Hi friend. :) *sigh* Yes, if only the world were so simple that people could just accept one another. But there are so many things that are considered evil or perverted too deep down in our brains for some people to change them. Homophobes have a huge range of "arguments" against homosexuality. Wait, I'm listing them all in the new board (and denouncing them one by one), you'll be able to see it nicely there. ^_^ Once I have all the arguments listed I wanted to, I'll start making publicity for the forum and then the discussions can get going
I'll post my comments to them later, haven't actually watched them all yet. You can also post things you'd like to tell the creationists, cause later on I'll probably send some people there on youtube the link to this forum.
Thema von Mithcoriel im Forum Evolution vs Creationism
Father Roderick is a Dutch catholic priest who makes some quite interesting religious and semi-religious podcasts, which can be found at http://www.sqpn.com . In one of them, the Daily Breakfast, in which he discusses a bunch of general topics, he recently commented on the discussion of evolution versus creationism, and guess what he said? It's nonsense to set these two views against each other. Not even the pope thinks you should ignore science or take Genesis literally. For those interested, it's episode 342 of the Daily Breakfast: http://libsyn.com/media/dailybreakfast/DB-342.mp3 The part on Evolution starts at minute 15.
I must say, I'm very pleased about this. It pretty much reflects what I always thought. Perhaps it's not the smartest idea to post this here at the beginning of the forum's life, as it might remove any reasons to have a discussion about evolution, but whatever. ^^ So, what do you think about this?
Thema von Mithcoriel im Forum On the discussion itself
We've all had arguments with people who don't agree with us, I'm sure. Sometimes, our conversation partners are narrowminded or mean. What sort of quotes annoy you, in a discussion? (Mostly I'm referring to religious issues, as what is discussed on this board, but you can also mention more general things.)
Here's what I can come up with:
Random insults I don't know how it is with you, but I was taught already in primary school that one of the rules for argumenting is that you should stay on topic, and not just resort to primitive insults like "And anyway, you're ugly!" or whatever. But I still see it plenty of times. The latest example is someone I had an argument with on Youtube about religion. The person started looking at my favourite videos and randomly insulting them. ("That one's such a sob-song! Gosh, and that one's embarassing, I hope you're not one of those dorks on there"..). Idiotic off-topic comments like this just show me the person doesn't have any good arguments, and make me wonder if it's worth bothering to continue the discussion.
"The others are lying!" I don't know why people keep using the word "lie" in arguments. No one is "lying". Lying means you knowingly give people the wrong facts. But in discussions such as Creationism vs Evolution, for example, the scientists are just reporting the evidence they found and the conclusions they drew from it, it's not like they're trying to mislead people on purpose. Likewise, religious people aren't spreading lies about the creation of the world, they are just defending what they believe to be true. So, instead of using the word "lie", I'd recomment "they are mistaken" instead.
Generalizing Just because there was a scandal about one priest/preacher/whatever, that doesn't mean all clerics are pervs. Just because some religious fanatics kill people, you can't condemn the peaceful majority of followers of the same religion. And saying: "How many people have atheists killed?" is certainly no argument against atheists, especially considering they don't feel like they are a group and fight in the name of atheism like religious crusaders do.
"We are right and everybody else is wrong. Their ideas are ridiculous!" It would be nice if people could show a bit more respect. Especially when two religions bash each other. Why should it be more ridiculous to believe in a Goddess than in a God, or vice versa? Why should it be more ridiculous to believe in heaven than in reincarnation, and vice versa? As for religion vs atheism: You can't prove wether God exists or not, so calling someone an idiot because they disagree with you on this issue is pretty silly, whatever side you may be on.
"Since you react in such an outraged way, my theory must be true." Sorry, but this is one of the cheapest arguments I know. (Hitler already used it: Certain writings claimed that the Jews were conspiring with the communists to take over the world, and the documents were based 100% on fake proof, as the newspaper frequently reminded people. Hitler just commented: "The newspaper keeps wailing about the writings supposedly being a fake -- the best proof they're true!") You see what I mean. Anyone can come up with an absolutely ridiculous, outrageous claim, and then, if the opponents say nothing, they'll take that as a 'yes', and if they complain, they'll take that as a 'definitely yes'.
"My arguments validate each other". Things such as: "How do we know the bible is the word of God?" "Because God says so." "How do we know God says so?" "Because it's written in the bible." Just generally if someone uses a "fact" as an argument that's only a fact to them.
I'm an agnostic, meaning I think all religions are equal, and no belief is better than another. I like to believe in things from various religions. Now, thing is, I'm often told that I'm just too cowardly/lazy to make up my mind. What's your take on this?
Well I think: I see nothing wrong with mixing religions, or only accepting part of a religion and dismissing other parts. E.g. I'm a christian, but I tend to take care of work on sundays, nevertheless. My friend is very interested in the teachings of Buddhism, but she still believes in a God. Especially since a lot of the older religions have got redundant, brutal or intolerant parts in their teachings, I think it's important to use your own brain and decide what is right for you. If Religion A says: "Honour your parents, but you can bash animals as much as you want, they're worthless", and Religion B says: "Respect animals, and don't work on Tuesdays", what's wrong then if I honour my parents but don't bash animals, respect animals but still work on Tuesdays?
Well, guess that sums it up for a start. Let's see what other people have to say on that.
Hello everyone I know that, at the time of writing, I'm still the only member of the forum, but you gotta start somewhere. ^^. About myself: Well, I'm a female university student from Switzerland. I'm interested in: Computers, reading, drawing, fantasy, nature..I'll think of more later.
My belief: I'm technically Christian, but I'm also very agnostic. Of all beliefs, the most important of all to me is: You can't prove anything. We inferior humans will never be able to prove if there is one god, several gods, or no gods at all, nor what they are like, what they want, what they think of us humans. Therefore everyone should be free to believe whatever seems logic and fit to them, and any religion, including atheism, has a right to be respected. The only thing I don't like is people who say: "My belief is the One Truth, and everyone else is wrong!" Whenever I come across religious fundamentalist, I tend to argue against religion, reminding people that nothing can be proven. Likewise, when I come across an atheist who says "Religious people are all idiots, god doesn't exist", I argue for religion, reminding him of its positive sides. I'm also very interested in all kinds of religion, be they christianity, judaism, islam, buddhism, hinduism, paganism, you name it.
My purpose in this forum: Well I pretty much said it above. Too often now, I came across creationist websites which are biased and intolerant towards non-christians, where there's not much opportunity for me to leave a comment and voice my oppinion. Or if I do, e.g. by sending the administrator an email, I get ignored. Likewise, I see plenty of anti-religious comments, and when I try to respond to them, they call me a deluded christian. This doesn't just happen on websites, also in the comments of Youtube videos etc. Either way, there never seems to be enough space for a big argument, either cause the post size is limited, or cause you have to stay on the limited topic of the video. That's why I made this forum, so we can talk and talk as long as we want to. ^^
Well, can't think of what else to write, but you're always free to ask questions.
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25.11.2007 19:02
). Idiotic off-topic comments like this just show me the person doesn't have any good arguments, and make me wonder if it's worth bothering to continue the discussion.