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Topic: Religious beliefs on bitcoin - page 25. (Read 22437 times)

hero member
Activity: 728
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May 29, 2013, 08:01:36 AM
Religion as well as science are based in reason. The truth stands out clearly from falsehood.
donator
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Preaching the gospel of Satoshi
May 29, 2013, 04:55:34 AM
I want some pepperoni on my Eucharist, please.
full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
Capitalism is the crisis.
May 29, 2013, 04:49:55 AM
No.
Here's an idea. All theists on the internet are unintentional trolls. The magical thing about internet theists is that the universal response to their trollings is an enormous display of fireworks, lasers, blimps, zeppelins, meticulously crafted wonders to treat the eye, carefully rehearsed and choreographed scientific dances erupting unanimously, peer-reviewed. from all sides, earthshakingly, undeniably flawlessly articulated monologues, specifically quoting and assessing with the greatest care, every arguement or point or implication any theisy might allude to.
To which the common theist invariably responds, unblinking, unshaked, dissuaded not in the least, john, 3:16...muh faiths.
legendary
Activity: 1232
Merit: 1001
May 29, 2013, 03:34:31 AM
Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral.

Why do you think atheists are immoral? Since they call god immoral, it would suggest that they do understand what is moral and what is immoral, even to the point that they believe some of the actions that are attributed to god or some of his commandments are immoral. Atheists are more moral than god.

This is an honest question I have had.  Where do atheists get their moral compass from?  Is it based on society around them?  Do the laws of the land dictate what is moral?  Can they change their minds if they feel like it?  Society used to call many things immoral that are now called moral so is it based on the what others say is right or wrong?  Or do they have a "conscience" that tells them what is right and wrong?  If so, where does that conscience come from?  

The assumption you can only have morals if you are religions is really harsh.

Doesn't this basically translate people (also you!) only act moral because they fear punishment.

So if your god would not threaten you with punishment you would go around murdering, raping, etc.? Certainly not.

Should for the sake of your own argument the assumption not be:

To be a (good) religious person you need strong morals, rather than to have morals you need to be religious?

So where do morals come from? It's called empathy, the capacity to recognize emotions that are being experienced by another being.

And this ability is just hardwired into our brains. Without it our species would not have been able to surfieve in times long before religion. Our empathy / protective instincts even is oversensitive and basically triggered by everything that resembles a human face even the slighted, especially with characteristics of infants (Big eyes compared to the rest of the face), that's why many people like cats and dogs. You see this effect used often to manipulate our feelings, the movie Avatar is a good example.

But well, it basically comes down to this:

A human being is able to imagine the consequences of it's actions for another being, morals are the decision that no being should experience consequences that I deem unpleasant, compared to the actual value of this experience (work for example is unpleasant for many, yet necessary). Also the difference is the case, making someone else a gift, makes us feel good. That's hardwired the same way. I feel good when others feel good because of my actions.

And of course this standards are different for every human, defined by what unpleasant things they deem necessary, I for one am a vegetarian for that reason, which most people evaluate as over extreme.

In the end it comes down to this:

Morals are not obeying a law, whether it is from a government or a religion. Someone that sticks to certain morals just because any other being tells him so is not moral at all, because they just admit they they wouldn't act this way if they where not "being watched"
legendary
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RIP Mommy
May 29, 2013, 01:40:46 AM
No.
newbie
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May 29, 2013, 12:22:17 AM
This has taken a weird twist.
hero member
Activity: 560
Merit: 500
May 28, 2013, 11:49:41 PM
Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral.

Why do you think atheists are immoral? Since they call god immoral, it would suggest that they do understand what is moral and what is immoral, even to the point that they believe some of the actions that are attributed to god or some of his commandments are immoral. Atheists are more moral than god.

