If you have questions that christianity can't answer...

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 2:04 PM

Bring 'em here...I will, in consultation with my three best friends (an Imam-in-training, a New Age Healer, and a Professor of Philosophy) try to get you a rational, pragmatic answer that is based on reason and observable energies, forces, and historical perspectives.

Wacko-Religious nuts need not post.

SamoanzRR · 06-05-2007, 4:21 PM

I don't think anyones going to post a question for you......they need the dictionary for the answers, well, so do I but

*sinfuldragon* · 06-05-2007, 4:42 PM

How was the earth made, and for that matter how were the other planets made.
Is there alien life
is there another galaxy with another "earth" where people wonder the same things we do.
what happens when we die. are we to add nutrients to the soil for the earth to keep living, are we reincarnated or do we go to this magic place in the sky (or a really warm place in the earth)
If there is no good in the world is there evil? Can their be a yin without a yang?

How are those to get you started?

nedro · 06-05-2007, 5:01 PM

If God is good, why does he allow people to do harm in his name? And don't give me bullshit about self determination. Where's the self determination in the abused???

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 5:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nedro

If God is good, why does he allow people to do harm in his name? And don't give me bullshit about self determination. Where's the self determination in the abused???

I will deal with this one quickly:

Is there a god?
If there is one, why can't he be bad?

I think to ask that "if, why" question, you must establish the existence of the object referred to by 'if."

And, you are right. The whole concept of self-determination seems rendered moot if god is all-knowing and supposedly good.

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 5:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinfuldragon

How was the earth made, and for that matter how were the other planets made.
Is there alien life
is there another galaxy with another "earth" where people wonder the same things we do.
what happens when we die. are we to add nutrients to the soil for the earth to keep living, are we reincarnated or do we go to this magic place in the sky (or a really warm place in the earth)
If there is no good in the world is there evil? Can their be a yin without a yang?

How are those to get you started?

OK, dickhead

...Gimme some some time to consult? I assume you don't want me to rehash what I saw on PBS or Nova last month, so I will need a few hours/days. Thanks for the nice gentle lob...

leelover · 06-05-2007, 5:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogbear

I will deal with this one quickly:

Is there a god?
If there is one, why can't he be bad?

I think to ask that "if, why" question, you must establish the existence of the object referred to by 'if."

And, you are right. The whole concept of self-determination seems rendered moot of god is all-knowing and supposedly good.

Wow, good thing you made that clear...

Phadreus · 06-05-2007, 8:13 PM

I find it interesting that in the context of your Subject Line / Title, that it seems as if one assumes that Christianity attempts to answer all of man's most difficult questions. Why would one assume such a thing? And if that is the assumption, then from my perspective, Christianity is somewhat lacking in answers.

Not trying to bust your chops or anything, just trying to ask what I think is a semi-legitimate question.

Cheers

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 8:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phadreus

I find it interesting that in the context of your Subject Line / Title, that it seems as if one assumes that Christianity attempts to answer all of man's most difficult questions. Why would one assume such a thing? And if that is the assumption, then from my perspective, Christianity is somewhat lacking in answers.

Not trying to bust your chops or anything, just trying to ask what I think is a semi-legitimate question.

Cheers

No, thanks for the real question...I set up this thread in response to a ttrue believer's thread. I am not a believer in any easily understood sense, so this was merely a tongue-in-cheek way to get, well, cheeky.

I think that most people of faith tend to accept the proposition that their faith does answer all questions, if you only pray hard enough or open yourself to god, or if they don't answer all the questions, those are the wrong questions... Thinking folk say, cool if ya wanna do that, but when my bike breaks down, and it was because I forgot some critical maintenance issue, it kinda doesn't matter if it was god's will or not to strand me, I won't make that mistake again.

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 8:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck_0069

1. Why does the jelly side always land first?
2. Why does a cat always land feet first but my dog always lands on her back?
3. Why is this world becoming so easily offended?

1- According to Mythbusters season 1, it is not because the jelly side is heavier, but more because there is a rotation and rate of accelleration that happens to have the "up" side of a piece of bread hit the ground when dropped from approximately "counter-height." I suspect this was not statistically evaluated to significance, and that there is a random occurrence of the phenomena...

2-I have 5 cats, and my mom breeds shepards... The cats don't always land on their feet, but when they do and a dog couldn't, it is because of the longer, more flexible spine and body of the cat, which allows them to develop greater spin in the air, and get their feet dow...

3-Because they all are a buch of feminized, sensitive, politically correct idiots...

*zfrilly2* · 06-05-2007, 8:47 PM

Quote:

How was the earth made, and for that matter how were the other planets made.
Is there alien life
is there another galaxy with another "earth" where people wonder the same things we do.
what happens when we die. are we to add nutrients to the soil for the earth to keep living, are we reincarnated or do we go to this magic place in the sky (or a really warm place in the earth)
If there is no good in the world is there evil? Can their be a yin without a yang?

Christianity can answer all of those questions.

God Bless.

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 8:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zfrilly2

Christianity can answer all of those questions.

God Bless.

Actually, it can't. It claims to, but each "answer" provided by christianity fails under a 3-year old's scrutiny, let alone a fairly well-schooled adult.

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 9:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinfuldragon

1-How was the earth made, and for that matter how were the other planets made.
2-Is there alien life
3-is there another galaxy with another "earth" where people wonder the same things we do.
4-what happens when we die. are we to add nutrients to the soil for the earth to keep living, are we reincarnated or do we go to this magic place in the sky (or a really warm place in the earth)
5-If there is no good in the world is there evil?
6-Can their be a yin without a yang?

