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Topic: Religious Orientation (Read 16184 times)

hero member
Activity: 574
Merit: 506
May 08, 2017, 06:11:56 PM
BADecker,

I am not sure what you are even arguing about here?

The moment some atheists become religious, they are not atheist anymore. We are talking about the very meaning of the word here. A-theism is lack of commitment to any spiritual force. Some secular cults try to masquarade the vacuum as "human rights" or "social justice" or "master race" as we have seen in the past. But the fact is they all ended up in trap of materialism, because under the shiny surface they lack substance of true Faith. And most of the "believers" turns out to be momentary opportunists like Chesterton I quoted above observed long time ago.

Its not even about atheism being right or wrong, it is about it and its various popular offshoots do not deserving to be called religions. They are more akin to fashion worn by diletants and those fearing commitment.
legendary
Activity: 3906
Merit: 1373
May 08, 2017, 06:05:37 PM
Even though only 190 or so users voted so far, 63% of present people voted either agnostic or atheist. Which is well in line with what I guessed before hand.

I find it interesting that OP did not include "jewish" as an option given how its far more common in the west than say - hinduism. Sikhism likewise is getting more and more exposure.

EDIT: Wow! Just looked at the poll results so far. Lots of people consider atheism their choice of religion.

Atheism is not a religion (and that includes pastafarianism, feminism and other secular "hobbies") in and of itself.

“When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”

― G.K. Chesterton

So it could rather be described as form of spiritual diletantism and absence of firm code of conduct.

True lack of belief - nihilism is altogether different. Smart nihilists enter politics, dumb ones kill themselves early.


Since atheism is based on belief with no fact, atheism is a religion. And it is especially so in the presence of the scientific proof and evidence of nature for the existence of God, shown here:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.10718395
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.14047133
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1662153.40
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.16803380.

Cool
hero member
Activity: 574
Merit: 506
May 08, 2017, 05:57:35 PM
Even though only 190 or so users voted so far, 63% of present people voted either agnostic or atheist. Which is well in line with what I guessed before hand.

I find it interesting that OP did not include "jewish" as an option given how its far more common in the west than say - hinduism. Sikhism likewise is getting more and more exposure.

EDIT: Wow! Just looked at the poll results so far. Lots of people consider atheism their choice of religion.

Atheism is not a religion (and that includes pastafarianism, feminism and other secular "hobbies") in and of itself.

“When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”

― G.K. Chesterton

So it could rather be described as form of spiritual diletantism and absence of firm code of conduct.

True lack of belief - nihilism is altogether different. Smart nihilists enter politics, dumb ones kill themselves early.

legendary
Activity: 3906
Merit: 1373
May 08, 2017, 05:35:47 PM
They say politics and religion are the most heated topics. The "Political Orientation" thread was fun, so now it's time for the religion thread!

I apologize if I haven't listed your religion. I based my list of a "most popular religions" piece on Wikipedia.

"Orientation"Huh

Most people are born into religion.  It is not something they choose or prefer.


Not "most. All. That's why atheism, pathetic as it is, is at best a religion.    Cool

EDIT: Wow! Just looked at the poll results so far. Lots of people consider atheism their choice of religion.
hero member
Activity: 1246
Merit: 529
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May 08, 2017, 06:39:55 AM
I am an atheist. However, if I wanted to pick a religion, I would probably choose Islam. Muslims have shown that they are the most devout of the major religions and have won wars against at least two major superpowers. It just feels right.

Well it may be better that you stay an atheists than choose any of these. I'm catholic but I don't agree with all the differences that all these religions are putting us through and I'd rather stay away from all these. I will answer to God in the end with the deeds that I made in this life to other people and not with what religious laws
sr. member
Activity: 490
Merit: 250
May 08, 2017, 04:09:59 AM
I'm atheist, but sometimes pastafarian (flying spaggetti monster)
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 103
July 14, 2011, 12:56:40 AM
In Austria a Pastafarian finally got his driver's licence picture with a noodle sieve as religious hat.

http://www.vol.at/nudelsieb-als-religioese-kopfbedeckung-in-fuehrerschein-genehmigt/news-20110712-03443869


EDIT:
I googled an English article, but I haven't checked it:
http://www.science20.com/alpha_meme/pasta_sieve_religious_head_cover_driver_license-80805

RAmen.
sr. member
Activity: 316
Merit: 250
July 12, 2011, 09:48:51 PM
51.5% Atheist. Makes sense. Bitcoin is a force toward decentralizing society. The majority of religions think of "god" as higher than yourself, including some of the religions where everyone is some part of "god". Most religious people, at the core of their minds, think things should be organized into hierarchies, which influences society toward hierarchies like governments, banks, department of motor vehicles, server over client, etc. Bitcoin influences society toward the opposite, decentralization, so it makes sense why Atheists would like Bitcoin more than Theists like it.

