No need to even respond - he knows full well that I wasn't ignoring him. Maybe it finally got through his head that his arguments about christianity are irrelevant to the discussion, and therefore he has no material.
Fair enough. You know your life better than I do. Thanks again for sharing your story. It always interests me to find out what makes people believe.
Gotta stop you. I've known people who literally qualified as genius going to a Catholic College Prep School, in fact, despite my MANY issues against my ex mother church, I have to admit they're quality of education is normally on top. (example, St. Thomas College Prep School Houston TX) When compared against other schools in the area, ranked top. Look into catholic education.Fair enough. You know your life better than I do. Thanks again for sharing your story. It always interests me to find out what makes people believe.
Alright, I lied, I think I'm going to respond to this.
I'm defending religion and spirituality and have denounced Christianity multiple times.
Paganism - is a blanket term, typically used to refer to polytheistic religious traditions, although from a Christian perspective the term can encompass all non-Abrahamic religions.
In the late 20th century, "Paganism", or "Neopaganism", became widely used in reference to adherents of various New Religious Movements including Wicca. As such, various modern scholars have begun to apply the term to three groups of separate faiths: Historical Polytheism (such as Celtic polytheism, Norse paganism, and Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism also called Hellenismos), Folk/ethical/Indigenous religions (such as Chinese folk religion and African traditional religion), and Neopaganism (such as Wicca and Germanic Neopaganism).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagen
Yes it is.
Just stop. You have absolutely no concept of the meaning of religion. You speak of nothing other than chrisitianity, and your grasp on that is weak as hell too. Protip: The bible is mythology.
History contradicts you.
Everything.
How do you know?
This is your problem. MOST people don't quantify their beliefs into a single label.
I didn't say they did.
As to why, the simple answer is because it works.
What is "it"?
cop out much?
Tasteless joke
It's really as simple as a parent saying "Don't trust what the churches or bible tell you, it's not true".
Really? I didn't know that's all it took to be an atheist! Holy shit I wasted a lot of time reading!
More bullshit about Christianity. Not all belief systems work this way.
Belief systems not based on reality work that way.
"I think it's everyone's individual responsibility to be an atheist". Thanks for proving my point.
I just find it odd that being religious often correlates with low IQ. I think that pretty clearly says "the more unintelligent/uneducated you are, the more likely you are to be a religious person". Therefore, increasing the intelligence levels becomes top priority. I don't think everyone should be atheist. I think that's up to each individual person to come to their own conclusion about. Clearly some people just can't accept it. They need the crutch. Like we need oxygen, they'll suffocate without it.
Buddhism, Taoism, daoism, hinduism, yoism, new age spirituality, paganism, wicca, druidism, Jedi, native american worship,
Just a couple of "labeled" religions that don't profess to be the one true way and have no reason to criticize others for their beliefs.
Well, like I said before, till any Buddhists, Taoists, daoists, hindus, yoists, new age spiritualists, pagans, wiccans, druidists, Jedis, or native Americans show up and express their beliefs, they're irrelevant to this discussion.
I'm going to stand up and call people for their bullshit, especially if it affects my way of life, regardless of their belief. That isn't what tolerance is. Would you have "tolerance" for someone who punches you in the face? Apply that to this situation.
The same could be said for the corporate greed that permeates all of American society. It's also full of shit that organized religion is responsible for every single problem. Atheism is a pretty big problem and I don't see any organized religion promoting it.
Corporate greed is a huge issue, you're right. How do these people get into these positions of such power anyway...
People are different. The same reason some people cry at movies and others do not, the same reason some people like olives and others do not.
Great explanation...
I'd love to see some data corroborating the claim that religion correlates to low IQ. Honestly Pad with statements like that you sound more like a bigot than a free thinking progressive person of logic and reason.
I didn't say one person, there was no shortage of highly intelligent cocky little bastards there. And regardless, since I didn't record details (how many, there IQ, religious standing) It wouldn't make for a valid study in any sense of the word. The point is in my experience, its played no part whatsoever. Its possible that the lack of religious believes at ivy league schools is related more to a matter of their personal culture than IQ. In order to really settle this you would have to take random samples from around the country, starting with an IQ test then a religious questionnaire. Compile those results, then you'll have something alot more valid to quote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_intelligence
Thats... a really good point. The study also did mention that the "dogmatic" were the least intelligent, ie psycho-christian types...And I will have to grant, while I knew no shortage of intelligent people with religion, none of them were the obsessive type. Making me wonder how much there religion was real, and how much just preprogrammed. Example, I was raised catholic, but the older I got the harder I found to stomach the bullshit being fed to me. It got to the point that when people asked what religion I was I would say "catholic" but honestly, I didn't agree with what they taught, I stopped showing up, so what part of me was indeed still catholic? it was more like a programmed response then an honest answer...
There is one problem with your hypothesis. IQ does not measure knowledge, it is supposed to be a direct measure of intelligence regardless of learned information. That said, IQ tests have been attacked for being bias for a very long time. That being said, there are many studies that use academic achievement as a marker of intelligence and in that situation, you would be correct.
thats true..but take out the IQ test part...the same point is being made.but if you take 2 people...1 that went to school..1 that didnt...in almost every case the one that attended school will test higher.the brain grows and functions more with the more knowledge thats obtained...so learned information would make you test higher.
†claps†
well...first flaw with that is putting anything up against public school...the nation as a whole is dumbing down every year.and if your basing all that on 1 school and the 1 person you speak of...your proving nothing.and id sit down and talk with the guy...just like the preacher i talked to in a park one day...that the very next day...renounced his faith.its been a proven fact that the less intelligent tend to be more religious....not saying that all are feeble minded...but as proven in some cases they are.just like in public school...some winners...a whole lot of losers...and same will hold true in any christian school.also need to keep in mind that genetics play into all of this.if you have 2 parents that before going out into the town are required to wear helmets...good chance your not gonna be president of a major company one day.you act like we are personally attacking you,your faith,and your intelligence...which isnt the case...well it isnt for me.
