HAPPEN. You atheists have great faith.

So which takes more faith...believing everything was created by an omnipotent being with a taste for exacting wrathful vengeance on anyone who doesn't follow him...or saying that we aren't sure where everything came from? We do know, unequivocally, that the Universe expanded from a single point billions of years ago and it is still expanding. The Hubble has taken pictures of galaxies from billions of years in the past. You probably don't realize this, but every time you look into the sky at night you are looking at the past. That light from those stars took years to reach you...so in essence you are seeing the star as it appeared many, many years ago. The future away you peer...the further back in time you are seeing...if you really want to know more about redshifts and measuring distances I will educate you. IMO, and I am not saying this applies to you, most religious "fanatics" use their faith as a crutch to fulfill another area of their life that they are not happy with. I hear it all the time..."Come to Jesus - it is the only way you will be satisfied"...is it any wonder that most religious fanatics are either really old, really poor, really ugly, or have really small IQ's? They are miserable with the life they have so they put their faith in something that is totally beyond their realm of control. They don't have anything to live for in this life, so why not focus on having a reward in the next? I don't believe anyone has all the answers, or that we will be there soon, but as least there are some of us who would like to try and find the answers instead of settling for the whole "man in the sky" routine.

 

[Illini]

My IQ is in the 94th percentile. I'm far from brilliant but I'm not stupid. Believe what you want. I think a supernatural Creator is undeniable by the evidence. You can choose to believe it's all natural but that takes infinitely more faith.

 

[zeeman]

If you read what I wrote, I never once said the ballplayers were Satanists or even that they had a clue what their gestures meant.

Is Timberlake personally a Satan worshipper and participate in satantic rituals? Probably not, he's likely a puppet. Or is it just a coincidence that he holds up a satanic sign and has the word Magic as the name of his album. You can believe that if you want. Or I'm sure that Jay Z came up with Do What Thou Wilt on his own. Haha.

So let me try and understand your beliefs. You believe JT is a puppet. I'm guessing it's the devil that has turned Justin T. into a puppet. Is this puppet being controled by the devil? Or was JT created by the devil? I'm just trying to figure this stuff out.

Is the devil a creator like your god?

 

[Illini]

So let me try and understand your beliefs. You believe JT is a puppet. I'm guessing it's the devil that has turned Justin T. into a puppet. Is this puppet being controled by the devil? Or was JT created by the devil? I'm just trying to figure this stuff out.

Is the devil a creator like your god?

The people that have the power in this world are the Satanists. That's about all I'm gonna say.

 

[zeeman]

So I think this answers my question. Satan/Devil is a supernatural creator. He has created Justin T. to be his puppet. You possibly think LG was also created or did Lady Gaga learn to be satanic on her own.

 

[zeeman]

By Illini
The people that have the power in this world are the Satanists. That's about all I'm gonna say.

Wow,

This is hard to comprehend when I'm not sure what a Satanist is. What I get is you think Justin Timberlake is a puppet. Who created this puppet? Who controls this puppet? Or is he like Chuckie?

Michael Jordan is powerful, Muhamam Ali, examples of not only rich but powerful people. Are they Satanists?

 

[ALSportsJunkie]

My IQ is in the 94th percentile. I'm far from brilliant but I'm not stupid. Believe what you want. I think a supernatural Creator is undeniable by the evidence. You can choose to believe it's all natural but that takes infinitely more faith.

What evidence? The probability of everything becoming the way it has? You believe it is theoretically impossible for there to be any answer other than a creator. Well what about the creator? Is it possible that an even higher, unknown power created him? If there was a creator, it is plausible to believe that he must be infinitely more complex a being than what we know to be the universe - now how is believing in such an individual any more plausible? Is it because an old book that you somehow connected with told you so - or have you been spoken to by god directly and he affirmed his existence to you? The 94th percentile isn't bad, but I consistently test in the 97-98th percentile and I feel certifiably retarded when I try to wrap my head around some of the topics in physics. Your IQ doesn't have a lot to do with your level of happiness...IMO it may be just the opposite...ignorance is bliss or so they say. Are you sure you aren't suffering from depression and using your faith as a coping mechanism???

 

[boatboatboat]

My IQ is in the 94th percentile.

Those test are bogus. I am self smarted and I do fine.

