Is there a God - or isn't there?

[Sacre Bleu]

^ Semantics. Society just redefines the same act from being 'murder' to being 'lawful killing' when it suits any given society to do so. Kiiling is killing, just because a given society enacts a statute that makes certain types of killing 'lawful' in that society, doesn't alter the act itself in any way, or define it as anything other than 'murder' in the eyes of someone of another society.

 

Its a classic case of dressing up an act to be something else thats acceptable in one set of circumstances, but vilefying that exact same act in other circumstances.

 

Exactly. 'Murder' is by definition premeditated unlawful killing. There needs to be an ideological/ political/religious framework in place that will allow societies to lawfully and/or morally justifiably kill people. The Death Penalty (internal to a society) and warfare (between societies) are two such examples.

[tarsus]

What about the UFO sightings alien abductions the strangeness of quantum theory.

[Sacre Bleu]

Most societies worldwide today have evolved from religiously based societies. Some have evolved more than others for sure, but even among the most, so-called, 'advanced' societies far too much still remains within them that is there for no other reason than its how the religious society they evolved from did it.

 

Marriage hasn't moved much from its religious ceremony and 'laws', neither have funerals and burial practices, our Government has people in it (or did not that long ago) who are only there because they hold senior positions within certain religious organisations, even on a local level the Council's Education Committee has a seat reserved for a 'religious representative'. Ministers of religion are still regularly 'looked up to', considered 'professionals' and appointed to public bodies to lord over the rest of us. When in reality many consider them peddlars of fiction and fantasy, who are getting a free ride through life on everyone else's back.

 

Most societies worldwide today have indeed evolved from religiously based societies, and most still are religiously based societies. It's a very western viewpoint to say they are not. 

 

Some 'advanced' and previously secular societies are becoming more religious than ever (e.g. Russia and Turkey)

 

Your examples of marriage ceremonies and funerals are examples of functions that religion performs well. Humans seem to have an inbuilt predisposition for ritual and marking occasions of societal significance, and religion often fulfils these needs. Non-religious marriage ceremonies and funerals often follow the same format established by religious ceremonies - they just omit religious references.

Edited October 15, 2018 by admin

[Ghostrider]

Leaving aside the arguments about proof etc, the thing that gets me about 'believers' in any faith is the apparent arrogance of the whole concept.

 

Taken in context of the bigger picture, humans are very considerably less in the grand scheme of things than a bunch of ants scurrying around an anthill are to human eyes, and are a generally parasitic and destructive bunch in relation to their surroundings to boot. Yet 'faiths' have folk believing that somehow, humanity, which amounts to less than a pinhead within the universe, is so great and important that 'God' has chosen it to have eternal 'life' and 'God' must be allowed to micro manage every 'believers' moment of existence.

 

To me thats the really unbelievable bit, when all the evidence around us suggests that humanity is likely no more positive or welcome by the universe, as maggots and rats are welcome by humanity.

 

If 'God' is/was what faiths bill it to be, and it intended humanity to have a direct line to it and live our lives by such detailed instructions dictated by it, IMHO the communication system would be much simpler, much more obvious and reliable, and the instructions plainly and clearly found and understood.

[Urabug]

20 more churches to close---- https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2018/10/15/kirk-numbers-to-be-reduced

 

Shame I hope they don't all end up like the one in Quarff , but what can one do with a building in the middle of a graveyard!

[Sacre Bleu]

20 more churches to close---- https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2018/10/15/kirk-numbers-to-be-reduced

 

Here's more detail on the same story - http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/17113-twenty-churches-to-close-across-the-isles

Edited October 15, 2018 by Sacre Bleu

[Colin]

If 'God' is/was what faiths bill it to be, and it intended humanity to have a direct line to it and live our lives by such detailed instructions dictated by it, IMHO the communication system would be much simpler, much more obvious and reliable, and the instructions plainly and clearly found and understood.

I always thought that it was the "elders" who made the rules..  Oh well..

