Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Religion is a time machine that is incapable of going forward, and can only go backwards taking man back into the dark ages of ignorance and ancient superstitious. Believers are in this time machine, that cannot move forward, that cannot stay in the present, but must go back condemning mankind to the willful ignorance of the past.
I said that ^^^^
And it clearly demonstrates that religion is the greatest threat to our future, to the advancement of mankind. The greatest danger is where belief if magic or the power of prayers to deities replaces evidence in science we are moving in the wrong direction.
Other than to insult I'm not sure this has much point as said.
Still yes religion is great at preserving ancient languages and the wisdom of earlier generations. Anthropologists and linguists are in many ways indebted to this feature of religion. Would Gregorian Chant or the Coptic language still be around without religion? It also gives a sense of continuity to life and a connection to the past. To view the present with no understanding of humans before your birth is to be perpetually naive or groundless in a way.
Other than to insult I'm not sure this has much point as said.
Still yes religion is great at preserving ancient languages and the wisdom of earlier generations. Anthropologists and linguists are in many ways indebted to this feature of religion. Would Gregorian Chant or the Coptic language still be around without religion? It also gives a sense of continuity to life and a connection to the past. To view the present with no understanding of humans before your birth is to be perpetually naive or groundless in a way.
So I'd agree. Not what you meant though.
Yes, how can civilization continue without a Gregorian chant? Interesting perhaps, but the impact on society? Nostalgia serves no real purpose.
I have done a good bit of genealogical research. Found ancestors that had a dozen kids, yet only 2 or 3 survived to adulthood. Ignorance of basic hygiene a likely contributor, diseases that science had yet to conquered. Ancient superstitious, growing like mushrooms in the darkness of religion have held mankind back, and it continues today.
Nor do we learn from history. We completely ignore the mistakes of our forefathers and continue down our insane path of repeating these mistakes, the most obvious being wars.
Yes, how can civilization continue without a Gregorian chant?
Okay medicinal herbs and astronomical observations. Archaeoastronomy is sometimes to often dealing with the work of observations made by religiously inspired astrologers of earlier eras. Herb lore is important to some Taoists and indigenous religions.
And the religious preservation of things like Hebrew, Sanskrit, Aramaic, and Geez is important. Maybe not to you or to Scientism Inc, but to human culture and understanding.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asheville Native
Interesting perhaps, but the impact on society? Nostalgia serves no real purpose.
Art, history, culture. Maybe they serve "no purpose" in the way a power-tool or an X-ray machine do, but they do have value to human life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asheville Native
I have done a good bit of genealogical research. Found ancestors that had a dozen kids, yet only 2 or 3 survived to adulthood. Ignorance of basic hygiene a likely contributor, diseases that science had yet to conquered. Ancient superstitious, growing like mushrooms in the darkness of religion have held mankind back, and it continues today.
If the purpose is only to insult or proselytize this thread should perhaps be removed or moved to Atheism/Agnosticism. I know many of you treat R/P as an adjunct to A/A, rather than the other way round, but I don't think it's inevitable or desirable.
If the purpose is only to insult or proselytize this thread should perhaps be removed or moved to Atheism/Agnosticism. I know many of you treat R/P as an adjunct to A/A, rather than the other way round, but I don't think it's inevitable or desirable.
How typically christian, play the insult card followed by the censorship card.
How about debating the fact that religion is like a time machine that only has a reverse. And this is about religion, so I believe my choice of forums to start the thread is appropriate. If it were about atheism, I would have started it in the A/A area.
How typically christian, play the insult card followed by the censorship card.
I could say it's typically atheist of you to scream "help, help I'm being oppressed" when very little happened. Looking at my post I didn't even really say it must be moved or ended. And even if I did I do not have the power to move or end this thread. I was just saying what I think based on what I know of the rules.
Further I'm not playing an "insult card", your purpose for the thread is inherently insulting. It's not really anything else. If you can't see that than my guess is you have a social functioning disorder. That's unfortunate, but I'm not a therapist so I can't help you with that if that's the problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asheville Native
How about debating the fact that religion is like a time machine that only has a reverse.
I tried responding, you weren't all that interested.
Basically your insult is based in a fallacious notion that the age of a thing makes it false. This fallacy is brought in so much by atheists like yourself I don't think I have much new to say on the matter.
I agree that religion preserves much of the past. I agree that much of the past is bad. I know that religion is not some monolithic thing. I know that religion preserves more than what's bad in the past. I put "I know" because I don't consider this even a matter of debate. It is simply a fact.
That religion is not a monolith is a fact, it's not my personal opinion. There are religions, like Baha'i, that are not ancient and accept all modern science. There are ancient religions, like Judaism or Catholicism, that have plenty of noteworthy scientists or contributions to science. The Vatican Observatory, the Jesuit work in geology, the religiously Jewish Nobel Laureates, etc.
I know that having access to certain early languages, access we have due to religion preserving the past, is of value in some fields. I know that destroying knowledge based on some false understanding of modernity is wrong.
I know that it is a fallacy to think ancient people never did or said anything of value. I know Hindu astrologers and Pythagorean mathematicians discovered things about numbers or stars that are true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asheville Native
And this is about religion, so I believe my choice of forums to start the thread is appropriate. If it were about atheism, I would have started it in the A/A area.
It's about atheism/non-theism being superior to religion. As religion is such a broad and diverse thing the unifying element of your original post was irreligion.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
