Bill Maher is 'Religulous'

[xtop]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Proves nothing about what?

Some actually see the grandeur in elevating Him from a tyrannical cosmological and biological engineer to the unfathomable genius that could cause a Big Bang of such subtle design and execution that it would lead inevitably to stars, Sun, Earth, life and humans 14 billion years later.

I've never understood why the devout seem to want to minimize Him.

thats what i meant. evolution can be real and still have religion. the presence or lack of evolution changes nothing imo

[kurtlingle]

Originally Posted by Sammy

andyman1970 stated that it is just a theory as there is no evidence of it, yet viruses evolve and mutate in a matter of days. This is readily observed by epidemiologists and is why by the time flu vaccines are produced they only have an 80% effectiveness becuase the virus has evolved into something else in the meantime.

Sorry guys evolotion does in fact exist and we all evolved from a common form eons ago. The DNA evidence on this is indisputable in science.

As far as I know from my studies on this topic, most/all Creationists/Intelligent Design scientists, etc believe in parts of Evolution. For instance, changes WITHIN a species. The argument is whether the fossil record, etc proves new species rose from others.

I've heard it called MACRO vs MICRO evolution.

[matthieuxdetoux]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Thats what I find odd. Why would you be sent to hell, for trying to get to heaven?

Originally Posted by xtop

murder is a sin

It's true that murder is a sin, but if you repent it is forgiven.

Suicide is viewed as a "mortal sin" in some sects of christianity, and means you have recieved backstage passes to hell.

However, if your suicide can be defined as "martyrdom" it means you get in to the pearly gates.



I went and saw this in the theater, I thought it was very interesting but could have been better. As the above posters have stated, my favorite interviewee was the father outside of the Vatican, it amazed me how open to IDEAS he was, while still maintaining his faith.

[scrumptious]

Originally Posted by kurtlingle

I see your point - some religions are dangerous - for others, we've seen that many, many times.

If only people kept these 2 rules - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart..." and "Love your neighbor as yourself". That's not so dangerous, is it?

The 2nd rule is not dangerous, but the 1st rule is dangerous since people will try to love their gods by trying to see what their gods' wills are. They will try to do it by reading dangerous books that one can interpret to command violence and rape and slavery or by trying to see signs in everyday coincidences ... which may lead them to do dangerous things ... or by them starting to hear voices as from their gods like insane people do ... which is dangerous, obviously. And even when it's not dangerous it is still harmful. You don't want a leader to decide to go to war for example based on a hunch he receives through prayer. It's no better than some ancient civilization going to war based on a hunch that an oracle receives.

BTW, that 2nd rule is in the Jewish Bible in that exact, positive form (it's also present in negative form). So whoever came up with that, didn't come up with anything new. Check out Zeitgeist the Movie which you can download for free from the official website. I haven't seen it yet and I am skeptical of the views it seems to present on 9/11 and the Federal Reserve, but what I've heard that it says about religion seems very interesting. So ignore the conspiracy stuff and just watch the religion material.

[pEgLeG]

Originally Posted by matthieuxdetoux

As the above posters have stated, my favorite interviewee was the father outside of the Vatican, it amazed me how open to IDEAS he was, while still maintaining his faith.

I'm surprised there has been no mention of the other Vatican Priest interviewed.
Out of all of the religious people that were interviewed, only the two from the place we might all think to have the most devout of followers, were the ones to express no difficulty in admitting that the things their religion are based upon appear to be lies.

[scrumptious]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

As for God, well yes I believe that He's around. The Universe is evolving but I see God as the big manager of it all. But I don't believe He created Adam in a few hours using mud on the ground. Again if you want to belive this and by pass all the scientific knowledge that's been accumulated on the centuries, please go ahead, I got better things to do then trying to convince you.

Can I ask you a question? If you are for science like you say then why do you think a god is managing the universe? If all the science models predict things just as well or better without a god as with, then that means scientifically there's no evidence for it and also there's evidence against it since if a god were truly managing the universe, it would have discernible effects that scientists could test.

[SquidPuppet]

127 posts and not locked.....gotta be a record.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by pEgLeG

I'm surprised there has been no mention of the other Vatican Priest interviewed.
Out of all of the religious people that were interviewed, only the two from the place we might all think to have the most devout of followers, were the ones to express no difficulty in admitting that the things their religion are based upon appear to be lies.

That stood out to me. A LOT. They seemed the most open minded and flexible in their thinking. Perhaps because that particular faith is one of the more guilt and shame based, its "evolution" has become accelerated.

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by xtop

thats what i meant. evolution can be real and still have religion. the presence or lack of evolution changes nothing imo

Bingo, we have a winner.

If God is all powerful and all seeing and all knowing, why would he just slap some mud together and say "Hey! it's a HUMAN taDA!" He'd probably work a little more subtle than being the Criss Angel of the Universe.

Logan

[matthieuxdetoux]

Originally Posted by pEgLeG

I'm surprised there has been no mention of the other Vatican Priest interviewed.
Out of all of the religious people that were interviewed, only the two from the place we might all think to have the most devout of followers, were the ones to express no difficulty in admitting that the things their religion are based upon appear to be lies.

