funkyderek

Joined

• started 48 topics
• posted 5,014 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by funkyderek

• 
  100

  Moral Values of an Atheist

  by hamilcarr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some thoughts spinning through my head .... what does it mean to be an atheist?

  it means you cannot imagine your homosexual neighbor being slaughtered by a loving god at judgment's day, it means you don't consider the primitive tribe described in numbers 31 that slew midianite men and raped innocent virgins to be god's first covenant people, it means you don't believe mankind is so perverted that it is in need of salvation through a man who came 'not with peace, but with a sword', it means you have high moral values that apply not only to the members of your denomination but to all men.. h. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  BurnTheShips:

  Murdering people however is wrong.

  Why?
• 
  100

  Moral Values of an Atheist

  by hamilcarr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some thoughts spinning through my head .... what does it mean to be an atheist?

  it means you cannot imagine your homosexual neighbor being slaughtered by a loving god at judgment's day, it means you don't consider the primitive tribe described in numbers 31 that slew midianite men and raped innocent virgins to be god's first covenant people, it means you don't believe mankind is so perverted that it is in need of salvation through a man who came 'not with peace, but with a sword', it means you have high moral values that apply not only to the members of your denomination but to all men.. h. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  All you Christians who say it's wrong to kill people, please tell me why. What's so wrong about killing people?
• 
  49

  The Design of Life

  by Deputy Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from: http://www.thedesignoflife.net.

  the cover of the design of life features an artists portrayal of human brain circuitry as it might appear if magnified many thousands of times.

  the portrayal illustrates an intriguing discussion of the human brain in chapter one, quoted here in part: during the first eighteen months from conception, the brains neurons are formed, deployed, and connected in a tsunami of activity, at the rate of 250,000 per minute, until 100 billion neurons are arrayed in a powerful, organized matrix.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  Deputy Dog:

  It's not a rule, it's a statement of fact; evolution requires time the same as aging requires time.

  Wouldn't you call it natural law?

  If you like. It's still just a statement of the way things are.

  Would the north star be north of the north pole?

  No. "North" only has meaning on the two-dimensional surface of the earth. If you went from the North Pole towards Polaris, your latitude would still be the same (90° North, as far north as you can go); only your altitude would change.

  This sort of fits "string theory"and requires an infinite number of universes or what they call a multi-verse in which not only is everything possible, but likely . From what I read, this is the popular view today in quantum physics. If you can wrap you mind around that, believing in God seems quite sane to me

  If there are enough universes, then not only is everything likely, but everything is inevitable. However, some universes are more likely than others. While we may live in an unlikely universe, namely one where the conditions are suitable for life to evolve, it is obvious after a little thought that anybody capable of pondering these questions must live in such a universe. 99.999999% or more of universes may contain nothing but space and gas, but necessarily we live in one of the remaining ones. Now while it is possible that the particular universe we live in also has some extremely unlikely properties, it's, well, extremely unlikely. Only in a vanishingly small number of possible universes will an omnipotent entity have come into existence with no precursors, so in the absence of conclusive evidence, it's most reasonable to assume that there are no such entities in our particular corner of the universe.
• 
  179

  Do you need help finding Jesus?

  by real one in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if you are searching for jesus i may be able to help you find him.

  he is in the bible.

  its like magic.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  real one:

  If you are searching for Jesus I may be able to help you find him. He is in the Bible.

  Big deal, Jesus is easy to find. Can you help me find Wally instead?
• 
  23

  Saudis sentence woman to death for WITCHCRAFT

  by stillajwexelder in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23162712.

  an extremely conservative islamic society does it again - a woman sentenced to death for witchcraft.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  quietlyleaving:

  Funkyderek - I just want to make a point that rather than seeing it solely as an enligitenment versus backwardness scenario - there is also the fact that for instance in the west we have police forces that keeps us in check.

  The existence of such a police force sworn to uphold laws protecting human rights is an important part of an enlightened society. Some backward societies instead base their laws on ancient scribblings, with little regard for human life or welfare.

  I'm not sure if I'm being clear here. It may well be that in the west many of the people who are presently instigating the sort of things in Saudi Arabia that we find outragious are either in prison, medicated or awaiting trial. In other words those "medieval christians" are still here with us. So there is a need to bring the past into the picture - we are not as enlightened as we like to think.

  There will always be crazy people who accuse their neighbours of witchcraft. Doing so in a modern enlightened society will get you the medical treatment you need to overcome such a delusion. Doing so in a backward society like Saudi Arabia is likely to get the accused person arrested and punished for the absurd crime of being a witch.