This is an honest question I have had.  Where do atheists get their moral compass from?  Is it based on society around them?  Do the laws of the land dictate what is moral?  Can they change their minds if they feel like it?  Society used to call many things immoral that are now called moral so is it based on the what others say is right or wrong?  Or do they have a "conscience" that tells them what is right and wrong?  If so, where does that conscience come from?  

Answered earlier in the thread. The short of it is: evolved social empathy.
hero member
Activity: 560
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May 28, 2013, 11:45:51 PM
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"Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn’t care to, or he doesn’t exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely." - Sam Harris
Or perhaps it fits in a plan that you do not see.

So you've chosen #2, that your god is evil. And yet you still follow him. Nice.


The ten commandments are the foundation of biblical law and morals, God is not bound by his laws. However, God is also a good God, thus all the laws he created are generally followed by him.

Well now you're just descending into fundamentalist pamphlet talk. If his laws are what make morality and he doesn't follow them, then he is immoral. You're just gonna state "god is good" while all evidence points to the contrary? This is just about checkmate it seems.



e.g. Thou shalt not murder, athiests will contend that God has "murdered" people, however there is a separation between rightfully sentencing people to death, and a person deciding they want to kill somone.

I'm confused. You're describing relative morality, where sometimes murder is OK. I'm looking for your examples of absolute morality.


Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral. It's quite obvious God would be above the law, God did not create the law for himself, but rather for the human race.

The whole use of the word moral is a religious shell game. People use it as a weapon; those with morals know what is right and those without do not. Of course that is complete horseshit.

Your god, if he did exist, would be the most capriciously violent and vengeful being in the universe yet somehow he's great to worship because "might makes right" for you, whether the lich you worship is actually "evil" or not. It doesn't matter if he's a vile bastard to you, and that is twisted. Along your line of reasoning, if inside your mythology Satan had cast God out of Heaven you'd follow Satan just as gladly, as long as people sang songs calling Satan's torture of others "love".

Meanwhile you deem atheists amoral because you believe they don't follow any of the "moral laws" in your book of rules. Again, horseshit. We don't need a book to tell us not to kill people, not to steal from others, etc.


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I criticize him based on my rational, evolved, relative morals.
Go on then, Hitler thought he was saving the human race by removing the scourge of Judaism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
I was trying to avoid Godwin's law however you've opened the can of worms, not me. Your argument concerning the "danger" of relative moralism with regard to Hitler falls flat. The point of relative morals is NOT "whatever each individual finds right is A-OK", it is that while we each individually need to determine right from wrong in our own loves (personal morals), these will continually be evaluated and adjusted against family (clan) morals, social, government and worldwide morals. And all of these morals continue to evolve worldwide as the various groups employ empathy to hopefully understand one another, groups and cultures.

What we don't need is religion imposing arbitrary and piss-poor "morals" on that system of growth. I mean, your god had the chance to really make the world a wonderful place and his first commandment is the jealous, "don't worship anybody but me, or else!"  Wow... swing and a miss.

Thankfully he followed it up with the ultra-important "no graven images" commandment. Ouch. Strike two.

And the humiliating strike out comes with the third waste of commandment, "don't you dare call me names." By the time he gets to anything of importance we're already not listening to this turkey. As I said earlier, any 10th grader could come up with a better list of commandments, and her list could hardly be less loving and righteous no matter what was on it.


If you make one copy of anything, I suspect it would not last very long at all.

The Code of Hammurabi, which came well before the bible, was carved into stone to preserve it longer. You'd think a god would know that, eh? I love that people claim prophecy and omnipotence for this god and the dude can't even stop his "revelation" for a second to say, "oh yeah, before I forget, papyrus might not be a good idea to record this. Try stone."


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Commanding death of gays among many other arbitrary groups:
Such is the moral law, but it certainly not to be executed by random people.

There's just no way around it -- anyone who thinks 2 consenting adults pile driving the Hershey highway requires death is quite simply a big juicy turd of a human. It's a completely irrational belief, has zero to do with right or wrong, and is miles away from anything worthy of such a punishment. But what more can we expect from the most immoral book on the planet?


