Do you believe in god?

[LnGrrrR]

heck, even the statement "only statements that can be verified analytically or empirically are true" is metaphysical.

I prefer "This sentence is false."

[rjv]

I prefer "This sentence is false."

yeah-that's a classic.

[mouse]

the Jewish religion is the most coherent. I perfectly understand a God he'll look out for them.

Good looking out God!

[mouse]

I attend catholic church every sunday

Out of boredom or guilt?

and I do find the act of going to church and bowing down before a higher power to be comforting.

Who, or where is this power, the priest?

It helps that the church I attend has a really good priest. A few weeks ago he gave a great sermon about the hypocrisy of the church and all of us.

Did he talk about his fellow child molesting priest, or did they get a pass on the "hypocrisy"?

Some people looked pissed at having their priest calling them and the church hypocrites to their face but I quite enjoyed having him tell them the truth.

So church is more of a town hall meeting then a true religious experience?

just for s and giggles.....when was the last time you tried to save someone or witness to them?

[101A]

this argument is no good without pics.

Yeah, I get that.

However, as I said, I was waiting for MY WIFE. Had I been caught snapping said picture, I would have soon had a much more intimate relationship with the almighty.

[LnGrrrR]

Yeah, I get that.

However, as I said, I was waiting for MY WIFE. Had I been caught snapping said picture, I would have soon had a much more intimate relationship with the almighty.

101A is on fire today. Ladies and gentleman, tip your waitresses.

[angel_luv]

Yes, I believe in God. I am a Christian.

[jman3000]

The Biblical God doesn't exist, but I'm open minded about there being some supreme being that started all this. It might not even know we exist, but seeing as though we can't comprehend everything, I'll remain skeptical yet open minded.

[sabar]

Good and evil exist without humans, there is just no one there to interpret them. Animals commit acts of altruism at the cost to their survival. Disease is able to inflict amounts of pain in large amounts to individuals and species just so a piece of DNA/RNA in a s can replicate itself.

Now good and evil are usually tied in with sentience which gives disease and murder by everything non-human a free pass. But what if you remove this requirement? Clearly there are natural evils from the perspective of the sufferer. A forest fire kills a kitten's mother and the kitten starves to death. Another cat somewhere dies a slow death from feline aids. A cat kills another cat in a territorial dispute. From the cat perspective these are evils, though on the grand scale we see that they are population controls or natural earth processes. The cat that preys on the mouse may be comitting an evil against another species, but this is instinctive and they lack the sentience to have empathy. That is an evil from the mouse perspective regardless.

So when you take everything into account, what is left? I think there only exists relative good and evil to each individual or species (even if they may not recognize it). On larger scales there is no good and evil and everything that any species does is just a part of geological processes and in turn part of stellar processes that are clearly unable to have good or evil applied to them.

I am a spiritual skeptic. I find the amount of order in the universe perplexing when you consider that it is all doomed to nothing thanks to the second law of thermodynamics. Everything seems meaningless in the long run, so why does anything exist at all?

[angel_luv]

Yeah, I get that.

However, as I said, I was waiting for MY WIFE. Had I been caught snapping said picture, I would have soon had a much more intimate relationship with the almighty.

You have a great sense of humor.

[rjv]

Good and evil exist without humans, there is just no one there to interpret them. Animals commit acts of altruism at the cost to their survival. Disease is able to inflict amounts of pain in large amounts to individuals and species just so a piece of DNA/RNA in a s can replicate itself.

Now good and evil are usually tied in with sentience which gives disease and murder by everything non-human a free pass. But what if you remove this requirement? Clearly there are natural evils from the perspective of the sufferer. A forest fire kills a kitten's mother and the kitten starves to death. Another cat somewhere dies a slow death from feline aids. A cat kills another cat in a territorial dispute. From the cat perspective these are evils, though on the grand scale we see that they are population controls or natural earth processes. The cat that preys on the mouse may be comitting an evil against another species, but this is instinctive and they lack the sentience to have empathy. That is an evil from the mouse perspective regardless.

So when you take everything into account, what is left? I think there only exists relative good and evil to each individual or species (even if they may not recognize it). On larger scales there is no good and evil and everything that any species does is just a part of geological processes and in turn part of stellar processes that are clearly unable to have good or evil applied to them.