 

[Illini]

What evidence? The probability of everything becoming the way it has? You believe it is theoretically impossible for there to be any answer other than a creator. Well what about the creator? Is it possible that an even higher, unknown power created him? If there was a creator, it is plausible to believe that he must be infinitely more complex a being than what we know to be the universe - now how is believing in such an individual any more plausible? Is it because an old book that you somehow connected with told you so - or have you been spoken to by god directly and he affirmed his existence to you? The 94th percentile isn't bad, but I consistently test in the 97-98th percentile and I feel certifiably retarded when I try to wrap my head around some of the topics in physics. Your IQ doesn't have a lot to do with your level of happiness...IMO it may be just the opposite...ignorance is bliss or so they say. Are you sure you aren't suffering from depression and using your faith as a coping mechanism???

Yes, it is impossible for this creation not to have been created. One of my best friends is an atheist so I don't mean this personally. But atheism is absurd. It's the same as believing a tornado could sweep through a town and blow the place up, only to have beautiful homes build themselves over millions of years and come complete with plumbing.

 

[Illini]

Those test are bogus. I am self smarted and I do fine.

I don't care. Not the point. I'm not brilliant and I'm not stupid.

 

[ALSportsJunkie]

By Illini
The people that have the power in this world are the Satanists. That's about all I'm gonna say.

Wow,

This is hard to comprehend when I'm not sure what a Satanist is. What I get is you think Justin Timberlake is a puppet. Who created this puppet? Who controls this puppet? Or is he like Chuckie?

Michael Jordan is powerful, Muhamam Ali, examples of not only rich but powerful people. Are they Satanists?

I believe he thinks that these individuals worship a malevolent entity whose sole purpose is to lure you away from the one "true" god. By listening to their music or supporting you are in essence worshiping the god "Lucifer" who is the ruler of "Hell" which is where all non-believing Christians who don't adhere to a strict religious doctrine will go to burn forever and ever in a lake of fire when they die. The church preaches that they world is inherently evil, and since these people are "leaders" in the world, they must be evil by default.

 

[Illini]

By Illini
The people that have the power in this world are the Satanists. That's about all I'm gonna say.

Wow,

This is hard to comprehend when I'm not sure what a Satanist is. What I get is you think Justin Timberlake is a puppet. Who created this puppet? Who controls this puppet? Or is he like Chuckie?

Michael Jordan is powerful, Muhamam Ali, examples of not only rich but powerful people. Are they Satanists?

I'm done discussing this aspect. I've said all I'm gonna say. Google can be your guide if you want to know more.

 

[ALSportsJunkie]

Yes, it is impossible for this creation not to have been created. One of my best friends is an atheist so I don't mean this personally. But atheism is absurd. It's the same as believing a tornado could sweep through a town and blow the place up, only to have beautiful homes build themselves over millions of years and come complete with plumbing.

I agree it is almost totally improbable for everything to have happened just as it did for us to be here. But if design demands a designer, then what created the designer? If he has always been here, then isn't just as probable that the stuff which composes us has been here too? The problem is in designating a catalyst...I believe this to be the biggest question in science at the moment.

 

[boatboatboat]

For anyone who is intrested in this subject i suggest reading a CL lewis book.

 

[ALSportsJunkie]

Those test are bogus. I am self smarted and I do fine.

Adults are talking here - perhaps you should stick to the threads where you talk about your van or your grill business.

 

[boatboatboat]

You aren't doing much to bolster my low self esteem.

 

[ALSportsJunkie]

You aren't doing much to bolster my low self esteem.

I will buy a grill from you next week - will that help out? Looking for a nice charcoal one - lightly used of course.

 

[boatboatboat]

Yes I can get one for you.

Do any of your neighbors happen to have one kinda like what you are looking for?

 

[Illini]

I agree it is almost totally improbable for everything to have happened just as it did for us to be here. But if design demands a designer, then what created the designer? If he has always been here, then isn't just as probable that the stuff which composes us has been here too? The problem is in designating a catalyst...I believe this to be the biggest question in science at the moment.

Understanding how a God can exist outside of time with no beginning is not possible in this dimension. I understand your reservations but all scientists agree that space, time, and matter had a beginning. They also believe that everything that happens had a cause. What could have caused the Big Bang if not God?