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Stoning naughty kids (Deuteronomy 21:18):
The bible does not condone stoning "naughty kids".

18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
full member
Activity: 126
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Capitalism is the crisis.
May 28, 2013, 10:43:03 PM
legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1393
You lead and I'll watch you walk away.
May 28, 2013, 10:23:43 PM
Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral.

Why do you think atheists are immoral? Since they call god immoral, it would suggest that they do understand what is moral and what is immoral, even to the point that they believe some of the actions that are attributed to god or some of his commandments are immoral. Atheists are more moral than god.

This is an honest question I have had.  Where do atheists get their moral compass from?  Is it based on society around them?  Do the laws of the land dictate what is moral?  Can they change their minds if they feel like it?  Society used to call many things immoral that are now called moral so is it based on the what others say is right or wrong?  Or do they have a "conscience" that tells them what is right and wrong?  If so, where does that conscience come from?  

Serious question - Do you mean to say that you have no idea what is right and what is wrong without God to tell you?

If you picked up a puppy you found on the side of the road that had a broken leg would you:

1) Take it to the closest animal hospital/shelter for treatment and adoption.

2) Throw it as far into the woods as you can so it doesn't stink up the road.

3) Stand there praying for a sign for what to do because you have no moral compass without God.

full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
Capitalism is the crisis.
May 28, 2013, 10:23:32 PM
Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral.

Why do you think atheists are immoral? Since they call god immoral, it would suggest that they do understand what is moral and what is immoral, even to the point that they believe some of the actions that are attributed to god or some of his commandments are immoral. Atheists are more moral than god.

This is an honest question I have had.  Where do atheists get their moral compass from?  Is it based on society around them?  Do the laws of the land dictate what is moral?  Can they change their minds if they feel like it?  Society used to call many things immoral that are now called moral so is it based on the what others say is right or wrong?  Or do they have a "conscience" that tells them what is right and wrong?  If so, where does that conscience come from?  

Ethics is the analysis of actions. implications and concequences. Morals are cultural dogma, set in stone. Anone whose morals are unethical is someone I don't trust. If your ethics are amoral, you have a shot at doing good, if they're immoral, you're probably overthinking stuff.
hero member
Activity: 560
Merit: 500
May 28, 2013, 10:21:42 PM
At any rate, the world is absolutely primed for the fulfilment of end times prophecy, Bitcoin playing an uncredited role.

2000 years of End Times. Seems more like Never-End Times.

We already covered this. John was speaking about his own lifetime. Jesus failed to return. Game over. Only modern fundamentalist chrisitians and some assorted other kooks, who have trouble with reading comprehension, have stretched the fabled "second coming" over millennia to be, "Any day now, so stock up your canned goods and gold. We'll show those hell-bound atheists!"
legendary
Activity: 1148
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May 28, 2013, 10:11:30 PM
Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral.

Why do you think atheists are immoral? Since they call god immoral, it would suggest that they do understand what is moral and what is immoral, even to the point that they believe some of the actions that are attributed to god or some of his commandments are immoral. Atheists are more moral than god.

This is an honest question I have had.  Where do atheists get their moral compass from?  Is it based on society around them?  Do the laws of the land dictate what is moral?  Can they change their minds if they feel like it?  Society used to call many things immoral that are now called moral so is it based on the what others say is right or wrong?  Or do they have a "conscience" that tells them what is right and wrong?  If so, where does that conscience come from?  



legendary
Activity: 1680
Merit: 1035
May 28, 2013, 09:10:29 PM
Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral.

Why do you think atheists are immoral? Since they call god immoral, it would suggest that they do understand what is moral and what is immoral, even to the point that they believe some of the actions that are attributed to god or some of his commandments are immoral. Atheists are more moral than god.
legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1393
You lead and I'll watch you walk away.
May 28, 2013, 08:56:18 PM
God could force all of us to be perfect.  To be His "mindless" robots and all of us would then do exactly what He wanted, but then how would God know if we really loved him or not?  If you are in love with someone, wouldn't you at some point want to know if the
y truly loved you back or were just in the relationship because they had to be?  That is the way it is with us.