I am a spiritual skeptic. I find the amount of order in the universe perplexing when you consider that it is all doomed to nothing thanks to the second law of thermodynamics. Everything seems meaningless in the long run, so why does anything exist at all?

hume and newton sprinkled with a dash of sartre ??? get with the times!!!!

[LnGrrrR]

Now good and evil are usually tied in with sentience which gives disease and murder by everything non-human a free pass. But what if you remove this requirement? Clearly there are natural evils from the perspective of the sufferer. A forest fire kills a kitten's mother and the kitten starves to death. Another cat somewhere dies a slow death from feline aids. A cat kills another cat in a territorial dispute. From the cat perspective these are evils, though on the grand scale we see that they are population controls or natural earth processes. The cat that preys on the mouse may be comitting an evil against another species, but this is instinctive and they lack the sentience to have empathy. That is an evil from the mouse perspective regardless.

How do you know what a cat's perspective is?

Good and evil can not be processed without morality. If there is no one around with morality, then there can be no good and/or evil. There's just fortunate and unfortunate incidents.

It isn't "evil" for a cat to attack a mouse and eat it, or even play with it, beceause they don't have the ability to distinguish between wrong and right.

Everything seems meaningless in the long run, so why does anything exist at all?

Just because something is going to end doesn't make it meaningless. After all, movies end, right? Does that mean it's meaningless to watch one?

[MiamiHeat]

But good and evil obviously exist as ideas/feelings, as does pain, hunger, etc..

Nothing is really good or evil. For instance, murder is 'evil' in our societies.

However, there is nothing wrong with murder. Animals kill each other all the time. Cells absorb each other, bactria and virii infect and destroy each other on the cellular level every second of every day.

Killing another human being is not 'evil', it is just an act. We gave it meaning and think of it as an 'evil' thing because it hurts our success as a species/civilization.

This doesn't change the fact that good and evil are fabrications of the human mind, and do not exist. Therefore, no act is evil or good. They are just acts.

The IDEA of good and evil exists, just as the idea that there is a One Ring out in Mordor being protected by a dwarf guy, it doesn't make it real. It only exists in human minds. You cannot truthfully label ANYTHING as good and evil.

It's made up.

and pain and hunger are not the same as human ideas. They are chemical signals in your body that nobody can avoid. However, teach a child that eating cereal is "evil" and you will see that child grow up denouncing cereal as evil.

It's human fabrication.

[Xylus]

No, I don't believe in God.

[DarrinS]

I am a New York Jets fan; therefore, there is no God.

[DarrinS]

Armed Robber Finds God During Hold-Up

An armed robber in America turned to God mid-robbery in what investigators are calling the strangest case they have ever seen.

Gregory Smith, 23, walked into a store in an Indianapolis shopping centre brandishing a gun.

But instead of raiding the place, he started hugging his tearful victim, Angela Montez, telling her he hated what he was doing but had no choice.

The pair began discussing God and before long Smith was on his knees in tears, praying and being hugged by her.

He eventually stole only her mobile phone and $20 (£12).

As Smith left the shop cameras got a clear shot of his face.

He then handed himself into police after his mother saw the footage on TV.

Sergeant Kevin Wethington from Indianapolis police said: "I've been a detective for three years and I've never seen anything like it."

[MiamiHeat]

lol what a sucker.

[SnakeBoy]

I am a New York Jets fan; therefore, there is no God.

I can see where that might make one question the existence of God.

[LnGrrrR]

This doesn't change the fact that good and evil are fabrications of the human mind, and do not exist. Therefore, no act is evil or good. They are just acts.

That's what I meant by universal good/evil. I also think there is no universal good/evil, although I thin that a great majority of socieies
have a common morality.

[LnGrrrR]

He eventually stole only her mobile phone and $20 (£12).

[byrontx]

Why does god have to be an all-powerful, perfect being? Maybe our god (the one responsible for this particular universe) was a well-intended f'up. She has moved on now and is trying it again.

[mouse]

snakeboy I was not trying to be sarcastic or a head I really would like you to answer at least one of my questions.

You thought only ChumpDumper can ask all the questions around here?

[z0sa]

What's beyond the edges of the universe?

[mouse]

What's beyond the edges of the universe?

A sign that reads "EXIT"

[Blake]

my point is that from a philosophical point of view, once a statment attempts to state anything that is not tautology then it becomes metaphysical in nature.

heck, even the statement "only statements that can be verified analytically or empirically are true" is metaphysical.

glad to see you round these parts, rjv......metaphysically speaking.