Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Islander who wrote (2113)	10/21/2000 9:08:50 PM
From: Solon	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 28931

Empty your mind before you trying to fill your soul. I'm sorry, Champ. I thought my mind was empty. Best regards.

To: Islander who wrote (2113)	10/21/2000 9:11:22 PM
From: Dayuhan	Respond to of 28931

You are misguided because you have no faith. And how are we to know that your faith is not misguided? Empty your mind before trying to fill your soul. You seem to have achieved this goal quite efficiently.

To: Islander who wrote (2113)	10/21/2000 9:15:25 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

Children have nothing until they are taught by adults. Without adults to fill their heads children do not even acquire language. Interestingly enough children believe what their parents believe. Little Hindu children believe in the Hindu Gods and little Christian children believe in Christian Gods, and so on. So what's your point? That children are credulous and will believe anything there parents tell them? I agree with you on that - and that is indeed faith- but I wouldn't call it wisdom, and I certainly wouldn't make my major life decisions based upon what any child suggested. As to having more heart, I'm sure you are aware children's hearts are smaller than adult hearts- so you would be wrong on that one. Now for soul- I am not aware of any way to weigh or quantify soul material. I am not even aware of a way to prove a soul exists. If you are in possession of such innovative soul identifying and weighing technology, and are, actually able to weigh out souls, please let us know of your miraculous methods.

To: Islander who wrote (2113)	10/22/2000 12:46:05 AM
From: E	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28931

<<<You are misguided because you have no faith... Empty your mind before trying to fill your soul. Best regards, Islander. >>> Here are excerpts from some studies I cited on feelies once. These findings are relevant to your comment to Solon, "You are misguided because you have no faith": From "Do You Believe in God?" by Michael Shermer, from Sceptic, vol 6 no 2 [paragraphing mine.E] "...In 1934 Abraham Franzblau found a negative correlation between acceptance of religious beliefs and three different measures of honesty. That is, as religiosity increased, honesty decreased. In 1950 Murray Ross conducted a survey among 2,000 associates of the YMCA and discovered that agnostics and atheists were more likely to express their willingness to aid the poor than those who rated themselves as deeply religious. Hirschi and Stark (1969) reported no difference in the self-reported likelihood to commit crimes between children who attend church regularly and those who do not. These are not isolated databases. Ronald Smith, Gregory Wheeler, and Edward Diener (1975), for example, discovered that college-aged students in religious schools were no less likely to cheat on a test than their atheist and agnostic counterparts in nonreligious schools. Surprisingly (given the opposite public perception), Russell Middleton and Snell Putney (1962) reported an increase in cheating among religious students versus nonreligious students. Finally,... David Wulff's comprehensive survey of correlational studies in his textbook, Psychology of Religion (1991), reviews dozens more studies of this nature, [ital.mine.E] as well as those that reveal that there is a consistent positive correlation between "religious affiliation, church attendance, doctrinal orthodoxy, rated importance of religion, and so on" with "ethnocentrism, authoritarianism, dogmatism, social distance, rigidity, intolerance of ambiguity, and specific forms of prejudice, especially against Jews and blacks" (219-220). The conclusion is clear: not only does religion not necessarily make one more moral, it is at least statistically associated with intolerance, racism, sexism, and disregard of most of the other values desired in a free and democratic society." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I would say that "misguided"-ness and "faith" seem quite compatible, actually. Solon, good thread.... I was involved in the funniest conversation at the gym the other day. One guy asked another which religion started first, Hinduism or Christianity. The other replied, "Hinduism is older." A woman overheard the conversation and said, "Christianity was the first religion." I asked her where she got that idea. She said, with complete seriousness and absolute certitude, putting the subject to rest, "It's in the Bible."