Woah woah woah! Are you saying we can hide our thoughts and intentions from god? Awesome!

Quote
Morality: Using empathy as a guide for human interaction. AKA, "treat others the way you want to be treated" and "put yourself in my shoes". It has nothing inherently to do with the bible.
Only empathy will lead to utilitarianism. If Hitler thought what he was doing to the Jews would improve the life of everyone on the earth, and save them from the evil destructive Jews, on what basis do you criticize him?

Doesn't "everyone" include Jews? I would criticize him on assuming that Jews aren't included in the "everyone" group, and that he doesn't think they want their lives improved just like everyone else.

I thought Jews didn't care about creature comforts and thought they were "goyishe." Jews just want all the money. Not that they spend it on anything but they just want it. Or am I mixing up my stereotypes?
member
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May 28, 2013, 08:53:51 PM
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You can't be serious... your god wants to kill every single one of us eventually. As for "intervening" Rassah paraphrased earlier:
"Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn’t care to, or he doesn’t exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely." - Sam Harris
Or perhaps it fits in a plan that you do not see.

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First, love your avatar!    Cheesy
Statler & Waldorf are indeed awesome Smiley

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Please list them all. Be sure not to list any your god has broken, otherwise it isn't absolute.
The ten commandments are the foundation of biblical law and morals, God is not bound by his laws. However, God is also a good God, thus all the laws he created are generally followed by him.

e.g. Thou shalt not murder, athiests will contend that God has "murdered" people, however there is a separation between rightfully sentencing people to death, and a person deciding they want to kill somone.

Quote
Your god is the most immoral being in the universe. Of course you want to place him somehow above the law, otherwise that troublesome cognitive dissonance starts buzzing away.
Considering all athiests are amoral, I am surprised at the many times they call God immoral. It's quite obvious God would be above the law, God did not create the law for himself, but rather for the human race.

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I criticize him based on my rational, evolved, relative morals.
Go on then, Hitler thought he was saving the human race by removing the scourge of Judaism.

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and just lay down some laws, preferably not on papyrus since only someone of "ungodly intellect" would think that might last through the generations.
If you make one copy of anything, I suspect it would not last very long at all. The torah was however beautifully preserved, each scribe would copy from one book to the other one letter at a time, then they would count the letters, and if they were not the same count as the original, they would start over again. Your ratgher simplistic view of the preservation of the torah is very common.

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Ironically the answer to the first is in the link you posted.
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The creation and fall account indicate that death is a bad thing - not part of God's perfect will. So any (moral) means to sustain life is good. While death is inevitable, I think life is always better than death. I also think God gave us our minds to be creative in the pursuit and sustaining of life. So while the end of life is always in God's hands, I see no Biblical reason to think that we cannot intervene to continue life. If we are given the skills and the creative power to do so, there is no reason why we shouldn't use them.

There's this bad idea that says that by doing nothing we are showing our faith and dependence on God. But that is simply not true. While God is certainly free to intervene and work miracles, we are not called to sit around expecting Him to make His will happen. We are created in His image, with skills, with a mind, and a command to work (even before the curse of the fall). So whatever He has revealed to us so far, even if its just enough to get us through the day, act on it! We are given a privilege and responsibility to see His will carried on earth.

To deny medical treatment because "God told me not to" is very dangerous and should not be practiced by Christians.

I would like to hear the arguments in favor of "natural healing" that are so compelling that you conclude "there's no clear cut answer". That's not as much a challenge as an expression of my incredulity that such an argument exists.