My religion is closest to buddhism, panpsychism, pantheism, nihilism, and probably a few I forgot, but with the important difference that the multiverse is a decentralized system of patterns in general which interact with eachother. I don't have much choice about what religious ideas to believe since I've moved small things with my mind almost 1000 times (like in this "psi wheel in a clear closed box 2" video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKJGb4RNRB4 ), out of body experiences verified after I came back, and that's just the smaller stuff thats easy to explain. I don't have faith. I know from experience, if I think something in just the right way, it will really happen (force depends on accuracy of thoughts as described by the uncertainty equation applied to the fluid dynamics of parallel realities also known as parts of a wavefunction), and anyone can learn the same skill.

What religion or system of thought is this?  I know someone who has similar ideas but I am trying to form a more cohesive understanding of this line of thought.  Is this related to Deepak Chopra's spiritual quantum entanglement theories?

This 42 lines of poetry, with a 42 character title, which I wrote, summarizes it. Its called "The Hitchhikers Guide To Less Than Nothing".

Hard to simulate,
but easy to amplify,
my experience of consciousness,
is interactions,
of an infinite number of abstractions.
The universe is the set of all permutation,
and combination of abstract information.
I am math. Derive me,
and if I could derive you too,
we would have a strange-loop confusing the future you.
But what of the past,
does it go away?
Calculate again,
and ask it the next day.
What is the function,
with the least cost?
Make an assumption,
and you've already lost.
This sentence is false,
is an easy contradiction,
but its not really lost,
its in quantum superposition.
The simplest form being more probable,
unpredictable things make optimizing unsolvable,
chaos-theory is the key to all that,
find in the wild both of Schrodinger's-cat.
Exactly center your mind,
each thought equally probable,
Schrodinger's-neurons you will find,
calculate whats normally impossible.
A simple musical game,
to organize our minds,
could it harness Schrodinger?,
for our preferred designs?
Would the game continue,
if computers stop gaining speed?
Quantum within you,
all the technology we need.
As hard as I try,
I can not escape the conclusion,
we are infinite A.I.,
calculated by ancient solar nuclear fusion.

About "Deepak Chopra", I've never heard of him, but based on this quote...

Quote
According to Business Week, one of Chopra's main messages is that by ridding oneself of negative emotions and developing intuition by listening to signals from the body, health can be improved. According to Chopra, slowing down or reversing the aging of the mind through his methods can increase one's lifespan up to the age of 120 years. As a result of his writings and lectures in this area, he is thought by some to be "one of the pre-eminent leaders of the mind-body-spirit movement".

I agree with it but think that is a side-effect of more important philosophy ideas.

On the more technical side, you can search for "artificial parapsychology" which is something I wrote about a research path to learn how to build a psychic amplifier. I am a metaphysical engineer, and you can see some of my best work in a place called "astral pulse island" (which you can search for to see the picture, as linked below, we designed it to look like and a forum category about it) (specificly the inside of the pyramid and the gold elephant statue which causes the roof to open allowing easier entry from the outside, but the statue was put there by someone else and I just modified it), which is a place outside of space and time (in the "astral", they call it) which many people have been, but it was a group effort and I'm not trying to take all the credit for it. Artificial Parapsychology is another thing a Metaphysical Engineer may do, but metaphysical skill is not needed to start learning how to do it.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_astral_pulse_island-b43.0/


We're all gods, which is something I've learned from experience (see the video linked above, for example), so there's no reason for anyone to worship anyone else or anything.

Quote from: bcearl
Soul is a loaded word that dualists see no problem with and everyone else dislikes

That's not true. I'm not a dualist, because I think there is only 1 kind of thing in the universe that everything is made of (abstraction, math, energy, mass, or whatever you want to call it). "Soul" is an approximate word that refers to some things science hasn't observed much yet, but when science does observe them there will be equations and statistical behaviors, like everything else.

