Phatose on 13/1/2007 at 05:14
I was under the impression that the book referred solely to the Abrahamic god of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, not the much broader general creator. StD, is that the case or not?
Edit: Looks above.
1. Dude, how many dimensions does a circle have?
Assert: (Circle != Sphere != Roughly ovoid shape of actual earth)
2. Long experience, likely. One of the niceties about high infant mortality rates and high birth rates is you get to do a lot of circumcisions.
AR Master on 13/1/2007 at 05:21
Feh. Xtians are all crazy fundies who believe in an invisible wizard in the sky. I don't believe in such fairy tales.
Because I'm an Atheist
deal with it
SD on 13/1/2007 at 05:31
Quote Posted by Laser Eyes
1. How did Isaiah know in the eighth century B.C. that the earth was round when everybody else on earth thought it was flat? Isaiah told us that God "sits above the circle of the earth." - Isaiah 40:22
I guess we're assuming that "circle of the earth" means the same thing as a spherical earth, and ignoring the fact that Isaiah 40:22 also states that the heavens are stretched out like a tent, and ignoring the likelihood that everything after Isaiah 39 was added by one or more other authors at a later date who were perhaps contemporaries of the sixth-century Greek scholar Pythagoras, who really popularised the spherical earth hypothesis.
In which case, I dunno - maybe he looked at the Moon and the Sun and came to the reasonable conclusion that the Earth was round too?
Quote:
2. How did Moses know in 1,500 B.C. that the best day to circumcise a baby is on the eighth day? "Every male of yours eight days old must be circumcised." - Genesis 17:12 Medical science only recently established that the eighth day is the optimum day for to conduct this procedure. Was it just a good guess?
Well, I suppose the first thing I'd ask you for is a source for that scientific evidence that the eighth day of life is the best day to perform unnecessary surgery upon male infants.
Quote Posted by Phatose
I was under the impression that the book referred solely to the Abrahamic god of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, not the much broader general creator. StD, is that the case or not?
While he mainly references the Christian faith (and consequentially, the Christian God) in the book, he's very clear that he's referring to any kind of supernatural intelligence that created the Universe when he talks about God.
Briareos H on 13/1/2007 at 05:33
Quote Posted by Strontium Dog
My beliefs about the Universe, the Earth and the origins of life are based upon empirical, observable, testable data. That makes them inherently more valuable than those which have nothing to back them up.
What I love most in this world is
beauty. Can't help, but it's the only thing giving me
passion.
Mr.Duck on 13/1/2007 at 05:34
While I do believe in God (but don't subscribe to any organized religion, per se) I always find amusing (and somewhat sad) the Atheist vs. Theist debate. While some people can live and let live (yes, even those with oposing opinions), it seems most just want to find a reason to throw-down. Eh, you believe, good for you; you don't believe, good for you too.
Must be an interesting read, though I doubt it'll shatter anytime soon my faith in what I believe. Still, I should probably read it sometime :).
Cheers and lets discuss the book more, plz. Not who is right/wrong 'coz it'll eventually turn into a bonfire that GeeBee will have to pee down and close it.
[EDIT]IOh shi, mebbe not...:(EDIT]
AR Master on 13/1/2007 at 05:37
perhaps the only one who can't deal with it...
...is me
Briareos H on 13/1/2007 at 05:38
This is like the Playstation 3/X-Box 360 debate, only with slightly bigger words.
As for me I want a Wii.
Phatose on 13/1/2007 at 05:40
Well, in all due fairness, the fanboy's haven't decreed that Gates will recognize his own. yet.
Convict on 13/1/2007 at 06:28
Quote Posted by Strontium Dog
You're kidding, right? As Dawkins puts it:
Quote:
Imagine a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers,
no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Indian partition, no Israeli/Palestinian wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no persecution of Jews as 'Christ-killers', no Northern Ireland 'troubles', no 'honour killings', no shiny-suited televangelists fleecing gullible people of their money, no Taliban to blow up ancient statues, no public beheadings of blasphemers, no flogging of female skin for the crime of showing an inch of it.
God
matters.
But hang on the 9/11 bomber wasn't motivated by religious fervour!:
Quote Posted by Strontium Dog
As I recall, the 9/11 hijackers were alcohol-drinking, strip-club-visiting wasters. I'm a little confused as to how that fits in to fundamentalist Muslim thought.
Quote Posted by Strontium Dog
Try (
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/print.php?sid=82)
Of course, one might well wonder why, if the people committing these terrorist atrocities aren't motivated by religious fervour, they commit the atrocities in the first place.
But wate isn't Dawkins "one of the most brilliant thinkers on this planet".
:confused: ITT.
Phatose on 13/1/2007 at 06:33
And without the religiously motivated background, would he have had the opportunity to do what he did?
