Tom Cruise on Scientology

[g0zen]

Because you're saying that there's absolutely no possibility that this incredibly well organized universe with its meticulous laws of existence and its intricate construction has any change of being designed by something, some form of something beyond our understanding.

And he's right.

[Nash]

Yoshi and B-ri have started their own religion.

That shit was awesome. I'm totally on board.

[Jetman]

So faith is about hedging your bets? Why not just read the Koran and face Mecca to pray a few times a day while you're at it?

haha, no I was just looking at the idea from a different perspective assuming there were only two alternatives to the truth, Christian god or no god. Its a one-colored roulette table for me. I bet black and I know Ill hit, as thats all that is on my wheel. Betting on Muslim or Scientology would be like me betting orange and purple on that black only wheel. Just doesnt make sense (if this analogy even does) and I know I wont win in the end.
I guess you and Josh in this analogy would have a red only wheel, as its the only viable option for you?

[Nash]

haha, no I was just looking at the idea from a different perspective assuming there were only two alternatives to the truth, Christian god or no god. Its a one-colored roulette table for me. I bet black and I know Ill hit, as thats all that is on my wheel. Betting on Muslim or Scientology would be like me betting orange and purple on that black only wheel. Just doesnt make sense (if this analogy even does) and I know I wont win in the end.
I guess you and Josh in this analogy would have a red only wheel, as its the only viable option for you?

I have no idea what just went on in this post.

[Jetman]

Yeah, its too early in the morning, I knew it wouldnt make sense. Thankfully, you quoted it for posterity so I cant go back and delete it <3

[Thief Silver]

If you don't think being an enlightened, rational individual matters, then there's really nothing I can say to convince you.

Do I have to prove to you that Santa Claus doesn't exist? Or the Easter Bunny? Are you an agnostic Bunniest because I can't? I sure as fuck hope that you're smarter than that. It's not a leap of faith for me to disbelieve a Christian god any more than it is to disbelieve flying dogs that comes out at night and shit turkey sandwiches. Just because someone says something is true doesn't make it grounds for a rational argument or give it weight equal to the convex.

Um, both of those contain stories that are physically impossible. A man cannot travel the world putting presents down our chimney, and we all know he doesn't, because the little boys in South America are getting gifts from a magical man on december 25th. You can prove these things false, you cannot prove god false, at least we cannot at this current time.

There is a 50/50 chance that either God was just there, or the universe was just there. Something, was just there, and it's possible there is no explanation for that. A person believing in god, a person not believing in god, both are basing it on something that we don't know anything about.

[rezo]

Saying "you can't prove god false, not at this current time" is ridiculous, because the only arguments left to support god's existence are the ones based on unknown circumstances that can't be verified in any way. God cannot be proven false now because god's existence is defined as unprovable. However, that definition is based on absolutely nothing, so god's existence in that light is just a "what if!?" scenario, not a case for serious argument.

If you give the same allowances to Santa Claus, flying dogs, or anything else then their existence becomes just as viable. For example: change Santa to a deliverer of intangible personal gifts through imperceptible means and make the flying dogs who shit turkey sandwiches intangible and invisible to anyone who isn't a member of the cult of sandwich-shitting-dog. Conversely, if you look at god in the same way you originally looked at Santa, then any miraculous behavior of a god that could be tested and shown to be false would be proof that that god doesn't exist.

There is a 50/50 chance that either God was just there, or the universe was just there. Something, was just there, and it's possible there is no explanation for that. A person believing in god, a person not believing in god, both are basing it on something that we don't know anything about.

It's one thing to say there is something about existence we can't explain. It's another to fashion an unsupportable possibility from nowhere and assign probabilities for how likely it was based on nothing. The inclusion of god does not better our understanding in any way, the only thing it does is support the continued belief in... unsupportable explanations. It would be perfectly acceptable to simply recognize that you don't have an explanation and stop there; there is really no reason for god to enter the equation at all. With no reason for god to enter the equation, it's no reason to support inconclusive views about god's existence. The real unexplained mystery is existence itself and it also serves as proof that when people are presented with strong evidence to support something they can recognize as being beyond their understanding, they are capable of believing it exists. I also think it's weird to say existence exists is kind of weird but that's how it turned out =|

[Super-Eggroll]

It's not a leap of faith for me to disbelieve a Christian god any more than it is to disbelieve flying dogs that comes out at night and shit turkey sandwiches.

I've always wondered where all those turkey sandwiches came from. And why nobody ever ate them.

[Curtis]

Okay, without any made up numbers or anything to nitpick with -

Theory B: Some infinitely dense dot that had no plausible way to exist to begin with blew up and the results of this cosmic fart is what we call the universe.

Theory C: Something beyond human understanding, for whatever reason, put the dot there.

If you're honestly going to tell me that one is more fantastic than the other, you're just being silly. After much soul searching, I go with the something because it makes me feel better to think there might be some reason for it.

[Othello Harrington]

I think the points were more directed towards two type of people

Person A says "Hey, look at snowflakes, they are the work of God's paintbrush!"

Person B says "Well, I'm not sure about that, but I don't want to say it isn't either, so I'll just keep sitting on the fence"

Both are loonie