One such equation will be the application of heisenberg uncertainty to states of mind and targets of telekinesis (mind over matter) this way: As the number of possibilities of state of the mind decrease (mind converges on some thought), the object thought about and measured with the eyes will inversely proportionally be moved, so distance_mind_to_centered * change_in_target_object_position will tend to be constant when its done right, and when its not done right there will be no statistical relationship between them. It means, for example, that if you cause your thoughts to depend mostly on some object you're looking at and your thoughts converge from many possibilities to a centered state of mind, you have reduced the number of possible states of the universe in your physical brain, and as a result the number of possible states of the universe must increase somewhere else to balance it, so the number of possible states of the universe remains constant. You can't create or destroy probability, which is a law of quantum physics. This is 1 way to explain how mind over matter (telekinesis) works. I am not a dualist. I think all these things can be explained and they're not incompatible with science.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 250
July 04, 2011, 02:25:46 AM
I don't put much stock in religious views on supernatural phenomena, e.g. life after death, because it all seems like speculation and conjecture at best, cynical manipulation at worst. On the other hand, religious beliefs on morality and human nature often draw on the life experiences of many people over hundreds or thousands of years and can contain valuable insights on living a fulfilling and peaceful life. Writing it all off is just as naive as believing every word.


+ 1 sir

Hence me voting ...well not voting but posting a few up.
Immanuel Kant seemed to me to have a good handle on things but I dare not attempt to quote him just in case I mess it up. He might see this thread and be like wtf man..yes I do know he's dead Wink

Might have to dig that book out. Was along the lines of you cant prove god exists and nither can you disprove it so just let peeps get on with it.

 Embarrassed   Knew i would end up butching his work.
full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
July 03, 2011, 04:50:29 PM
I don't put much stock in religious views on supernatural phenomena, e.g. life after death, because it all seems like speculation and conjecture at best, cynical manipulation at worst. On the other hand, religious beliefs on morality and human nature often draw on the life experiences of many people over hundreds or thousands of years and can contain valuable insights on living a fulfilling and peaceful life. Writing it all off is just as naive as believing every word.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 250
July 03, 2011, 02:33:39 PM
it's all the same thing =/

Please enlighten me because I really dont get that Sad
sr. member
Activity: 454
Merit: 250
July 03, 2011, 12:43:51 PM
it's all the same thing =/
member
Activity: 64
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July 03, 2011, 12:37:51 PM
I am an atheist. However, if I wanted to pick a religion, I would probably choose Islam. Muslims have shown that they are the most devout of the major religions and have won wars against at least two major superpowers. It just feels right.
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 250
July 03, 2011, 10:33:30 AM
Can you add : Agnostic Atheist   ?

Cos then I can vote too  Grin
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 103
July 03, 2011, 09:34:59 AM
I adamantly doubt the existence of a soul.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta

I know nothing more selfish than the people who think that they have surpassed their self.
sr. member
Activity: 322
Merit: 251
FirstBits: 168Bc
July 03, 2011, 08:30:16 AM
The Spiritual Brain
A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul
By Mario Beauregard, Denyse O'Leary

It starts with the fascinating thesis that "a brain is an organ which connects a mind to the rest of the universe". The research evidence was unconvincing and ultimately the author started to get annoying in his boxing these and those 'types of thinkers'.

Nobody doubts that the soul exists, the question is what the soul is.

I adamantly doubt the existence of a soul.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 103
July 02, 2011, 10:31:39 AM
What if you don't believe in mind body dualism?

It could be something like "the software"?
I don't think anyone denies that subjective experience exists, but the basic premise of a soul is that it is something separate from the body. Soul is a loaded word that dualists see no problem with and everyone else dislikes

That's not what people mean when they say: "It hurts my soul."
sr. member
Activity: 321
Merit: 250
Firstbits: 1gyzhw
July 02, 2011, 10:08:46 AM
What if you don't believe in mind body dualism?

It could be something like "the software"?
I don't think anyone denies that subjective experience exists, but the basic premise of a soul is that it is something separate from the body. Soul is a loaded word that dualists see no problem with and everyone else dislikes
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 103
July 02, 2011, 08:23:05 AM
What if you don't believe in mind body dualism?

It could be something like "the software"?


Is music more than the configuration of sound waves?
Is colors more than the configuration of electromagnetic waves?

Why does the soul have to be more than the configuration of the body/the brain?



"Sì, abbiamo un'anima. Ma è fatta di tanti piccoli robot"

("Yes, we have a soul, but it’s made of lots of tiny robots.")
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 103
July 02, 2011, 05:33:46 AM
Do you have any good anti-atheist books you want to recommend?

The best book I've read on the subject was given to me by a bi-polar friend of mine. I respect her opinion because she has actually experienced 'god' first hand and can not deny the experience, even though she is able to rationally discuss her condition, etc (as an example, I accompanied her to report a 'vision' to the arch bishop of the Vatican in Jerusalem).

The Spiritual Brain
A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul
By Mario Beauregard, Denyse O'Leary

It starts with the fascinating thesis that "a brain is an organ which connects a mind to the rest of the universe". The research evidence was unconvincing and ultimately the author started to get annoying in his boxing these and those 'types of thinkers'.

Nobody doubts that the soul exists, the question is what the soul is.
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