I don't really think they were admitting their faith was based on lies. They were just admitting that it's not perfect, and that "faith" is just that.

You can have faith in talking snakes and two by two etc.

You can have faith in flaming swords, angels of death etc.

You can have faith in flying spaghetti monsters.

But it's increasingly difficult as rational thinking human beings who demand logic and reason in every facet of their lives apparently except for one (religion) to honestly BELIEVE in such things.

This movie should have been more about that, but again, I did like it.

[scrumptious]

Originally Posted by pEgLeG

It is very dangerous. Considering that the majority of life that has been wrongfully taken on this planet has been by someone just acting out of love for their god and neighbor.

You are right, when love of god and neighbor are coupled together, you get things like the Inquisitions. The torturers thought or claimed they were doing it for the good of the torture victim ... to spur their repentance or something. We have it in a less extreme form with govt censorship ... from the Taliban requiring women to be draped head to toe, to the Radical Religious Right in America censoring broadcast television, censoring "obsene" pornography (in their opinion all "hard core" porn is obscene), and banning nude dancing at clubs. So, yeah, "love" can have a "We are taking away your freedom or torturing you for your own good" mentality.

[gentrycoach]

Read through the entire thread. Pretty interesting stuff. Haven't seen it, don't know if I will. Just wanted to add that I've seen a couple of posts stating he attacks "Catholics, Christians, etc." By most definitions, Catholics are considered "Christian".

[Sammy]

Originally Posted by kurtlingle

As far as I know from my studies on this topic, most/all Creationists/Intelligent Design scientists, etc believe in parts of Evolution. For instance, changes WITHIN a species. The argument is whether the fossil record, etc proves new species rose from others.

I've heard it called MACRO vs MICRO evolution.

Okay and when there's changes within species over many, many eons you end up with many different species.

[scrumptious]

Originally Posted by jadedeath

Really, He did the one about if you eat McDonald's all the time you're going to get fat... that's pretty solid scientific fact.

Actually it isn't. Lots of supermodels who are gorgeously thin say they eat hamburgers all the time.

[MCT]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I disagree with the bold. The interviewees did a good job of it all by themselves. They live their entires lives based on a belief that they dont even understand and couldnt even come close to articulating an explanation or even answer simple questions. The folks he interviewed were far less educated on the subject than Maher.

thanks. I was going to quote that part and respond, but you saved me the trouble. Certainly, there were times when interviews were edited for comedic purposes, but the majority of the folks he questioned stumbled over themselves when pressed for more thorough explanations.

Look at the truck driver who was in that small church. He walked out before Maher even got started. He clearly was terrified of having his belief system challenged and undoubtedly shattered, and acquiesced to defeat willingly. Also, the young boy who had the most obvious epiphany when Maher explained to him the connection between the story of Ra and Jesus. The way his jaw just dropped tickled me pink. I have no doubt he is at least agnostic right now lol

[xtop]

Originally Posted by scrumptious

Actually it isn't. Lots of supermodels who are gorgeously thin say they eat hamburgers all the time.

they eat burgers morning noon and night?

[apollo92178]

This documentary is awesome. Even as an atheist myself, I learned a few new things. Those Mediterranean myths alone are worth the price of admission. That priest outside the vatican is cool as hell. And when he is messing around with that (FIRE!!!) pot head, I must of pissed in my pants laughing.

The people made fool of themselves cause they are fools, Bill asked the questions and they answered or some didn't. He puts it out there that he doesn't know, he wasn't around then, and the stories pass down to us are made up.

Last thing, People who are cool, open minded should not only stand up to religious people but put them straight in there place. When cool people are in charge, everybody views can be respected and your allowed to give your opinion. 8 years of Bush and given religious people priority, we are definitely in a worse state. Don't believe me. I just read in the news about religious bullying, Where religious people intimidate people of different views in the middle east and in the UNITED STATES!! Today I just read about a religious school in Ohio that wants to suspend a student for going to a prom at another school. Can you say FOOTLOOSE!!!!

[scrumptious]

Originally Posted by kurtlingle

This is not the teachings of the bible. In Christianity, Jesus came to help those who are/were outcasts. Jesus went out of his way to meet with the "heathen". In fact, it was the religious who didn't like Jesus (in his day). The "sinners" felt comfortable with him.

I understand that many religions look down on certain people, but the Bible teaches that anyone can come - who wants to.

If I remember, the bible says that there's this senior citizen in hell who asks someone in heaven for some water to quench his thirst but they guy in heaven says, nope, sorry, no can do ... so not everyone who wants something as basic as water is obliged by the good guys of the bible.

I think Jesus is like King Arthur or Robin Hood. Probably there was a real King Arthur and real Robin Hood and a real Jesus.

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by scrumptious

Actually it isn't. Lots of supermodels who are gorgeously thin say they eat hamburgers all the time.

I can say that I'm a flying spaghetti Monster myself.

But that doesn't make it true.

If you believe anything that an upchuck artist like a supermodel has for breakfast is a hamburger with all the fixings, then I have some beautiful Ocean front property to sell you in Arizona, real cheap too.

Logan

[xtop]

you went the extra mile and included politics in your religion post. bravo