The Existence of God

[Alvecia]

Death is not something I am afraid of, nor is it depressing at all. Death is simply a fact of life, something that I've accepted will eventually happen. Much like the credits of a movie or the last page of a book. It's a sad moment, but if I have throroughly enjoyed the book then I am content.
I don't need to pretend that the book has no end to be happy with the story.

Edit: I'm not all that convinced that most Christians truly believe in life after death anyway.

Nominals galore.

Nominal? Nominal, Nominal, or Nominal?

[Wallenburg]

No. More like one who got sick of idiots constantly rejecting.

God knows what it would take for those people to accept him, yet instead he decides not to bother and damns them instead?
Sounds dickish to me.

Which is why, even if there were a God, I would refuse to worship him.

[Neutraligon]

He defies physical laws.

Special pleading.

Oh cut it - Both the religous and non-religous like making stereotypes. Many a time an atheists says nothing about religion but "Crusades, Inquisitions, Jihads, and other s***"(When theres the fact that religous groups created more charitable institutions than any other group). While many a time a religous talks incessantly about "these boozing idiots think we are from monkies"


Simple,logic. Something has to be created by something else. Nothing in this material universe creates itself.

The universe is not in itself. First you have to assume that things before the universe were held to the same laws that things in the universe are held to. For which there is actually evidence against. Or rather, logical reasoning.

I mentioned this before I think(?)

At a singularity, all the laws of physics would have broken down. This means that the state of the universe, after the Big Bang, will not depend on anything that may have happened before, because the deterministic laws that govern the universe will break down in the Big Bang.

Source: The Hawk himself

Well that and we aren't sure if conservation of mass and energy holds at the universal level when we tak general relativity into account.

[The Solar Cooperative Union]

I believe that god is the force of life and evolution and change that permeates existence, not necessarily a being or thing that controls the universe but instead a sense that binds our reality together. In my eyes god is the fact that when I die my body will give new life, and even after the heat death of the universe Quantum theory states that given enough time a new reality will be born and life will carry on.

[Ashmoria]

I believe that god is the force of life and evolution and change that permeates existence, not necessarily a being or thing that controls the universe but instead a sense that binds our reality together. In my eyes god is the fact that when I die my body will give new life, and even after the heat death of the universe Quantum theory states that given enough time a new reality will be born and life will carry on.

whats the point of believing in a deist god?

[Alvecia]

Special pleading.

The universe is not in itself. First you have to assume that things before the universe were held to the same laws that things in the universe are held to. For which there is actually evidence against. Or rather, logical reasoning.

I mentioned this before I think(?)

Source: The Hawk himself

Well that and we aren't sure if conservation of mass and energy holds at the universal level when we tak general relativity into account.

He mentions that in the lecture as well, actually.

Even the amount of matter in the universe, can be different to what it was before the Big Bang, as the Law of Conservation of Matter, will break down at the Big Bang.

Look at that, you're as smart as Hawkings

[Alvecia]

I believe that god is the force of life and evolution and change that permeates existence, not necessarily a being or thing that controls the universe but instead a sense that binds our reality together. In my eyes god is the fact that when I die my body will give new life, and even after the heat death of the universe Quantum theory states that given enough time a new reality will be born and life will carry on.

It does? Got a source?
Preferable one I don't need a PhD to understand

[Wallenburg]

Special pleading.

The universe is not in itself. First you have to assume that things before the universe were held to the same laws that things in the universe are held to. For which there is actually evidence against. Or rather, logical reasoning.

I mentioned this before I think(?)

Source: The Hawk himself

Well that and we aren't sure if conservation of mass and energy holds at the universal level when we tak general relativity into account.

Didn't Einstein base relativity on the premise that, where the law of conservation of energy and Newton's laws of motion conflicted, he chose to preserve conservation of energy over newtonian physics?

[Alvecia]

Well that and we aren't sure if conservation of mass and energy holds at the universal level when we tak general relativity into account.

Didn't Einstein base relativity on the premise that, where the law of conservation of energy and Newton's laws of motion conflicted, he chose to preserve conservation of energy over newtonian physics?

Not completely sure, but i picked up on these two paragraphs from the wiki article on special relativity.

Newtonian mechanics mathematically follows from special relativity at small velocities (compared to the speed of light) – thus Newtonian mechanics can be considered as a special relativity of slow moving bodies. See classical mechanics for a more detailed discussion.

Particle accelerators routinely accelerate and measure the properties of particles moving at near the speed of light, where their behavior is completely consistent with relativity theory and inconsistent with the earlier Newtonian mechanics. These machines would simply not work if they were not engineered according to relativistic principles. In addition, a considerable number of modern experiments have been conducted to test special relativity.

