Science has much better answers than "God did it" (atheists, about)

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by GldnRule

Get a clue, Dude! Take a look around you...especially this week. Function in the Real World...and face Reality. Theism Rules.

You can't be serious, or I really don't know what indicates theism is, Macy's and Toys-r-us staying open 24/7 until 10 pm xmas eve, TV with non-stop sale ads to lure the suckers into the malls. That is commercialism, the real reason for the the season.

Survey: For many, Jesus isn't the reason for the season Here is a little reality you want everyone to face, you first.

[GldnRule]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

You can't be serious, or I really don't know what indicates theism is, Macy's and Toys-r-us staying open 24/7 until 10 pm xmas eve, TV with non-stop sale ads to lure the suckers into the malls. That is commercialism, the real reason for the the season.

Survey: For many, Jesus isn't the reason for the season Here is a little reality you want everyone to face, you first.

Ya know, A.N., I don't agree with you much...but your post does have some real merit.
I just braved the toy department at the Walmart in Fishkill, NY last night. I had to find "Moon Dough" "Diner" for my little niece. With enough time, and enough Wild Turkey...I'll recover from the experience.

Let's just say...the "Baby Jesus' Birthday" concept (nor any other theological concept) was NOT there...that's for sure. More like starving vultures on a carcass. It looked like a tornado had blow through there...and I didn't see a single smile on one of the hundreds of people in the place. Sad.

[Campbell34]

Originally Posted by sanspeur

Good grief...Never have you been so wrong before...You are slipping in the snark department too...That was hilarious, not snarky.

In 2008 1.1 billion people in the world are considered atheist. Atheists are people who believe there is no God or divine being. They do not believe in the afterlife, therefore, they have no religion.

We are ranked third, but are gaining fast.

And that would be another example of the Bible being confirmed. Jesus asked the question. When he would return would there be any faith left on the earth? His return will catch most of the world by comeplete surpries. Matthew 24:30 At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky with great power and glory. I suspect science will not have any answers for a world in tears. Yet in a flash everyone will know that bad science led them in to a position of opposing the real God. And now they will have to pay for their intellectual arrogance. Romans 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools.

[TRANSPONDER]

I wondered when Campbell would turn up protesting that the fact that the world's humans are acting just as they did when the Bible was written somehow prophetically proves that God wrote the Bible.

The fact is that I'm not sure that the current religion debate has much to do with evolution. An attempt by Gldnule (whether or not it backfires) to read some sort of evolutionary process into theism ignores the fact that it is only intended to help us survive. I really think that arguing that we have developed religion as an evolutionary improvement is a misunderstanding of evolution, unawareness that evolutionary processes also operates through the atrophying and reduction to a minor vestigial organ with a vestigial and often different purpose (let those with ears to hear. hear ) features which are no longer helpful or needful and that one of our evolutionary traits common to all humans is hostility towards other genetic groups, but not towards their breeding partners but that does not make it true, desirable and by no means to be regarded as God - given.

Screeching abuse at those who will not swallow her preferred explanation of an undeniable human phenomenon will only serve to make Gldrule look like someone whose head needs a bit of reajustment, not the bonces of the godless.

[sanspeur]

Originally Posted by Campbell34

At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky with great power and glory

Yeah right, and science will bust the gates of hell wide open.

[Mercury Cougar]

Originally Posted by sanspeur

Deny till you are blue in the face, but that doesn't change the facts.

According to the latest Pew survey... Religion Among the Millennials - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
46% of young people 18 to 29 are not certain that there is a god..The atheist/ agnostic position, while 28% of people 30 and older are not certain there is a god....
Soon your appeal to numbers will have to be abandoned.

Some people just insist on holding that security blanket even when it's ragged, stanky, and useless...

[Boxcar Overkill]

Theism is mostly popular in the prison and uneducated crowds.

At the Academy of Sciences, there's very few religious types running around.

But GldnRule makes a good point - stupid people have more children then smart people - and they have them at a faster rate (fecundity). So Religion may well be a dominate superstition for a long time.

[Gaylenwoof]

Originally Posted by GldnRule

Based on the fact that almost 90% of humans present with the "mental trait" of Belief in a God, and only a little over 10% present with the "mental trait" of Nonbelief...the ONLY conclusion that can be made is that the trait of Nonbelief (Atheism) is what you would find in "less mentally fit" humans...and the trait of Belief in a God (Theism) is indicative of the "most mentally fit" humans.
Furthermore, it can be determined that the "less fit" Atheists could IMPROVE their "fitness" by acquiring the trait of Belief in a God.

So, based on the "Scientific Evidence" the Atheists would be enhanced if they were Believers...and the Believers would be diminished if they were Atheists. According to Evolution/Natural Selection/Survival of the Fittest, that is.
Of course, if Evolutionary Theory isn't valid...it doesn't matter. But I hold evolution to be valid...so these MUST be THE SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN OBJECTIVE FACTS OF THE MATTER.

Evolution is a long-term process. When a beneficial mutation occurs, the organism, and its descendants for a long time thereafter, are not in the majority. It takes many, many generations for the weaker traits to fade away. In evolutionary terms the "invention of atheism" is extremely new. But I would say that it must be a very powerfully beneficial mutation because it has taken a good hold and is growing quite fast (in evolutionary terms).

[Boxcar Overkill]

Originally Posted by Gaylenwoof

Evolution is a long-term process. When a beneficial mutation occurs, the organism, and its descendants for a long time thereafter, are not in the majority. It takes many, many generations for the weaker traits to fade away. In evolutionary terms the "invention of atheism" is extremely new. But I would say that it must be a very powerfully beneficial mutation because it has taken a good hold and is growing quite fast (in evolutionary terms).

But what if the mutation is beneficial to the subset of the species it's most pronounced in?

Maybe the people who are most likely to violate the law and lest likely to get an education are better served by the belief in an abstract cosmic dictator. The society they live in may need an additional measure of social control that the formal imposition of laws can't always provide. On the other hand, those of us who are more likely to follow the law and are fortunate enough to have a high intelligence don't require that concept to keep order in our society.

Bear in mind that high-school drop outs tend to breed with high-school dropouts, and people with advanced degrees tend to breed with people who have advanced degrees. So perhaps we are seeing a growing Darwinian division within our species.

Those who are more lawless and less intelligent need to cling to their superstition to help keep their society from collapsing. Those who are evolving upward are naturally shedding their ancient myths for a logical alternative.

I think Gldnrule is on to something here.

[GldnRule]

And Mr. Geppetto Pavlov(GldnRule) says hello to TAC!!