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.
It's ironic that atheists place so much stock in "faith and beliefs" in science where answers cannot be proved or disproved. Such as whether or not other intelligent life exists elsewhere in the Universe.
Being religious equally revolves around "faith and beliefs".
So similar yet so different. Kind of like an audience in a sports stadium doing the exact same thing: cheering for a victory. Only difference is that it's for opposing teams.
I know I'm likely dreaming but can we pls not digress this into a religious cat fight. More than enough of those around and there's an entirely diff area to take such discussions.
I think most of the reasons stated are valid, and as stated earlier, there are many things that have contributed. Technology is one not mentioned which ironically has been a huge part of our ascent, but is now largely responsible for aiding to our fall. I just hope it implodes altogether after I'm gone.
you cannot deny that at least following the ten commandments would lead to a better world.
No, I'm not an atheist, I'm a Deist.
I used to be a Christian, and was raised in the church.
Which commandment was new, at the time they were written by Moses, that don't have to do with God?
I'll give you a clue, not one of them.
Humans instinctively know that killing, stealing, and lying is wrong.
What, adultery? Like that commandment is followed. Don't covet what your neighbor has, America as a country would have never gotten off the ground if we didn't do that.
Organized Religion has been more of a hindrance to mankind than a benefit. Its the tool of the powerful to organize the people to do their bidding.
The reason so many people are unhappy is because there has been such poor distribution of the fabulous wealth that our advances have achieved. For most people, all the advance has been for nothing, because that is about all they got out of it. Why does it surprise you that they aren't enthusiastic anymore about running in the same wheel, and seeing so few take all the benefits for themselves?
I can't argue with that.
But lets look at our past. People came to America, not because they had money, but because they had nothing, and few prospects of making any kind of a life where they were.
In that matter, we are falling into the same European model in America today. China is on the rise, because they have room to grow, but, sooner or later that growth will stall, just as ours is.
People moved west because the government was giving them over 100 acres of land, for 10 dollars. Thats about 170 dollars in todays money.
Could you imagine what you could do with over 100 acres of land. Thats what made this country great, it gave opportunity, and that opportunity is severely limited today. We need room to grow.
We can't grow much on land anymore. Most of the land in the world is owned by someone. You can't just go somewhere, put a flag down, and say "mine!" anymore. We need that kind of room for growth.
Human civilization hasn't proven to be very good, when we can't grow.
We either need to start colonizing the oceans, or space, but we've got to grow somewhere, otherwise this experiment is going to fail.
And as I said before, its not just the United States, its the whole world. We've colonized most every land mass that can be. Sure there are a few places that are wild, but we need most of them to maintain the biosphere.
Unless we are going to colonize Antarctica, and I don't believe most people want to live there.
Humanity is on the decline for many more reasons than just not being able to explore. It takes employment and vacation time . We all know that's in the crapper. People are unhappy because most of us don't have jobs anymore.
Seems a bit of a redirect to think we're unhappy because we don't explore as much as we used to.
IMO people are most unhappy because our government is a big fat let down. It's very difficult to be happy while unemployed and, for the most part, broke.
Most of our problems, as a nation, are due to government consistently representing mega corporations instead of us.
Think about it -
Our economic problems are due to the removal by the government (over successive administrations of both parties) of the Glass-Steagal Act which was put into effect after the Great Depression to prevent another depression.
The 'fix' to health care will give insurance companies a huge number of new enrollments, backed by the power of the government.
The financial 'fix' being proposed does not stop the 'too big to fail' phenomenon nor does it prevent the creation of the bad securities that got us into this mess. These are the two things everyone agrees caused our current woes.
The unemployment and underemployment situation is caused by Nafta, which both parties tried to pass in the dead of night. This is why U.S. jobs are going overseas and our people are laid off.
The illegals who have actually closed hospitals and are having huge families whose children use our schools that our taxes can no longer afford - we are laying teachers off.
This is caused by business wanting to keep labor costs so low that Americans cannot live by those standards.
The costs of cancer care are skyrocketing. This is not because the treatment is becoming more expensive, but because there are more and more cases of cancer being found. Do you think environmental pollution and additives in food and perhaps the plastic in the packaging of food may have something to do with this? Perhaps the chemicals used to grow our food?
We ban chemicals to be used in food production so those chemicals are shipped to Latin America who grows food using them and we buy that food.
Our food inspection is a laugh. The U.K. inspects every head of cattle and if disease is found they reject the entire animal. In this country the test is 'can the animal walk?' and if there is a bad spot it is simply cut out. We do next to no testing for mad cow.
The problem with government is that it no longer serves we, the people.
The basic needs of life, in times of plenty, are not "benefits" that must be earned. If God gave life, who are you to make the rules of who gets to live? Montgomery Burns?
I've seen people who have worked harder every single day of their lives than you have ever worked for one day. Decent, honest, generous, kind-hearted people. Their bodies are broken from their crushing burden. They work only for a simple meal a day and a place to sleep. And you lord it over them, and declare if they have earned "benefit" of that meal and bed or not. You demand that they try harder, work harder, for your personal wealth is catastrophically no longer expanding exponentially. "Bring me my pipe and my slippers, for I have earned them."
you cannot deny that at least following the ten commandments would lead to a better world.
just because you don't believe in God doesn't make you a bad person, just like Serial Killers who say that GOD made them kill all those women.
Don't blame God or religion as a factor as to why the world is in Decline. Why is it when people Speak about God they all Forget about the Crusades and how religion was forced down people's throats and if they didn't follow, they were murdered, or worse tortured before being murdered in a myriad of creative ways.
Religion has changed over time, there were even times when the Leaders of the crusades changed the laws of Christianity in order to make murder an acceptable form of punishment for those who opposed it.
The reason so many people are unhappy is because there has been such poor distribution of the fabulous wealth that our advances have achieved. For most people, all the advance has been for nothing, because that is about all they got out of it. Why does it surprise you that they aren't enthusiastic anymore about running in the same wheel, and seeing so few take all the benefits for themselves?
+1000. We're still living in the modern-day version of the "Guilded Age"
People moved west because the government was giving them over 100 acres of land, for 10 dollars. Thats about 170 dollars in todays money.
Could you imagine what you could do with over 100 acres of land. Thats what made this country great, it gave opportunity, and that opportunity is severely limited today. We need room to grow.
We can't grow much on land anymore. Most of the land in the world is owned by someone. You can't just go somewhere, put a flag down, and say "mine!" anymore. We need that kind of room for growth.
I think you've got a rather romantic view of American history. Yes, people did move out west and "conquer" the continent, but even more people slaved and starved at meaningless toil 6, 7 days a week. Many people could never take a risk that could leave their family destitute. For most people, even today, exploration and advancement is a luxury limited to people who have the money to do so.
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.