Kind of indicates to me that Newtonian physics are more of a subset of special relativity.

Should probably cut myself off here before I go too far down this rabbit hole.

[Wallenburg]

Didn't Einstein base relativity on the premise that, where the law of conservation of energy and Newton's laws of motion conflicted, he chose to preserve conservation of energy over newtonian physics?

Not completely sure, but i picked up on these two paragraphs from the wiki article on special relativity.

Newtonian mechanics mathematically follows from special relativity at small velocities (compared to the speed of light) – thus Newtonian mechanics can be considered as a special relativity of slow moving bodies. See classical mechanics for a more detailed discussion.

Particle accelerators routinely accelerate and measure the properties of particles moving at near the speed of light, where their behavior is completely consistent with relativity theory and inconsistent with the earlier Newtonian mechanics. These machines would simply not work if they were not engineered according to relativistic principles. In addition, a considerable number of modern experiments have been conducted to test special relativity.

Kind of indicates to me that Newtonian physics are more of a subset of special relativity.

Should probably cut myself off here before I go too far down this rabbit hole.

Newtonian physics are considered accurate enough for any small scale or low velocity motion. They aren't really a subset of relativistic physics as much as an alternative for day-to-day scenarios, since relativistic physics can be a bitch to work with.

But, yeah, [/threadjack]

I believe that god is the force of life and evolution and change that permeates existence, not necessarily a being or thing that controls the universe but instead a sense that binds our reality together. In my eyes god is the fact that when I die my body will give new life, and even after the heat death of the universe Quantum theory states that given enough time a new reality will be born and life will carry on.

I'm curious, why do you feel the need to assign a consciousness to the processes of the universe?

[Vexuar]

The existence of religion can be argued to be a good thing, but then you remember that if you aren't a member of the neighborhood cult, you are constantly harassed and told, "You don't believe in god because you want to sin", or "It's just a phase." Beliefs are figuratively shoved down your throat. Coming from a small town in Texas, I think I know what Im talking about. Surprisingly, catholics take atheism waaaaaayy better than country hick christians. Half of my family is catholic and they didn't really care, plus, they seemed to be fascinated on my views of their religion.

[The Solar Cooperative Union]

I believe that god is the force of life and evolution and change that permeates existence, not necessarily a being or thing that controls the universe but instead a sense that binds our reality together. In my eyes god is the fact that when I die my body will give new life, and even after the heat death of the universe Quantum theory states that given enough time a new reality will be born and life will carry on.

whats the point of believing in a deist god?

Theres no point to believing in anything, esoteric, non-physical beliefs are inherently pointless. I believe because I want to and it enriches my life.

[The Emerald World]

The existence of religion can be argued to be a good thing, but then you remember that if you aren't a member of the neighborhood cult, you are constantly harassed and told, "You don't believe in god because you want to sin", or "It's just a phase." Beliefs are figuratively shoved down your throat. Coming from a small town in Texas, I think I know what Im talking about. Surprisingly, catholics take atheism waaaaaayy better than country hick christians. Half of my family is catholic and they didn't really care, plus, they seemed to be fascinated on my views of their religion.

Isn't the only real distinction between a religion and a cult membership?

[Ashmoria]

whats the point of believing in a deist god?

Theres no point to believing in anything, esoteric, non-physical beliefs are inherently pointless. I believe because I want to and it enriches my life.

ya but how does a theoretical god that is "the force" enrich your life in any way? is it a "there I have an answer to where life came from so I don't have to think about it again" kinda thing?

[The Solar Cooperative Union]

Theres no point to believing in anything, esoteric, non-physical beliefs are inherently pointless. I believe because I want to and it enriches my life.

ya but how does a theoretical god that is "the force" enrich your life in any way? is it a "there I have an answer to where life came from so I don't have to think about it again" kinda thing?

Its just comforting to me to believe in a higher order, even if I'm not involved in it. It makes sense to me logically as well, but thats an entire other discussion.

[Zoice]

The existence of religion can be argued to be a good thing, but then you remember that if you aren't a member of the neighborhood cult, you are constantly harassed and told, "You don't believe in god because you want to sin", or "It's just a phase." Beliefs are figuratively shoved down your throat. Coming from a small town in Texas, I think I know what Im talking about. Surprisingly, catholics take atheism waaaaaayy better than country hick christians. Half of my family is catholic and they didn't really care, plus, they seemed to be fascinated on my views of their religion.

Isn't the only real distinction between a religion and a cult membership?

No. Cults are extremely damaging and distinct in the way they treat their members. They involve extreme loyalty to the cult leader, and isolation from the outside world. Religions or religious sects can be cults (Scientology is an example) but not all religions are cults.

