Rusell Wilson is Being Greedy and Selfish and..............

[Hawktawk]

The fool has said in his heart "there is no God".
How can you look at the diverse beauty of our universe and deny intelligent design? As for me I dont think there is a God, I know.

[Oly]

Came to the last page to read about Wilson being greedy and selfish.

I think there was a shark jumping a page or two back...

[Hawktown]

God talk really??? Believe what you want but DO NOT TELL ME TO or insult a person for not believing!!! Ridiculous!!!

[NorthHawk]

So you don't have the mental strength to come to grips with we're simply an accident of the universe. You need something to fill the void.
I wish you well in your travel through life, but please spare me the religious pablum and dogma of an organization that is rife with swindlers, cheats, liars, pedophiles, and the like who prey on the unsophisticated for personal gain all in the name of a non existent God.

[monkey]

God talk really??? Believe what you want but DO NOT TELL ME TO or insult a person for not believing!!! Ridiculous!!!

I did no such thing! I defended my faith AFTER it was attacked!

[monkey]

So you don't have the mental strength to come to grips with we're simply an accident of the universe. You need something to fill the void.
I wish you well in your travel through life, but please spare me the religious pablum and dogma of an organization that is rife with swindlers, cheats, liars, pedophiles, and the like who prey on the unsophisticated for personal gain all in the name of a non existent God.

Dude...seriously, you get upset with what I said, and yet you've done nothing but insult my faith?
You are being INCREDIBLY rude!
You are also quite wrong.
Good thing that in this country you are still free to be both rude and wrong. At least for now anyway.

[burrrton]

So you don't have the mental strength to come to grips with we're simply an accident of the universe.

North, your "mental strength" is one that is comfortable accepting what is essentially a big shoulder shrug, so I'm not sure you're really arguing from the position of authority you think you are.

I'm not a believer, either, but I'm not so conceited to think I have an answer for the origins of the universe.

Until you do, I'd suggest you put away the disdain. It doesn't suit a person well.

[Hawktawk]

Hey you atheists.
One of us is right and one of us is wrong. We will find out when we die.
As Ive said I absolutely am certain there is a God, He has proven his existence to me in so many amazing ways.
But lets assume for the sake of argument there isn't. What has my faith cost me in the long run?
But suppose there is. What will your ignorance cost you?

[obiken]

I believe in God, Guns, and Unions. What this has to do with the Hawks I have no idea!

[RiverDog]

Wow, this thread sure has gone off on a tangent! Yes, it's a subject that belongs in a different forum, but there's not enough traffic in this one to where it makes a huge difference, so it doesn't bother me any to have this discussion this in the main forum.

Russell's healing waters does have the ring of a snake oil salesmen to it, but he wouldn't be the first person to believe in remedies or procedures that are unscientific or bear little proof of their effect. Professional athletes in general are some of the most superstitious people in society. Don't break a shoelace on Game Day. Savvy's link was interesting, especially the part where the company changed their comments when they realized that they could be in violation of USDA regulations by making claims that haven't been substantiated in the laboratory.

As far as the discussion on religion goes, I'm an agnostic. I don't believe or disbelieve in a higher intelligence. I certainly do not believe in some of the theories proposed in the Bible, that the Earth was created in 6 days, that there was a world wide 40 day flood, that the Earth is only a few thousand years old, and so forth. There's tons of objective, scientific evidence from a variety of sources to disprove those theories, or rather disprove them to my satisfaction.

But I'm not going so far as to characterize a person's religion as a crutch. For some, their religion satisfies an emotional need, makes sense out of a lot of things that's beyond everyone's comprehension. Yea, there are those that believe that their religion is the neatest thing since sliced bread and can't handle alternate viewpoints to the point where that anyone that doesn't believe in their particular version should be put to death. Religion is a crutch for those folks. But for the vast majority of those that practice it, I see nothing in their dedication to their religion that indicates an emotional dependence on it. It simply provides a solution to otherwise unsolvable, vexing problems.

[kalibane]

(If I were going to use my imagination to invent a GOD, I would invent one that would be pro fornication, and would be extremely interested in making me filthy rich!)

Just wanted to hit on this point. So don't confuse it with me challenging your actual faith.

But that above statement doesn't wash. If you believe in God, father of Christ Almighty as the one true god which by definition makes other religions inauthentic you should see what's wrong with your statement. There are literally billions of people who have chosen to worship in a false religion (according to your faith) that is highly restrictive in nature.

Pretty much every major religion tends to be built on a supposed foundation of morality, selflessness, sacrifice and restraint against natural impulses. And it's been thus for the thousands of years that humans have roamed the earth. So clearly if people were in fact inventing Gods most people clearly would not choose an indulgent Deity. The main function of religion is to give people a focus, a reason for living that is greater than themselves. It loses it's purpose if it's easy to live that way. Religion based on doing whatever you want doesn't stick.

Even Scientology is built around personal sacrifice. There is clearly something within the general human psyche that tells us that if it isn't extremely difficult to achieve enlightenment it just isn't worth the effort.

[monkey]

I will gladly concede the point, because 1. you're absolutely right, and 2. what you just said actually hi-lights the fact that we are wired to inherently understand certain truths.

[Futureite]

Wow, this thread sure has gone off on a tangent! Yes, it's a subject that belongs in a different forum, but there's not enough traffic in this one to where it makes a huge difference, so it doesn't bother me any to have this discussion this in the main forum.

Russell's healing waters does have the ring of a snake oil salesmen to it, but he wouldn't be the first person to believe in remedies or procedures that are unscientific or bear little proof of their effect. Professional athletes in general are some of the most superstitious people in society. Don't break a shoelace on Game Day. Savvy's link was interesting, especially the part where the company changed their comments when they realized that they could be in violation of USDA regulations by making claims that haven't been substantiated in the laboratory.

As far as the discussion on religion goes, I'm an agnostic. I don't believe or disbelieve in a higher intelligence. I certainly do not believe in some of the theories proposed in the Bible, that the Earth was created in 6 days, that there was a world wide 40 day flood, that the Earth is only a few thousand years old, and so forth. There's tons of objective, scientific evidence from a variety of sources to disprove those theories, or rather disprove them to my satisfaction.

But I'm not going so far as to characterize a person's religion as a crutch. For some, their religion satisfies an emotional need, makes sense out of a lot of things that's beyond everyone's comprehension. Yea, there are those that believe that their religion is the neatest thing since sliced bread and can't handle alternate viewpoints to the point where that anyone that doesn't believe in their particular version should be put to death. Religion is a crutch for those folks. But for the vast majority of those that practice it, I see nothing in their dedication to their religion that indicates an emotional dependence on it. It simply provides a solution to otherwise unsolvable, vexing problems.

People who are ultra religious tend to believe all kinds of wacky things. I may be in the minority, but I did not see Wilson's comments as salesmanish - I think he may actually believe what he Tweeted. It's not a stretch when you also consider he may believe that God instructed Noah to corral millions of species of animals into an Ark to navigate a great flood. My uncle believes these stories verbatim as well, and often makes illogical cause/effect statements which could easily be refuted by science. I think this train of thought becomes habitual with people who immerse yourself in a religion of any sort. Whatever the case, I think the comments were a bit overblown.