You don't have to be religious to be against this either, it promoted abortions which is considered murder to some people, so why support something that promotes murder?
Wait...
What?
How does stem cell research promote abortion? It's completely unrelated to abortion.
The chance of God being real is far from 50 50... I'm not sure if you've heard, but there are other religions than Christianity, and I can come up with nearly an infinite number of imaginary gods which would make the chance of yours being real even lower.
If you're talking about chance, the Multiverse hypothesis would take care of all chance, making the chance of something happening mean nothing. Also, assuming there aren't other universes, I'd have to agree with you. The chances of life forming are quite slim. That said, there's been plenty of time for it to happen, making the chance of it happening actually be quite reasonably, and also the fact that there are countless other planets just like Earth (albeit, we don't know if they have life, I'm just talking about being in very similar conditions to Earth) which further increases the likelihood of life beginning.
You are welcome to have your own opinion about what you think sin and evil means. I'm just giving you my (and the Catholic Church's) understanding of these two concepts to help you understand why we hold the positions that we do.
I understand this. Having come from a very secular family, I find it interesting to know how other people who've had very different upbringings and lives feel about some topics. You are quite good at helping me to understand the view of a more fundamentalist Christian due to the fact that you have strong opinions but are quite reasonable with regards to others' opinions. While I may not respect your opinions, I do at least respect how reasonably you act.
And finally, with regards to you last comment, what you said is effectively the one problem with determining a "true" religion. Everyone thinks that they are right, and that all the evidence points to their side being correct. Most of the time, the "evidence" only points towards them due to fallacies, regardless of whether or not they notice them. It's quite easy to only show one side of a story, and from that reach a conclusion which would be quite irrational if reached after viewing all evidence.
I could continue to debate with you over whether or not condoms are evil (and what evil is) for no end. That said, I doubt that is worth it or that either of us will really change the others opinion.
On a somewhat unrelated tangent, how is it that Christianity is special? How is it different from any of the other countless religions with people just a certain of their religions as the devout Christians?
... to render procreation impossible' is intrinsically evil...
I'm curious as to why this is. The phrasing of it is such that it tries to escape criticism and the need to explain. One cannot just say that something is intrinsically such a complicated concept as evil. I would like to know non-procreational sex is evil. How is it bad? How is it that, say, reclining in a comfortable chair not evil, for it is also an indulgence.
Animals, by contrast, don't go through this step. I strongly disagree with the notion that moral consciousness is genetic and/or hereditary.
You continue to not provide any evidence or reason as for why this is. I explained it to you in my last post. Until you can rationalize your idea, it won't be taken seriously, thus my condescending attitude.
No Soul / no God - Live a live as best you can and die, you will feel nothing you will not even know anything because you no longer exist. You have nothing to really look forward to so life is either easy and you enjoy it or it is hard and you go commit suicide to escape the pain. and sure you can do some interesting things but in the grand scheme it doesn't really matter ( :( )
Soul / God - Live the best you can and love your neighbor as God commanded, live life to the fullest with service to the Lord with acknowledgement of how messed up you are and even through pain and suffering you have the gift of heaven to look forward to even if life gets difficult and how guilty you become because you have been forgiven and willingly serve. ( :) )
Immortal / no God? / Deism - id get bored and haunt some houses for entertainment awaiting the end of the black universe of nothingness ( :( )
What sounds like the nicest option isn't always the nicest option. It'd be nice if I had a million dollars. Does that mean that I do have a million dollars? No, it doesn't.
I am sorry to break it to you, but either there is no such thing as a soul, or it does literally nothing. Your conscience is what you may perceive as a soul, though at the heart of the matter, it is just the current state of the sentient part of the brain. It isn't retained after death. You can't think after death. You can't feel after death.
As for animals, they feel and think differently from humans, with social creatures, such as canines and apes and monkeys think and feel quite similarly to humans. They have just about the same exact emotions as humans, which were, as Eiviyn said, a product of evolution. Those creatures who felt bad against doing something harmful would contribute the most to their society and thus that society would have a greater chance of surviving and passing on the genes which would make the offspring feel. Now obviously, I'm not talking about there being a society of pure savages and then suddenly one baby has a sense of morality, this would be a slow process, dictated by natural selection. This process would grant social creatures, like us and dogs etc. Effectively a sense of morality.
Now, I just realized that you were talking about animals having will, not morality, so what I just said was somewhat useless. Never mind that, there is still no reason why humans would have will, but animals wouldn't. Pretty much all animals with brains would have will; that's pretty much the point of having a brain (other than regulating bodily systems). I'd suggest you do some research on the brain before you make comments about how animal brains (humans are animals too) can't use will.
