"Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements – the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life – weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be today.” – Lawrence Krauss

“Hydrogen is a light, odorless gas, which, given enough time, turns into people.” – Edward R. Harrison

“It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” – Carl Sagan



“There is nothing more telling of a person’s fundamental lack of perspective and humility than an insistence that if they cannot reconcile their beliefs with reality, then reality itself must be wrong.” – Anonymous

All of which are lovely and awesome, but don't dismiss the idea of a creator.
As for militant atheists - I'd be entirely wrong if I were to say that atheists have never been known to murder.

Too late

I'm, against all of those ideologies as well.

You're basically saying, look these irrational ideologies are bad too, so religion's OK

They weren't doing it in the name of atheism.

Nah, I'm just saying that it's more or less in human nature to want to kill each other over something. Power and control are the root of practically all human conflict, and I personally think it's naive to think otherwise. It's not about 'Believe or die' or 'You believe so you must die'. It's about 'I want what you have'.
Anything else is merely a convenient umbrella to push it all under.
People will be dicks to each other regardless of what they do at the weekends.

Power and control are the root of practically all human religions, and I personally think it's naive to think otherwise.

Regardless of the other stupid [LIFTED] we come up with so we can by-pass our own conscience, religion is one of the major offenders. I don't support religion just as I'm not a member of the Khmer Rouge.


Of course one of the above institutions I'm allowed to criticise, the other I don't have any right to. Apparently.

I did think that was wrong but, after some thought, sometimes it's not a good idea to challenge peoples delusions directly - they can turn violent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S800ilR ... re=related


Whoop! Woohoo! Well said Tom, wonderful. This deserves no criticism. It would be arrogance to call [LIFTED] on it.

I'd just point out technology=science.

Even if that were true, "Study technology" does not equal technology.

Come on kids, let's see what happens when you allow delusional irrational (religious) thinking into schools!

http://www.studytechnology.org/special/ntrpg.htm

Don't bother reading it all, it will fill your head with nonsense. You can either reject Scientology or follow it (I suggest you don't do the latter).

But remember, if you choose not to follow it, you're not allowed to criticise it, you should respect the idea, because the world is full of bad ideas.

Nice people don't criticise religions.

The thing I dislike most about both sides of the theistic spectrum is the intense unshakeable belief that they are right.

The thing I disliked most about Darwin was his intense unshakeable belief that he was right.

I don't think that's true TBH, I think we know much but the more we know the more ignorant we learn we are.

Then again arguing for a position based on no evidence whatsoever, well, in what other situation would that every be considered as reasonable?

Which is what I've been saying all along. You can eradicate religion and it won't change what people want to do to each other. It just gets pushed under a different label. It wouldn't surprise me in a thousand years if people were killing each other "in the name of science" or "in the name of logic" etc.


So in what way is Buddhism about power and control? What about Jainism?