Quote from kjkent1: "OK, if what you believe doesn't change reality, then reality is not subject to alteration by faith. Thus, only science exists. " Personally, I would agree that what I believe can change my perception of reality. Beliefs and facts are not the same thing. I do not see the point of "If a tree falls in the forest..." Sound is energy; whether or not I am present to hear it is irrelevant. People keep thinking that somehow, their beliefs or views make a difference in the natural world. I think the world would do fine without us. I do not see science as the logical "other side" of either reality or faith. It is one of a myriad of human endeavours, along with philisophy, logic, mathematics, etc... "You're entitled to your belief, whatever it is." As are you; your question was highly appreciated.
Oh, I'm SOOO offended. Would you mind telling me where I can find an online source that contains this stuff? I'm cutting and pasting from Biblegateway.com to save typing. Don't tell me that my years of Bible study during my youth was worthless.
and you will have to help me here. did not mention sphere; that is only allowed by the Hebrew. Circle is a 2-dimensional form of a sphere there is nothing wrong with the statement. If you are going to get into the "well actually, the earth is at a 23.5 degree off the vertical, and is actually slightly pear shaped, etc..." all I can say again is, whatever. I am here to dialogue on matters of substance. I used to play with the same "oooh, look what scripture says wrong, here." If you are willing to look at both sides, I will dialogue. I will wrangle over anything, and look at both sides also. But what I have seen from you so far is things that have appeared 100s of times before in various Skeptic sites and mags. And if this is going to degrade into an "what about this and what about that?" then there is nothing to talk about.
These paragraphs demonstrate basically things I did not say, and things that I have no idea where you get some of your information from. I will respond to things that do not wander around in unbased speculations...
I equate science as something incomplete, trying to evaluate scriptures, that are said to be complete. Complete non sequitur. I get a laugh when empiricists tell theists how their scriptures should be read and interpreted... Again, I believe you show your own ignorance by commenting on scriptures, as you are not taking them as they are prescribed. Sort of like some idiot who takes a pill from a doctor, ignores the recommendations on how to take it, decides to shove it in his ear instead, then wonders why he doesn't get well, and criticizes the doctor for bad medicine....
Your refusal to answer the question proves my point. I have shown you the main flaw in being an atheist and how your belief in the atheism religion is an argue from ignorance yet you still remain too close minded to see the light. As far as the retarded comment, I happen to have a handicapped brother and do not take kindly to ASSHOLES who make fun of people. I would love for you to make that same comment to my face and show you what an argument from an ass kicking looks like.
Well, ultimately nothing is known with 100% certainty. So scientific "fact" is based on changing knowledge in science and is the result of refutations or the falsification of a theory. What has not been refuted can be considered a scientific "fact" in the interim. In the grand scope of things, this of course amounts to a current opinion of empirical constructs.
Atheism is a worldview or ideology. Certainly not a religion. What seperates religion from worldview is the belief in something divine, supernatural, or spiritual. Though atheism does involve a level of faith/belief, that faith/belief amounts to an educated guess as to the answer for the ultimate questions. For instance, ask an atheist what happens to you when you die, they'll invariably respond with something along the lines of, "you simply cease to exist." That is a guess based on an empirical understanding of life being a series of chemical reactions. It's a guess because it cannot be determined with any certainty at all. But they do believe this guess. But believing this guess is not the same as religious faith. Everything observed in an empirical manner suggests that death is merely the cessation of the chemical reactions that have been observed to sustain what appears to be life. There is no evidence of a soul or spirit. Or at least such a concept is beyond the present ability to detect and test. So the only logical conclusion is that what you are is a series of chemical reactions. If those chemical reactions cease, what is your conscious self ceases.