No shit they were in on the plan. Doesn't mean that the plan wasn't by the terrorists.
It's a shame to see more conspiracy theorists who don't understand how towers like this are built and thus cannot draw correct conclusions about how they fall and explode and such.
Wait...
What?
How does stem cell research promote abortion? It's completely unrelated to abortion.
@Taintedwisp: Go
The chance of God being real is far from 50 50... I'm not sure if you've heard, but there are other religions than Christianity, and I can come up with nearly an infinite number of imaginary gods which would make the chance of yours being real even lower.
@EternalWraith: Go
If you're talking about chance, the Multiverse hypothesis would take care of all chance, making the chance of something happening mean nothing. Also, assuming there aren't other universes, I'd have to agree with you. The chances of life forming are quite slim. That said, there's been plenty of time for it to happen, making the chance of it happening actually be quite reasonably, and also the fact that there are countless other planets just like Earth (albeit, we don't know if they have life, I'm just talking about being in very similar conditions to Earth) which further increases the likelihood of life beginning.
I understand this. Having come from a very secular family, I find it interesting to know how other people who've had very different upbringings and lives feel about some topics. You are quite good at helping me to understand the view of a more fundamentalist Christian due to the fact that you have strong opinions but are quite reasonable with regards to others' opinions. While I may not respect your opinions, I do at least respect how reasonably you act.
And finally, with regards to you last comment, what you said is effectively the one problem with determining a "true" religion. Everyone thinks that they are right, and that all the evidence points to their side being correct. Most of the time, the "evidence" only points towards them due to fallacies, regardless of whether or not they notice them. It's quite easy to only show one side of a story, and from that reach a conclusion which would be quite irrational if reached after viewing all evidence.
@BasharTeg: Go
I could continue to debate with you over whether or not condoms are evil (and what evil is) for no end. That said, I doubt that is worth it or that either of us will really change the others opinion.
On a somewhat unrelated tangent, how is it that Christianity is special? How is it different from any of the other countless religions with people just a certain of their religions as the devout Christians?
Given the declination of religion, I'd say none, or at least very little.
I'm curious as to why this is. The phrasing of it is such that it tries to escape criticism and the need to explain. One cannot just say that something is intrinsically such a complicated concept as evil. I would like to know non-procreational sex is evil. How is it bad? How is it that, say, reclining in a comfortable chair not evil, for it is also an indulgence.
@BasharTeg: Go
Please explain to me how using a condom is sinful.
And also, I wasn't kidding about the Zeus question.
So guys, how many of you believe in Zeus?
@BasharTeg: Go
You have only shown that they lack good skills for communicating WITH HUMANS. Please, provide some genuine evidence for your argument.
You continue to not provide any evidence or reason as for why this is. I explained it to you in my last post. Until you can rationalize your idea, it won't be taken seriously, thus my condescending attitude.
What sounds like the nicest option isn't always the nicest option. It'd be nice if I had a million dollars. Does that mean that I do have a million dollars? No, it doesn't.
@SkrowFunk: Go
Are you getting at that thing where if you had two identical universes, everything would play out the same in the future in those two universes?
@BasharTeg: Go
I am sorry to break it to you, but either there is no such thing as a soul, or it does literally nothing. Your conscience is what you may perceive as a soul, though at the heart of the matter, it is just the current state of the sentient part of the brain. It isn't retained after death. You can't think after death. You can't feel after death.
As for animals, they feel and think differently from humans, with social creatures, such as canines and apes and monkeys think and feel quite similarly to humans. They have just about the same exact emotions as humans, which were, as Eiviyn said, a product of evolution. Those creatures who felt bad against doing something harmful would contribute the most to their society and thus that society would have a greater chance of surviving and passing on the genes which would make the offspring feel. Now obviously, I'm not talking about there being a society of pure savages and then suddenly one baby has a sense of morality, this would be a slow process, dictated by natural selection. This process would grant social creatures, like us and dogs etc. Effectively a sense of morality.
Now, I just realized that you were talking about animals having will, not morality, so what I just said was somewhat useless. Never mind that, there is still no reason why humans would have will, but animals wouldn't. Pretty much all animals with brains would have will; that's pretty much the point of having a brain (other than regulating bodily systems). I'd suggest you do some research on the brain before you make comments about how animal brains (humans are animals too) can't use will.
@BasharTeg: Go
Animals have will you dumbass, clearly you know nothing about the brain.
@Nerfpl: Go
No shit they were in on the plan. Doesn't mean that the plan wasn't by the terrorists.
It's a shame to see more conspiracy theorists who don't understand how towers like this are built and thus cannot draw correct conclusions about how they fall and explode and such.
@BasharTeg: Go
Religion can provide excuses for being evil.