[quote]mertdawg wrote:
Let’s define free will?[/quote]
Let’s. How’s this:
Free will: The ability to choose or make a choice free from prior causes, constraints, external circumstances, fate, divine will and divine intervention.
Does that cover all the bases?
[quote]seekingstrength wrote:
Why did God allow men to write the Bible? Couldn’t he have avoided all the confusion by carving the whole bible into the side of a mountain? He carved the “Ten Commandments” on to a stone, why not everything else.
Speaking of the “Ten Commandments”, why did God only give them to the Jews? Shouldn’t he have given a similar tablet to all the major cicilizations, or at least write the “Ten Commandment” in all the major languages of the time?[/quote]
Good questions.
Why aren’t the 10 Commandments Laws of Nature?
If you died as soon as you killed a member of your own specie, you wouldn’t need “Thou shall not kill (or murder)”, because all the murderers would be dead. Eventually, word would get around that killing another human is a big no-no. No more murder; problem solved.
And before someone jumps in with “free will”, consider the following:
There isn’t a “Thou shall not jump from the 8th floor.” Commandment, but nobody does it. You can still go ahead and try, but the laws of nature will insure that you only try it once.
[quote]seekingstrength wrote:
Why did God allow men to write the Bible? Couldn’t he have avoided all the confusion by carving the whole bible into the side of a mountain? He carved the “Ten Commandments” on to a stone, why not everything else.
Speaking of the “Ten Commandments”, why did God only give them to the Jews? Shouldn’t he have given a similar tablet to all the major cicilizations, or at least write the “Ten Commandment” in all the major languages of the time?
[/quote]
The commandments were part of a theocratic government. It is also debatable if the exodus ever happened.
[quote]pookie wrote:
mertdawg wrote:
Let’s define free will?
Let’s. How’s this:
Free will: The ability to choose or make a choice free from prior causes, constraints, external circumstances, fate, divine will and divine intervention.
Does that cover all the bases?[/quote]
Let me know if we need to pursue the question more.
I think our choices are not free from prior causes-they are limited by them, there may be fate in the scientific sense-the earth is fated to be engulfed in the expanding sun in 5 billion years of so, if there was a God it could influence us possibly or perhaps “intervene”.
I am only talking about the fact that while our choices are limited by the laws of physics, they are not pre-determined. At any given instance there may be two or more physically valid paths that we can take and no knowledge of the laws of physics could detemine our choice 100%.
Our path IS probabilistic and we have some kind of intrinsic power to pick one of the two or more physically valid choices. This would include choices as simple as thinking a thought or picking what we want to have for dinner. I think unless you buy into hidden variables.
I guess my real question is what mechanism gives a human the conscious capacity to make one path the one that will be real for them, and below what level of matter would an object not have the capacity to choose (animal, life, macroscopic?)
Have any of you read Scott Adams’ book “God’s Debris?” It’s a rather interesting mix of science, religion and fantasy. A fun thought experiment if nothing else.
It’s available as a free PDF download here: http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/godsdebris/
[quote]pookie wrote:
Have any of you read Scott Adams’ book “God’s Debris?” It’s a rather interesting mix of science, religion and fantasy. A fun thought experiment if nothing else.
It’s available as a free PDF download here: http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/godsdebris/
[/quote]
I’ll take a look at it. I hope its not about me!
[quote]agshag wrote:
-If God is the Creator, why would he create beings undeserving of his love and forgiveness?
[/quote]
Did Jeffrey Dommer deserve his mother’s love? No! Did he get it anyway? Yes!
[quote]Lorisco wrote:
agshag wrote:
-If God is the Creator, why would he create beings undeserving of his love and forgiveness?
Did Jeffrey Dommer deserve his mother’s love? No! Did he get it anyway? Yes!
[/quote]
Cute. Jeffrey’s mom didn’t get to create him in “her image” or in any way other than dictated by genetics.
If she’d had God’s supposed powers, I’m sure she wouldn’t have made herself a little cannibal. She’d made herself a good boy, well deserving of her love.
So, another limp analogy bites the dust.
Oh, and it’s Dahmer, not Dommer.
Its sunday and i have been working.
Another black mark against me.
Has everyone felt the power of prayer edgng you towards chuch.
I think the prayers are edging me to the pub.
Why does it matter whether he exists or not? You won’t find out till’ you die anyway, so hedge your bets and do the Don Manuel.
Occams Razor?
[quote]miniross wrote:
Occam’s Razor?[/quote]
I wish Gillette or Schick would come out with an Occam’s Razor.
One blade. All you need to cut away the bullshit.
[quote]pookie wrote:
miniross wrote:
Occam’s Razor?
I wish Gillette or Schick would come out with an Occam’s Razor.
One blade. All you need to cut away the bullshit.
[/quote]
LOL!
I sometimes get a “blue beard” and i gound the Gillette the best, altough we dont get Schick here. We have wlikinson sword, which are pony.
This would be extremely funny if those people weren’t allowed to vote and reproduce: http://www.fstdt.com/
As it is, it’s an interesting view of how people claiming to want to base their lives on the Jesus character’s teachings present themselves to the world. Seems hate, ignorance and intolerance are the way to go. Of course, Jesus did that too, but you’d think they’d go for the love and compassion part of the message…
Great Op-Ed piece from the bastion of the liberal conspiracy:
[quote]swordthrower wrote:
Great Op-Ed piece from the bastion of the liberal conspiracy:
You can use test1234/test1234 to login if you don’t want to go thru the registration procedure.
If test1234 stops working, get a new login from http://www.bugmenot.com
I used to be an Atheist. But science-based beliefs, just like God-based beliefs, become too abstract after a while. I also looked at various religions during the process, with a Whats the reason behind this guideline?` mind.
I saw no such thing as a true Church of Reality. I am re-building my belief system, taking the best stuff from all points of views, but I try to keep it at Level 1 abstraction beliefs. Im not trying to explain or understand the origin of the universe, or what comes after life. When such questions arise, I stop and try to focus on the human level: what can I do to help myself and the next fellow-man instead of daydreaming`?
“It all boils down to Man. There’s almost always someone behind that new idea of yours.”
When I generally cant find a logical answer to everyday people questions, I turn to the Internet and the librairies. Whether its something like a stock market bubble/crash, epidemics, fashion, trends, etc. theres generally an explanation, and its usually human-based/human-caused. Books like the Tipping Point and The Crowd go far in explaining manics, panics, and eras.
I try not to focus too much on esoteric questions, but when I am in doubt, I look at all the good coincidences in my life, and I give the benefit of the doubt to the Big Guy.
Is there such a thing as a religion for Pragmatics?