  Quite simply, there are good and bad people in all cultures, but our culture is better than theirs. A society where human rights are respected is better than one where they are not. A society where calling someone a witch will provoke laughs of derision is better than one where it could leads to an innocent woman getting flogged or stoned. Our culture is better than theirs because we used to be like them but we grew out of it. We need them to catch up with us.
• 
  49

  The Design of Life

  by Deputy Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from: http://www.thedesignoflife.net.

  the cover of the design of life features an artists portrayal of human brain circuitry as it might appear if magnified many thousands of times.

  the portrayal illustrates an intriguing discussion of the human brain in chapter one, quoted here in part: during the first eighteen months from conception, the brains neurons are formed, deployed, and connected in a tsunami of activity, at the rate of 250,000 per minute, until 100 billion neurons are arrayed in a powerful, organized matrix.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  Blueblades:

  In the end, we all die. What comes next is one of two things, one ) nothing, two ) something.

  That is not at all what this discussion is about. It is about whether life shows evidence of intelligent design. Even if it was demonstrated that the human brain could only be the result of deliberate conscious creation, it is still obvious that it stops working on death and therefore if there's an afterlife it must be something else that survives, so the structure of the brain (or indeed any part of any life form), even if it proves the existence of a god, tells us nothing about an afterlife.
• 
  49

  The Design of Life

  by Deputy Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from: http://www.thedesignoflife.net.

  the cover of the design of life features an artists portrayal of human brain circuitry as it might appear if magnified many thousands of times.

  the portrayal illustrates an intriguing discussion of the human brain in chapter one, quoted here in part: during the first eighteen months from conception, the brains neurons are formed, deployed, and connected in a tsunami of activity, at the rate of 250,000 per minute, until 100 billion neurons are arrayed in a powerful, organized matrix.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  BurnTheShips:

  Certainly not the kind of person we are familiar with.

  Indeed. The only kind of person we are familiar with is that which has acheived personhood after a long process of Darwinian evolution. It is hard to imagine how else the phenomena associated with personhood could come about, without positing exceptions and special pleading (which is exactly what we find among those who claim a person has come to be by other means).
• 
  23

  Saudis sentence woman to death for WITCHCRAFT

  by stillajwexelder in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23162712.

  an extremely conservative islamic society does it again - a woman sentenced to death for witchcraft.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  Simon:

  Yes, thank god Christians have never tried, convicted or killed any witches eh ...

  It's not a competition. Everybody knows that Christians used to kill "witches". And there would be outrage if they were doing it today. Which is the whole point. Accusing women of witchcraft is the sort of perverse backwardness that has long since disappeared from Western society. As we cannot change the past, there is little point railing against the horrific actions that took place in medieval Europe, but we can change what is happening right now in Saudi Arabia.

  I don't see what point you're trying to make by continually pointing out that Christians were once as backward as Muslims are today. Are you saying that Muslims should be allowed to catch up in their own time? Should we perhaps allow them a crack at the Jews seeing as "we" did it for centuries, right up to a couple of generations ago? Or, do you allow that just maybe, by speaking up against the ridiculous medieval practices of Muslim states, we can help fast-track their journey to enlightenment with a minimum of pain and suffering?
• 
  49

  The Design of Life

  by Deputy Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from: http://www.thedesignoflife.net.

  the cover of the design of life features an artists portrayal of human brain circuitry as it might appear if magnified many thousands of times.

  the portrayal illustrates an intriguing discussion of the human brain in chapter one, quoted here in part: during the first eighteen months from conception, the brains neurons are formed, deployed, and connected in a tsunami of activity, at the rate of 250,000 per minute, until 100 billion neurons are arrayed in a powerful, organized matrix.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  Deputy Dog:

  We can't say, everything just started with the big bang, if everything in nature has a cause.

  My point is simply that anything outside (or "before" for a lack of better words) of the universe (nature), would have to be "super"natural. Thus the cause of nature, would have to be supernatural.

  OK, so for the moment let's accept that everything in nature has a cause. That doesn't mean nature itself has a cause. Nature could itself be "super"natural and would therefore be exempt from rules requiring designers or causes. No need to hypothesise an intelligence at all.
• 
  49

  The Design of Life

  by Deputy Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from: http://www.thedesignoflife.net.

  the cover of the design of life features an artists portrayal of human brain circuitry as it might appear if magnified many thousands of times.

  the portrayal illustrates an intriguing discussion of the human brain in chapter one, quoted here in part: during the first eighteen months from conception, the brains neurons are formed, deployed, and connected in a tsunami of activity, at the rate of 250,000 per minute, until 100 billion neurons are arrayed in a powerful, organized matrix.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  funkyderek

  Deputy Dog:

  I didn't make the rule.

  No, somebody else did. They just made it up. That's the whole basis of creationism/ID, the made-up rule that complexity requires a designer. But if you make up a rule (or parrot someone else's made-up rule) you should really make sure it doesn't depend on an exception to itself.

  Who's rule is this? [that evolution requires time]

  It's not a rule, it's a statement of fact; evolution requires time the same as aging requires time.

  BurnTheShips:

  But seriously, the Universe had a cause.

  Maybe. If it did, one thing we can say with almost one hundred percent certainty is that that cause was not a person.