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The question is a legit question, and if asked by someone I regard as a sincere and worthy poster I will give an answer ( as there is one ).
I just don't regard you as that poster , and see no sense in contributing to your ongoing mental masturbation around here.
You proclaim the question to be legit...but your headtrips about *me* keep you from answering? Wow.
I've been around here for years...we all offer our opinions and have our reasons for posting. Those opinions and reasons run the full spectrum and are very, very diverse. I would never deem another unworthy and adopt a, "I'm not talking to you!! Just because!!" attitude. You are getting too personal...with insults and such.
We have a few differences...no big deal. But...You need people like me. You need people like me, so you can point your finger and say, "That's the bad guy". So, what's that make you...good? No.
Please explain what do you mean by "live a life based on Christian mythology".
What in your way of life which is based on Christian mythology is so different from my way of life where mythology is simply enjoyed as literature?
"Enjoyed" and "lived" are obviously two different things. I enjoyed Dexter, but I'm not planning on becoming a vigilante serial killer any time soon.
For example: I always try to forgive my enemies and even love my enemies as Christ taught. Most mythologies do not involve loving one's enemies, and it was a revolutionary concept when it was introduced to Europe by Christ.
If you live the lessons of mythology, as opposed to just enjoying the stories, and have a holistic system of rituals and/or practices that tie into that mythology, then you have a religion.
And yes, before you say it, Jedi religion is indeed just as valid as any other religion. If people really do live its teachings and it gives them meaning in life, it is a valid religion.
I love when anti-theists throw that one (or the Greek one) in my face, and I get to throw them off by saying "yes, believing in Zeus or Yoda is just as valid as believing in Jesus or Krishna. Your point?"
Yet, you seem willing, even eager, to take advantage of the "evil" science made available to you for your enjoyment or maybe to spread your message. Science hasn't simply extended humans' nonproductive lives, but has provided a much longer productive life where some individuals contribute to society even into their nineties, not to mention the emotional advantages to their families from experienced long-living mentors. Certainly some advancements by the scientific method have resulted in misuse by humans, but these far outweigh the positive gains we have been lucky enough to experience.
But that somehow doesn't apply to religion.
Sure, 99.9% more Muslims donate money to charity, that EXPLICITLY cannot go to religious affairs, but the anti-theists instead focuses on the suicide bombers.
Sure, for every one crazy Christian blowing up an abortion clinic or trying to shove their religion down someone else's throats there are ten Christians volunteering at homeless shelters and aiding the weak and sick as Jesus taught them, but let's focus on the evil ones and ignore the majority.
But as soon as you point out the evils of science (nuclear bombs, the Eugenics movement, the Tuskegee Experiment etc) it's "ahh....that's just a few scientists!"
And I have yet to hear a logical, science based argument against the Tuskegee Experiment. Some initial evidence pointed out that African Americans may respond to Syphilis differently then whites. So an experiment took place: a few expendable poor black men were allowed to go without treatment and their reactions were monitored. It was science, full steam ahead! There is no way anyone can logically conclude that it was not worth the data to allow a handful of manual laborers die.
I however am not a rationalist and gladly embrace the irrational and illogical argument that that was a horrible, evil thing to do.
"Science never solves a problem without creating ten more"-George Bernard Shaw.
The Judaeo-christian religion says slavery is perfectly okay.
That would be a moral fail.
I never said religion was infallible. I said it is a tool for sorting out morality.
Which is why, really, you should take it as a guideline, and use it to form better conclusions about right and wrong.
Quote:
"Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
This is Jesus telling people that the law permits divorce, but I want us to do better. That's the point. Jewish law may permit slaves. But while the fundie sinks to the literal law, the actual believer tries to do better. "Maybe I'm permitted to see other women, but I want to make this marriage work."
Can you be moral and conscientious about the environment with just science? Sure. But you have to be better than the law you are given. Same here.
As it stands, just for cancer, people are currently being given treatments with a 97% fail rate or are actively carcinogenic, while natural treatments exist and are more effective (seriously, type in "natural treatments for cancer"). WHY? Because science deems it profitable. Slavery? Or mass murder with the serious level of gall required to act like caring. Fortunately for them, most doctors don't know better, so it's an easy sell.
The Judaeo-christian religion says slavery is perfectly okay.
That would be a moral fail.
And science teaches survival of the fittest, and that is a moral fail.
And the new testament was written in Greek, which uses the same word for slave as it does for laborer (doulos) which also applied to "bound laborer" who was working off a debt, as was common practice in the time as well as usual slavery. We do know that slave trading was condemned in the Bible (Timothy 1:10)
My perspective is wide open. Unlike those that are Religious or Scientists and suffer the narrowing of THEIR thinking due to a bias and prejudice based upon a personal purview rooted in a desire to defend what they do, what they embrace, or what they are materially enriched by.
The failure of both The Religious and those in the Scientific Community to acknowledge the incredible evil that shares equal or greater effect than the good that comes from them, is indicative of the bias and resulting "blinkered view" of things. They are sooooooo tunnel visioned, they can't see it is THEM with the narrow view. Typical of Fundies.
This post is along the lines of self delusion.
You don't own the conversation for what the scientific community thinks. Nor do you represent the scientific community with any ounce of accuracy.
You are too unreasonable minded to even have a discussion with.
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