Mar 27 2013: There's no logic answer to that question. Faith disregards facts, and I'm not saying this to diss on religion, but that's the definition of faith. People used to burn at the stake for trying to acquire a version of the Bible that they could actually read. The Bible has been used to manipulate the citizens in the past into making the church the most powerful organization on Earth. The present Bible is nothing like the original version, even when you just compare it to the old books (Deuteronomy, for example). The word of God as is in the Bible is so far away from what it originally was that there's, again, no logical argument to believe in it. So the answer to your question would be: Blind faith.
Mar 26 2013: Western Centric ? Probably, but by definition Buddhism is a philosophy and not a religion. So, in itself, no it's not a religion, but different cultures have different ways of seeing it. For some people it's making the philosophy into a religion.
Mar 24 2013: Being fearless is being ignorant. However this doesn't mean to let yourself be controlled by your fears. Everyone has fears, everyone gets scared, the idea is to be able to think and act without being influenced by those fears.
Mar 24 2013: What is Santa Claus ? What is the Easter Rabbit ? What is the Tooth Fairy ? They're whatever their believers want them to be. That's what God and the gods of other religions are. It's nothing concrete, it's simply imagination that spun out of control.
Mar 5 2013: You won't find compassion among the rich or the government. The ones that seek the ivory do so in full knowledge of the consequences of their actions. They're rich and they care little for anything else. Law enforcement won't save all the elephants, but it would be a start. Such operations would likely be expensive and require a lot of manpower, but there's little else you can do when the men doing the harvesting are ready to kill people to get their ivory.
The other solution would be considerably funding for reserves and protected land, allowing the elephants to strive and to keep the poachers out.
Mar 5 2013: Mankind invented the idea of God, an omnipotent, omnipresent being that created us in his image. This alone should tell you what religion is all about, and if God is real or not. Those that can't bear to live with doubts and questions about our existence prefer to turn to simplicity: it's easier to believe a magic creature created everything and that we have a purpose, than to believe we are the product of what appears to be a random chain of event, then try to take that 100,000,000,000 pieces puzzle and put it together.
The idea of God (and gods in general, throughout history) is to answer the questions we don't understand, and to control the populace. What's an earthquake ? What's a lightning storm ? What about northern lights ? Wait, if I don't worship God I'll suffer for eternity ? This king has a divine right to rule under god, I should listen to him! When you have no way of figuring it out, it can be pretty scary. I'd probably be a religious man if I was born in an era of scientific ignorance.
In this day and age, everything that God is has pretty much been disproved and everything now relies on blind faith alone, however the grip of religion weakens with every passing generation.
Mar 5 2013: I don't think you're wrong about the comparison to a viral infection, however we won't be destroying our host. The host will destroy us, even if we do everything we can to avoid it. Volcanoes will erupt, asteroids will hit the planet, tsunamis, earthquakes...the only question is if we will destroy ourselves before the planet does.
Mar 5 2013: Interesting question. First of, I'm an Atheist and despise religion. Its only purpose is to spread ignorance, and I would like to remind you that morality in Christianity is rather ambiguous, and has, for the most part of its existence, condoned acts of violence.
Now, instead of making an essay on the issue I'll go straight for your question: Why is rape wrong ? 1) The enforcement of your will on a victim 2) Knowingly inflicting physical and psychological pain on someone (not to mention taking pleasure in it) 3) Stripping your victim of her freedom, making of a living creature a tool to your personal desires.
Now, these points are general, as they can be sometime beneficial (Parents enforce their will on children to raise them, for example), and that is where common sense steps in to make the difference between such situations. As far as God goes, well, he's just a metaphor to enforce the will of the authority on the populace, and it's still working to this day.
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A comment on Conversation: How can we consider the bible credible?
A reply on Conversation: Can God be defined?
A comment on Conversation: What is it to be Fearless ?
A reply on Conversation: Can God be defined?
A reply on Conversation: Can God be defined?
A comment on Conversation: Can God be defined?
A comment on Conversation: How do we save African elephants from extinction?
The other solution would be considerably funding for reserves and protected land, allowing the elephants to strive and to keep the poachers out.
A comment on Conversation: Is God Real?
The idea of God (and gods in general, throughout history) is to answer the questions we don't understand, and to control the populace. What's an earthquake ? What's a lightning storm ? What about northern lights ? Wait, if I don't worship God I'll suffer for eternity ? This king has a divine right to rule under god, I should listen to him! When you have no way of figuring it out, it can be pretty scary. I'd probably be a religious man if I was born in an era of scientific ignorance.
In this day and age, everything that God is has pretty much been disproved and everything now relies on blind faith alone, however the grip of religion weakens with every passing generation.
A comment on Conversation: Are we as a species like a viral infection that will eventually destroy its host...?
A comment on Conversation: Do right and wrong exist?
Now, instead of making an essay on the issue I'll go straight for your question: Why is rape wrong ? 1) The enforcement of your will on a victim 2) Knowingly inflicting physical and psychological pain on someone (not to mention taking pleasure in it) 3) Stripping your victim of her freedom, making of a living creature a tool to your personal desires.
Now, these points are general, as they can be sometime beneficial (Parents enforce their will on children to raise them, for example), and that is where common sense steps in to make the difference between such situations. As far as God goes, well, he's just a metaphor to enforce the will of the authority on the populace, and it's still working to this day.