7-How are those to get you started?

7-Good!
6-No, if we are talking about energies...To imbue them with a moral component as in Q-5 is to make an error...Take electricity: Without the negative pole, there would be no purpose in having a positive pole...But, which one is better? I would say that without the electricity, we couldn't good things like radios and computers, OR bad things like dogs getting electrocuted and bar-b-q'd on street grates...Wait, that's a good thing...MMMmmmspicy dog...
5-I am not sure what you mean.."If there is NO good, is there evil?" If that is the question, I would have to say the absence of X doesn't mandate the existence of Y...So, no, I am not sure that the absence of good makes an existence of evil necessary. Or, if the question was : "if there is good is there evil? Maybe; but what do we mean by good and evil? Is it an objective thing, that is: are there clearly defineable activities that, by their very nature, are axiomatically bad; or, are these subjective things, that we decide are bad, either as a society/individual? Either way, there are two basic ways to look at morality (good and evil actions), deontological and consequential. Motivations for actions and results of actions. I would need some more specific cases of possible good/evil to really do the question justice, or the post will be even longer than this crazy one will be...
4-Why can't both be true? Though I am not sure what that means, I think there is some experiental and anecdotal evidence that reincarnation might exist...However, because of the supernatural (to our current scientific standards) aspect of these issues, we might not be able to test the emotional belief sufficiently yet to conclusively state this is true...I suppose for now, unless you are cremated or put in one of those hermetically-sealed coffins, many of your chemical building blocks reenter the matter-stream as they decompose, and your soul, "if it exists" does something we can't fully understand, so don't get bent out of shape about it...BTW, have you read any Piers Anthony sci/fi fantasy? I recommend the incarnations of immortality...Lots of fun.

3 seems tied to 2, with a parallel universe component...I am not sure about any of that. There are several potential theories (only potential because there are elements of quantum mechanics we can't test in a practical sense, to determine the additional states of matter and whether the extra ones are inside or outside of our universe. But an identical earth? who knows...I suspect that there is a planet out there with beings who poder their place in the universe, but as for communicating or gathering evidence? Who can tell when that will happen...I would love to hear those folks religious dudes argue with our religious wing-nuts, though...

2-I suppose the law of averages and general statistics would make the possibility of life on other planets a forgone conclusion...However, how do we test that without being able to overcome certain practical limitations, and travel faster than light?
1- There was a great show the other week that refined the big bang theory, and I really liked it, and it was well thought of by the Nobel laureate in physics at CUNY...There was a progression of increasingly complicated matter (at first only H, then more stuff, and it kept growing, etc...) There is now a picture available of the semi-spherical aspect of the universe, bordered by the original radiation from the big bang...Very cool stuff...

*zfrilly2* · 06-05-2007, 9:37 PM

Christianity does provide the answers, as to whether you want to believe the answers is up to you, but the post is "If you have questions that christianity can't answer... ". Your answers could also be scrutinized by a three year old.

God Bless.

By the way, I have no real religiuos beliefs. Just morals in which I live by.

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 9:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zfrilly2

Christianity does provide the answers, as to whether you want to believe the answers is up to you, but the post is "If you have questions that christianity can't answer... ". Your answers could also be scrutinized by a three year old.

God Bless.

By the way, I have no real religiuos beliefs. Just morals in which I live by.

Most three year olds can't read, and I guess you can't either...

06CBR1KMFNRR · 06-05-2007, 9:40 PM

Can god microwave a burrito too hot for himself to eat?

*zfrilly2* · 06-05-2007, 9:40 PM

I read, all of your answers. I liked most of them. Christianity can answer those questions as well.

*zfrilly2* · 06-05-2007, 9:43 PM

Quote:

Can god microwave a burrito too hot for himself to eat?

Now that is a good question for the post. Analog whats the verdict?

*zfrilly2* · 06-05-2007, 9:49 PM

Here is may question......Waht is the best form of government?

06CBR1KMFNRR · 06-05-2007, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zfrilly2

Here is may question......Waht is the best form of government?

There we go. And I thought we couldn't make this debate more futile. Let's bring in politics!

If you're looking to do some serious conquering and destroying, theocracy is the only way to go!

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 06CBR1KMFNRR

Can god microwave a burrito too hot for himself to eat?

I like the Homer simpson, can god create a donut that he can't eat, the best.

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zfrilly2

I read, all of your answers. I liked most of them. Christianity can answer those questions as well.

Yes, but for the answers to be correct or actually true/right/fact from christianity, there must be a way to test/justify, etc. That can't be done in christianity, or in any religion for that matter...

analogbear · 06-05-2007, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zfrilly2

Here is may question......Waht is the best form of government?

At what level: family, corporate, local, state/regional, national, international, planetary? There are fundamentally different needs at the various levels, so there can't be one single "form," although the "Consent Principle," that idea that if a decision is going to effect a person, that person should have a say in that decision, is essential. Some variety of small "d" democracy would be the order of the day...But to honor that principle, I culdn't make the decision alone, could I?

Phadreus · 06-05-2007, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zfrilly2

By the way, I have no real religiuos beliefs. Just morals in which I live by.

Some might say Morality must be accompanied by Piety or they are nothing more than a personal set of "values". Those that would say that, most often are faith based within some organized religion.

I personally think Christianities perspective on morals, which appears to be that they have the "moral high ground", and singularly have the market on what is right and what is wrong is lacking. I think we as a species learn right from wrong no more from Christianity, than we know that 2+2=4 from reading a math text book. Just my thoughts...