Duban

If you don't know Tosh.0 is a TV show on Comedy Central about the internet and internet videos. Daniel Tosh is the host.

Ok, Tosh did an entire skit on making fun of Tom Cruise and Scientology and ended the skit by saying something along the lines of ".. but lets face it. Scientology is only slightly less believable than an invisible man in the sky that controls everything". *Insert depiction of the christian God in background*

I though it was hilarious but I'm surprised he said that on a relatively major TV station during prime hours.

Yeah, me neither.

At the college I attend there is a Christian club that has taken to making posters about their club and putting them EVERYWHERE on the campus. Now, so far most of them have just been advertising their club and I have no problem with that. If they want to meet up and discuss whatever they discuss I'm fine with that, however they've started putting up a new poster.

In large print, far larger then any of the relevant information on their club, it states "God is real". Implying that it is a universal fact and everybody who disagrees can go to hell. I'm very tempted to write underneath it "Citation Needed". Would this qualify as good satire, or would it be too hostile?

I witnessed a cult performing a magic ceremony recently, and it's been on my mind for a while now.

There is this older man dressed in ceremonial robes with 'magical' embroidery who approaches a round table in the middle of a large octagonal room.

On this table was a Silver Chalice, A silver bowl, a small decanter with red liquid, a Polished Silver pitcher filled with a mysterious clear liquid, and a small vial of holy water.

The man was holding an ancient and 'magical' text as well as powerful trinket of beads.

He approached the table and called upon a higher power to give him strength.

Then he kissed the 'magic' book and laid it down. He then began to mix several of the componants on the table into the Silver Chalice. He took his time, and after using each componant he would wipe down the vessel with a fine well tailored cloth.

After mixing the various componants, he raised the Silver Chalice with both hands above his head. He then brought it to his lips and took a drink.

Next, he called forth an apprentice who came carrying a Silver platter possessing the flesh of a dead god.

He proceeded to eat a small portion of the flesh. The apprentice scurried away with the remaining flesh and placed it into a larger Silver bowl with a heavy lid.

For the next 30 mins, the Old man called upon his higher power in an intricate incantation that was supposed to appease the higher power and gain his blessing.

I think they called it a "communion" and the cult members call themselves Christians.

In the same way a small child didn't take a cookie because he/she says they didn't steal from the cookie jar?

A lot of theists argue that complicated life could not have occurred without some sort of divine intervention. I disagree and will attempt to show why.

First, for the sake of argument lets say the likelihood of life not happening is 90% or 9/10. If there is only once chance then we would say there's a mere 10% of it happening, its unlikely but not impossible. The thing is life doesn't have only one chance to occur it has multiple chances to occur. Lets say it has 10 chances to occur, the likelihood of life not happening is 9/10 multiplied by itself 10 times

(9/10) ^ 10

.35 or 35%. In this universe life has a 65% chance of happening. Fairly good.

but we know that the chances of life happening is smaller then 10%. So lets, for the sake of argument, say it's 1 in 1,000,000 or the likelihood of no life is 999,999/1,000,000. Of course the universe is very large so we will say that there's a million chances of life happening. So 999999/1000000 times itself a million times.

(999999/1000000)^1000000

.357 or 35.7% chance of life not occurring. There is a 64.3% chance of life in this universe. Fairly good.

One could argue that the likelihood of life is even smaller then 1 in 1 million. The thing is the universe isn't a million times large, it is infinitely large. No matter how unlikely life may seem in one attempt there isn't just 1 attempt. In an infinite universe it will be given so many chances to happen that no matter how unlikely it is the chances of it happening approaches 1.00 or 100%.

The chances of it happening multiple times is near 100%, the likelihood of it happening infinitely many times across the universe is nearly 100%. The chances of it happening any number of times is near 100%. We're talking about so close to 100% the human mind cannot imagine how close it is.

Once we know that life can occur, or even will occur, without divine intervention then what is the point in believing that it was created this way? God could have created us, but in the same light a million dancing unicorns could have as well. It's just completely unnecessary to explain our existence and there is no reason to believe one above the other.

This is directed at both reasonable theists and atheists.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28151

For those of you that don't know, The Onion News is a well known satirical news site that does a great job of showing the flaws of the world and "hopefully" fix some of them.

I will try to explain the meaning of the word atheist as clearly as I can.

A: Without or lack thereof

Theism: Belief in god or gods.

A-theism: Lack of or without belief in god or gods

Atheism is not a claim. It is the lack of a religious claim. It's equivalent to saying there's people with a belief in the gods(theists), and then there's everyone else(atheists).

I don't understand why people, not including myself, can't ignore pain and I was wondering one thing. Would this belong in the Social Science-Psychology section or in the Health-Other section. Maybe there's a third area that I haven't thought of.

Ok I'm bored and thought of a question regarding two friends, heaven, and hell. In this situation Person A earns a spot in heaven, and can only be happy if they can spend time Person B. They can be best friends, lovers, wife/husband, etc. However Person B did not earn a spot in heaven and was sent to hell.

Person B does not deserve heaven, but Person A will never be truly happy with without said friend. Hence if Person B is in hell or w/e Person A will not get the heaven they want. What happens next?

"If you think god hates gays then you need to stop thinking of yourself as a god"

I find that most people who say "god hates gays" or some slur are just using god as an excuse so that they can hate someone and look somewhat legitimate. Its just easier to say "God hates gays" then admit the truth and say "I hate gays". This post is directed at both theists and atheists.

Atheists are directly responsible for how their actions help or hurt other people, and we are responsible for, and only for, the people they help or hurt. There are no inflexible 2000 year old rules that may or may not be relevant in today's world. We just worry about helping or hurting others. What is wrong with only caring about people, and not what a 3rd party said in a far different culture?

It's not like secular morals are far removed from your own. Murder is still wrong, stealing is still wrong. How do you think this system is immoral? Especially when there is no third party that can be used to justify the worst of acts, fundamentalism and extremism. They aren't far removed from each other.

Is it that you can't accept that morals exist independent of your religion? They do whether you like it or not.

I just don't understand how someone can argue against something when they don't even know what they're arguing against other then the fact that it breaks their preconceived notions of the universe.

Isn't understanding a subject a prerequisite for talking about it? It's not like it's hard to understand that it's up to the person making a claim to substantiate that claim.

http://www.xkcd.com/659/

Basically the idea is comparing the lego bricks to people. When one dies the arrangement is gone, the person is gone, there is no need for the "pieces" anymore. So why not put them back into the "bin" to be reused for other people?

I tend to think of this comic as my personal answer.

http://xkcd.com/154/

Why don't you ignore religion?

Below are links to maps that point to the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Notice their realistic proximity. Now notice their proximity to both Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Now Zoom out, where are they located? Also would you still insist that Jesus was the only white guy in a Middle-Eastern location given all evidence otherwise?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&g...

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&g...

Also what is wrong if he was middle eastern? Most people from the middle-east are no different then we are. Only a handful are crazed lunatics, the same could be said for any nation.

This isn't the first or last speech he made on this matter. This is pre 2008 elections.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Kh-xzerjE

Extract: Whatever we once were we are no longer a Christian nation, at least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers

...

and even if we did have only christians WHO'S Christianity would we teach in the schools?

I'M RIGHT!

That should be good enough.

How many of you have actually read the bible from end to end and still take it as literal truth?

Would you please explain to me why the belief in Zeus, Ra, Jupiter, Buddhism or some other ancient god or belief is any less believable then your own. Please use statements that can't be applied equally to your own belief.

This is a serious question. I want to know why you believe what you do, and why you find it more believable then any other belief. I will add my personal belief/lack thereof after I get a few responses.