It's parental negligence. Second degree murder is the appropriate charge. And I would be willing to hear arguments where churches that teach that nonsense have their tax-exempt status pulled and leaders that push those ideas on the parishioners face prosecution for child endangerment. Heck, prosecute them under the assisted suicide laws in states where those apply.

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Commanding death of gays among many other arbitrary groups:
Such is the moral law, but it certainly not to be executed by random people. Vigilante justice is not biblical, I imagine that the apostles would have ran into homosexuality as they were going through Rome and Greece, I don't think their answer was to kill them.

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Stoning naughty kids (Deuteronomy 21:18):
The bible does not condone stoning "naughty kids".

I will finish the others soon, brb.
legendary
Activity: 1680
Merit: 1035
May 28, 2013, 08:39:43 PM
God could force all of us to be perfect.  To be His "mindless" robots and all of us would then do exactly what He wanted, but then how would God know if we really loved him or not?  If you are in love with someone, wouldn't you at some point want to know if the
y truly loved you back or were just in the relationship because they had to be?  That is the way it is with us.


Woah woah woah! Are you saying we can hide our thoughts and intentions from god? Awesome!

Quote
Morality: Using empathy as a guide for human interaction. AKA, "treat others the way you want to be treated" and "put yourself in my shoes". It has nothing inherently to do with the bible.
Only empathy will lead to utilitarianism. If Hitler thought what he was doing to the Jews would improve the life of everyone on the earth, and save them from the evil destructive Jews, on what basis do you criticize him?

Doesn't "everyone" include Jews? I would criticize him on assuming that Jews aren't included in the "everyone" group, and that he doesn't think they want their lives improved just like everyone else.
legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1393
You lead and I'll watch you walk away.
May 28, 2013, 08:39:22 PM
I am a Christian, believe in the Bible and own bitcoins. And as for all the mocking of things I hold dear, I am not going to respond.

Good for you! The one iron clad way to win every debate is to not debate.
newbie
Activity: 53
Merit: 0
May 28, 2013, 08:25:34 PM
I am a Christian, believe in the Bible and own bitcoins. And as for all the mocking of things I hold dear, I am not going to respond.
full member
Activity: 220
Merit: 100
Getting too old for all this.
May 28, 2013, 08:21:44 PM
Jesus was totally That Guy. Thank God. I want to be That Guy.

Fancy avatar there, ktttn. Roughly translated I get: Taoist, balancing darkness with enlightenment. That's why you see the akashic records as being on neutral ground. I affirm to you, they are not what they seem.

So far so good?

Anyways, whether one believes in biblical prophecies or not, realize that there are a massive number of mystical/channelling groups and cults that people are getting into, usually involving ghosts, angels, gods, aliens, drugs, etc, and amazingly they all present essentially the same exact doomsday message, and it's exactly what the Bible suggests the antichrist would sell the world. "Unite for world peace and purge the absolutists, or { we won't give you free energy | you're going to kill each other | the planetary vibration will stay at a lower density [sic] }." Cite: Ashtar Command, Thrive Movement, Galactic Federation of Light, Zeitgeist, Raelians, Scientology, a thousand others, etc... and AFAIK anyone dabbling in mysticism (though initially considering it an objective pursuit) will find they can hardly object to their statements.

Sadly that message is spreading rapidly through a society that doesn't know any better. Whether you believe it is of spiritual or lunatic origin, the antichrist message works against the libertarian principle far more than the Christian message does.

At any rate, the world is absolutely primed for the fulfilment of end times prophecy, Bitcoin playing an uncredited role. Should the mark system come into effect, it would have to be quite generous but potentially exclusive, as it was with the Romans.

I'm also curious how one might explain how over 2000 years ago anyone could have supposed that the whole progressive world would be primed and ready to unite behind some irreverently charismatic leader who could actually bring world peace?

Can you imagine right now how popular someone like that would become, especially if he had the worship-inducing favor of the global media, hollywood, politicians, even muslims? There would literally be no limit to the damage he could do. Or so he may believe.

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