[Conscentia]

Isn't the only real distinction between a religion and a cult membership?

No. Cults are extremely damaging and distinct in the way they treat their members. They involve extreme loyalty to the cult leader, and isolation from the outside world. Religions or religious sects can be cults (Scientology is an example) but not all religions are cults.

You're using a narrow definition of "cult".

[Zoice]

No. Cults are extremely damaging and distinct in the way they treat their members. They involve extreme loyalty to the cult leader, and isolation from the outside world. Religions or religious sects can be cults (Scientology is an example) but not all religions are cults.

You're using a narrow definition of "cult".

I think that if you leave it too broad, it loses all meaning, and becomes interchangeable with "club". Cults don't have to be religious, they could be political or philosophical or whatever unites the members around the figurehead.

What definition did you have in mind as an alternative?

[Conscentia]

I believe that god is the force of life and evolution and change that permeates existence,

You evidently favour presentism over eternalism. Problem with the presentist view of time is that there is no absolute present. As far as I'm aware, only eternalism is compatible with the modern understanding of physics.

[...] Quantum theory states that given enough time a new reality will be born and life will carry on.

[citation needed]

[Conscentia]

You're using a narrow definition of "cult".

I think that if you leave it too broad, it loses all meaning, and becomes interchangeable with "club". Cults don't have to be religious, they could be political or philosophical or whatever unites the members around the figurehead.

What definition did you have in mind as an alternative?

Well, one broader definition one could use is Wikipedia's:
"In the sociological classifications of religious movements in English, a cult is a religious or social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practice."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult

That definition is broader than yours, but not so broad as to lose all meaning.

[Zoice]

I think that if you leave it too broad, it loses all meaning, and becomes interchangeable with "club". Cults don't have to be religious, they could be political or philosophical or whatever unites the members around the figurehead.

What definition did you have in mind as an alternative?

Well, one broader definition one could use is Wikipedia's:
"In the sociological classifications of religious movements in English, a cult is a religious or social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practice."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult

That definition is broader than yours, but not so broad as to lose all meaning.

Yeah, that is a different definition. I've always seen it as being not just a different group, but specifically one that isolates members and involves incredible loyalty to the leader. Something like Heaven's Gate, the early years of Mormonism, and some other groups. That's the definition I use, but I suppose there are others and I may be wrong about it.

[The Solar Cooperative Union]

I believe that god is the force of life and evolution and change that permeates existence,

You evidently favour presentism over eternalism. Problem with the presentist view of time is that there is no absolute present. As far as I'm aware, only eternalism is compatible with the modern understanding of physics.

[...] Quantum theory states that given enough time a new reality will be born and life will carry on.

[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger_equation

[Wallenburg]

I think that if you leave it too broad, it loses all meaning, and becomes interchangeable with "club". Cults don't have to be religious, they could be political or philosophical or whatever unites the members around the figurehead.

What definition did you have in mind as an alternative?

Well, one broader definition one could use is Wikipedia's:
"In the sociological classifications of religious movements in English, a cult is a religious or social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practice."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult

That definition is broader than yours, but not so broad as to lose all meaning.

By that definition, my generally progressive lunch group is a cult.

[Conscentia]

You evidently favour presentism over eternalism. Problem with the presentist view of time is that there is no absolute present. As far as I'm aware, only eternalism is compatible with the modern understanding of physics.

[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger_equation

Is that supposed to be your citation? Because I didn't find anything on that Wikipedia page that states that a "new reality will be born and life will carry on" after heat death, or any words to that effect, or indeed anything regarding the heat death of the universe at all. If I have overlooked the relevant part, please quote it.

Well, one broader definition one could use is Wikipedia's:
"In the sociological classifications of religious movements in English, a cult is a religious or social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practice."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult
That definition is broader than yours, but not so broad as to lose all meaning.

By that definition, my generally progressive lunch group is a cult.

Wikipedia admits the definition it gives is a bit vague...
"However, whether any particular group's beliefs and practices are sufficiently deviant or novel is often unclear, thus making a precise definition problematic."

[Salandriagado]

Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Matthew 24:34)
Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled. (Luke 21:32)

Its talking about the future generation... Lol

You do love misinterpreting, do u.

That's the harbour of the city of Tyre, which has, I repeat, never been destroyed for any significant period of time.



I am not in a position to watch videos. Provide a real source. For this specifically, biblical verses are acceptable.

You surely you have noticed that in this past decades, the number of natural disasters, political upheavals, famines, pestilences, and such have increased drastically than ever before.

Luke 21:10-30.

None of those things are true. Natural disasters are pretty much as expected, and we lie in the most politically stable time in all of history.