 

Reminds me of a young lass I knew a few years ago..  She and her boyfriend were doing up their new house prior to getting married, and she was very quick to tell me that, although she was living there, her boyfriend was not allowed to "stay over" as their chuch did not allow people to "live together" (?) before they were married...  I can still remember the look of horror on her face when I suggested that she change her church !

 

Direct line would have been usefull there I think.

[Colin]

20 more churches to close---- https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2018/10/15/kirk-numbers-to-be-reduced

 

Shame I hope they don't all end up like the one in Quarff , but what can one do with a building in the middle of a graveyard!

Shame is that there are people, still alive, who have relatives buried in Quarff.  Likely true of many other places as well..  Abandoned because there is not enough money/interest left in the community to feed the parasites.

[tarsus]

The mosques are not in decline, we will end up being an Islamic country.

[Urabug]

The mosques are not in decline, we will end up being an Islamic country.

Ma'be some of our old kirks would look fine with a "golden dome"

 

Better than going "doon trow da earth wi neglect"

 

Then again possibly not.

[tarsus]

And living under Sharia law.

[tooney1]

Is that because not enough people believe there is a god now? Is it because they are too lazy to go to church, or don't have time due to work commitments, family problems etc.

I believe peope have largely woken up to religious dogma and are now questioning its origin and practices. Things like homophobia, stoning and condeming blood tranfusions are now sore points in religious texts, among other things. Other worldy gods and miracles now seem far fetched. We’re now a lot less likely to listen and follow without question in todays open and globalised society.

 

Different countries are at different levels though. Where there is sufferring, loss, oppression/less openess, religion tends to thrive since people flock to it for meaning, belonging and conformity. Even the US seems to be still far more into it than Europe, where you can still be an outcast for being an atheist.

 

Alien theory. Could we have been visited by a superior race who have influenced texts, evolution, genetics, and thought they were gods? Certainly one theory than in many ways seems more plausable. We know so little of our ancient history or sudden advancement. We dont even know the true purpose of the pyramids, with recent discoveries showing they channel electromagnetic energy beneath them. We do know wormholes, time travel are theoretically possible, and even NASA is slowly releasing UFO footage. And look at what we’re discovering in genetics, we could be creating monsters and half man half machine soon enough! So to me, everything is still wide open. It is arrogant to think we’re the most advanced race that ever existed anywhere.

[George.]

In the near future, the Church of Scotland has decided that it will close two-thirds of its churches here in Shetland. They won't be missed, as they have yet to offer any proof regarding their claims.

 

Kirk numbers to be reduced

Edited October 16, 2018 by George.

[CrashBox]

I'll stay away from the 'is there a God?', but I see aliens have been mentioned above, so here's my take on it.

 

The physicist, Enrico Fermi asked a simple question in the early 1950s. With something over 100 billion stars in our gallaxy (the Milky Way), the probability of advanced civilisations throughout the galaxy should be pretty damn high. But there is nothing. No evidence whatsoever. The Fermi Paradox.

 

Professor Frank Drake created an equation (Drake Equation) back in the early 1960s. That equation tries to quantify the active numbers of civilisations in the Milky Way galaxy. By the reckoning of that equation, there should be millions of civilisations equal or greater than Mankind.  Over the past twenty years, we have massively increased the size of the Milky Way due to newer technology (Hubble Space Telescope being just one), and we're also now able to detect exoplanets (planets around other stars) thanks to the Kepler Spacecraft, with the number currently standing at over 3000 planets. SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) has been scanning the skies for over half a century so far, and yet the Fermi Paradox still stands. The skies are silent. 

 

My personal belief is one held by Professor Brian Cox. There has to be the first civilisation. The first species to gain intelligence, knowledge, and technology. and have the passion and desire to use that and reach for the stars. That species is us, Mankind. We're the first, and currently the only ones in this galaxy. That's not to say there aren't millions of planets with civilisations in the 'Victorian Era', or 'Viking Era', or any other similar/dissimilar historical time, and haven't invented forms of radio communication yet. Who knows, we could wake up tomorrow and discover the galaxy has suddenly lit-up overnight with signals from newly invented radio equipment from countless planets. I very much doubt it, though.

[tarsus]

Who is piloting the ufos.