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#11
08-05-2006, 09:31 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
[ QUOTE ]
And they answer it in different ways, not neccesarily a specific spiritual/religious one. And some don't even posit a question that would lead to such an answer. [/ QUOTE ]That is like saying it's not natural to procreate because some people don't... 
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#12
08-05-2006, 09:35 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] I think you're misunderstanding me (and to be honest, I'm not 100% sure what you're saying either). I am an atheist. I do not believe that fantasy should be employed to explain away life's mysteries. All I am saying is that there are any number of mysteries in life that human's feel compelled to answer. Because those answers are not immediately forthcoming, God, Allah, Dreamtime spirits etc enter the equation. I think this is natural to humanity. By this I do not mean, obviously, that everyone accepts belief in a deity. Rather I mean that it is natural that theism pervades all human cultures. Now, as I said before, it is, I suppose, plausable that some alien life form exists that just never thought to seek insight and guidance from religious belief systems, but the notion that humans could somehow get inside the mindset of such creatures seems ridiculous to me. [/ QUOTE ] My intent was not to employ some kind of 'fantasy' to examine the question. It was an attempt, (maybe feeble) to get posters to try to 'think out of the box' a bit, without falling back on our accumulated mindsets. I set the stage that way to posit the opinion that there is a possibility that that situation/mindset exists, and if one does their best to emulate it, what would come out of it? Is it really that difficult for you to make the jump? [/ QUOTE ] Simply, yes. I cannot possibly perceive of an intelligent life form where the thought of god never arose. It just doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't mean I can't comment about what I think of religion, though.
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#13
08-05-2006, 09:36 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
incidentally, by 'fantasy' I was refering to the beliefs of organised religion.
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#14
08-05-2006, 09:55 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] And they answer it in different ways, not neccesarily a specific spiritual/religious one. And some don't even posit a question that would lead to such an answer. [/ QUOTE ]That is like saying it's not natural to procreate because some people don't... [/ QUOTE ] NO, it is like saying it is as natural to procreate as not!
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#15
08-05-2006, 10:01 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
Your post makes me wonder if humans never practiced or concieved of religion would they be more violent towards each other than they are now. Would they have advanced as quickly as we have?
Stu
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#16
08-05-2006, 10:17 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] And they answer it in different ways, not neccesarily a specific spiritual/religious one. And some don't even posit a question that would lead to such an answer. [/ QUOTE ]That is like saying it's not natural to procreate because some people don't... [/ QUOTE ] NO, it is like saying it is as natural to procreate as not! [/ QUOTE ] That was a bad example. Procreation is not analagous to religious belief in any relevant way anyhow, otherwise I would respond that it is impossible to conceive of humanity without procreation. Obviously that is a different thing, though. Analogies were never my forte. I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree. All I can really do is restate what I have said before. Just like I don't really believe I could meaningfully communicate to a dog that could speak english, I don't think I could ever pretend to think in the same way as a creature whose civilisation had never pondered over the possible existence of a deity. Does not compute.
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#17
08-05-2006, 10:17 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
Any idea of God, Allah, Jesus, etc IS 100% imaginary. You are not experiencing (seeing, hearing, feeling, etc.) them now, so they must be in your mind, or imagination. You haven't experienced them before in your life either so they aren't even based on memory. They are entirely created by your mind!
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#18
08-05-2006, 10:21 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
[ QUOTE ]
Any idea of God, Allah, Jesus, etc IS 100% imaginary. You are not experiencing (seeing, hearing, feeling, etc.) them now, so they must be in your mind, or imagination. You haven't experienced them before in your life either so they aren't even based on memory. They are entirely created by your mind! [/ QUOTE ] Presumably not if you're basing your belief on evidence, such as miracles performed by Jesus or something. I believe that African-Americans were once slaves, but that's not entirely created by my mind.
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#19
08-05-2006, 10:58 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
[ QUOTE ]
Your post makes me wonder if humans never practiced or concieved of religion would they be more violent towards each other than they are now. Would they have advanced as quickly as we have? Stu [/ QUOTE ] I think those would be some of the many questions that would come about from discussing the issue.
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#20
08-05-2006, 11:02 AM
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Re: If you were from a different galaxy.....
[ QUOTE ]
How would you frame your analysis of them? [/ QUOTE ] Depends, are you some form of professional zoologist or just an ammeter. Could range from, all these humans are nuts to a detailed report on how religion is important psychologically and sociologically to humans.
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