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[Shrugging Khan]

That german guy with the beans, right?

I redact my earlier statement about religions being scientific theories. However, Shrugging Khan takes an unusually harsh stance on this. I see no way for this to end except a flame war, so I am leaving this thread. 

I take an usually harsh stance on the issue because being lax on issues of such great influence and importance is something all too many people are already guilty of.

Edit: Mendel! I'm 99% sure his name was Mendel!

[Il Palazzo]

Shrugging Khan - the internet name of Richard Dawkins.

[Realmfighter]

Ah, the atheist thread! Those with the common sense to see that god does not exist, against those with the common sense to just go along with what their society/madness tells them to believe!

Maybe people enjoy having some incomprehensible father figure in the sky to get there kicks, instead of being dicks on the internet?

[Mephisto]

The atheism thread. I must say that I'm shocked the community has sunk this low, being as intelligent as it is in other areas.

Not believing in the Christian god != nontheism - just look at Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, et al. Being nontheistic != being nonreligious - Buddhism, Confucianism, even nontheistic Christians, Jews, etc.

[fqllve]

Secondly, in response to your last sentence, I shall have to protest most strongly. Religions are merely constructs of make-belief, masturbatory ritual, social pressure, and most of all of a limited understanding of the human mind and the natural world.

Religion is more of a fictional explanatory system than any of those things. At the very closest it's a method for social control.

Am I a troll for speaking these obvious opinions frankly and without reservation?

No, but they sure were opinions and not facts huh!

[Tsarwash]

And that, children, is a textbook definition of a troll right there. Do not feed it.

Sirrah, you shall take that back lest we come to blows!

Your statement is offensive and baseless, and is callous to the point of deliberate provocation. Hence, you are a troll. And at any rate, religions are valid scientific theories.

It's ironic at the least to refute a supposed troll comment with another troll comment. I personally like his statement, (apart from the word madness in there,) and while I don't think that it is entirely accurate, it does succinctly get to the point. People do tend to believe in the 'God' that others in their societies believe in, therefore society pressure does seem to play a part. You don't tend to find many people who grew up in predominantly say Christian societies becoming converts to Hinduism at the age of 14 or 16. If you belong to a predominatly religeous society then you are often expected to conform to those beliefs. Argueing that tihs is not the case seems foolish to me, as it would appear to be so apparent.

[AntiAntiMatter]

And that, children, is a textbook definition of a troll right there. Do not feed it.

Sirrah, you shall take that back lest we come to blows!

Your statement is offensive and baseless, and is callous to the point of deliberate provocation. Hence, you are a troll. And at any rate, religions are valid scientific theories.

It's ironic at the least to refute a supposed troll comment with another troll comment.

I apologize for any trollishness. However, his comment was offensive.

[Tsarwash]

That's fine. It is the internet after all.

[Shrugging Khan]

Religion is more of a fictional explanatory system than any of those things. At the very closest it's a method for social control.

They're all that and more. I suppose I mentioned the parts of the whole, and you mentioned its purpose.

No, but they sure were opinions and not facts huh!

They're as fact as it gets.

Shrugging Khan - the internet name of Richard Dawkins.

Ah you kidder. Dawkins wouldn't have to guess about Mendel's name.

(apart from the word madness in there,)

Is it not the maddest that usually have the strongest believe in the actual existence of god (and their correspondence with it/him)?

I apologize for any trollishness. However, his comment was offensive.

If offensive is the new name for direct, then so be it!

[fqllve]

No, but they sure were opinions and not facts huh!

They're as fact as it gets.

No. Words like masturbatory are judgment words. Limited understanding implies limited scientific understanding, there are other methods of understanding things. Make-believe is an insulting comparison to children's games.

Opinions. Facts aren't nearly so subjective.

[Bauglir]

No, but they sure were opinions and not facts huh!

They're as fact as it gets.

No. Words like masturbatory are judgment words. Limited understanding implies limited scientific understanding, there are other methods of understanding things. Make-believe is an insulting comparison to children's games.

Opinions. Facts aren't nearly so subjective.

Don't be silly. This is the Internet, where opinions are facts to those who speak them, and facts are opinions to those who hear them. How else could such a lively atmosphere of "civilized" "debate" "prosper"?

[Tsarwash]

Religions are merely constructs of make-belief, masturbatory ritual, social pressure, and most of all of a limited understanding of the human mind and the natural world. Am I a troll for speaking these obvious truths frankly and without reservation?

If what you said was obvious and self evident, then I do not think that religion would survive in an educated modern world. Religious belief is more deep rooted and subtle than this. Almost all societies have formed a ritual belief system, often very independant of each other. Some might say it was a necessary moral evolution stemming from our own mortality. The reasons that we have religion and the animals do not, (as far as we know) could be derived from our knowledge of our own future demise, perhaps evolving as a defense mechanism to combat this. Just one idea about it. Possibly if we discovered immortality, then religious beliefs would wither away.