What religion are you?

[Phil]

What religion are you or don't you have one?

I personally don't have one as I don't believe there is a god.

[Homeless Pie]

Agreed. In my opinion the bible seems like a fairly tale that was taken a little to seriously.

[Phil]

great to see you on the site Pie :D

I think science can explain everything, so maybe some of the the stuff in the Bible happened, but not caused by God.

[James]

well IMO jesus was a nutter and everyone believed him cos he was saving them from death from the romans.

but other people believed he was special (like most nutters of today) and so made it all up.

of course, expressing your opinions on religion is a dangerous one. it seems if you aren't religious then you are the work of the devil (i dont think he exists either- its saddam hussain really!)

my comment on religion- bollocks

[Phil]

I kind of go along with what you're saying, but to a lesser extreme. I don't think that anyone who believes in a god is a 'nutter', since some of the most intelligent people in the world are religious.

IMO, religion is an excuse for things we don't understand. If someone doesn't know why the universe was created, then it's far easier to say "God did" than to go and find out. Not saying that religious people are lazy, just that they seem to accept the easiest answer.

I think that science can explain everything, so I have no reason to believe in a god. Everyone comes up with "so explain the creation of the universe", but there are scientific theories to explain this. I've got an essay on my PC somewhere that I did for school all about it. I'll post it if/when I find it.

[James]

no no im not saying religious people are nutters!

i just think these 'disciples' were like those helpers at schoool- you know, they give the thick kids 'special' attention and tell them how good they are. then the thick kid thinks hes special and so just carries on doing what he does best; screwing up. but no one says anything incase they harm his 'feelings'.

fits in, really.

and yes i agree with 'god did it all' is an easy answer to accept, but i dont buy it.

'god said let there be light, and so there was' WTF? cant he say ' and god said let James2 have all the money in the world and so it happened' 8) :P

again, my opinion on religion- bollocks

altho, to be fair, the subject RE i did like. i used to play up so id get sent to the library for 'disprupting the class'. then i sat there and did my homework so i could play football when i got home :roll:

hmm, so some of it is good!

'and god said- let james2 go to the library and do his homework so he can practise his religion when he gets home- football' :D

[Homeless Pie]

You guys seem more educated than me when it comes to religion so maybe you can answer this question. From what I understand if you're good then you go to heaven where god rewards you with eternal happiness and all the fun stuff, but if you're bad you go to hell where the devil punishes you for eternity. If the devil is supposed to be evil why wouldn't he reward people like hitler for being evil? It seems to me like the devil is just doing what god wants him to which happens to be his job. Kind of like the police to teenagers. Most teenagers hate the police just because they are the police, when all they are trying to do is there job.

[James]

thats a very good point. i think we've found a loophole in the religion 'coverup' story...

[Phil]

Yeah, god wouldn't employ the devil because he'd be doing evil things, so therefore the devil could do what he liked, so would reward hitler.

[Phil]

I found that essay I mentioned earlier. Here it is:

start

Can Science Explain The Creation Of Everything?

People have always wondered how and why they are here, when and how the universe was formed. Many turned to religion for an explanation, and believe that a god created the Earth; however science can also be used to explain the existence of everything.

In my argument, I am going to use evidences and theories, as we cannot prove anything.

The problem with most scientific explanations is that you can trace the creation of the universe back to the 'big bang', but you cannot explain how the 'big bang' occurred or what was there before the 'big bang'. Using religion, you can explain this by saying that a god created the universe/made a 'big bang'. However, new scientific theories can explain what was here before the 'big bang' and how it happened, but I will explain this later.

Another problem is chance. The odds of creating the universe just how is, is enormous. Surely someone or something cheated or influenced the odds to create the universe? - this is religion's argument. Although the odds are extremely high, if you presume that there are multiple chances - multiple 'throws of the dice' - then the odds are significantly lower than before.

So how do we get these extra 'dice throws' in this game of chance? If you accept that parallel universes exist, then you have to accept that there have been multiple creations, so there has to be a smaller chance of creating this universe as it is now. If you assume that there are parallel universes, then you can see that it is more likely that the universe was created naturally, not by a god or spirit. "But what", you may ask, "created these parallel universes in the first place?"

The new scientific theory I mentioned earlier, which is called 'M-theory', can explain this. It is very complicated physics, but the basis of the theory this that there is a 'membrane' that contains all of the parallel universes inside it. It states that there are infinite parallel universes in it, and that parallel universes float around inside the 'membrane'. When two parallel universes collide inside the membrane, a 'big bang' occurs. All of the parallel universes are different, if only by one minute action or difference. Because there are infinite parallel universes, and there are constantly more being created, then there is a plausible chance that this universe could have been created by natural causes.

"But where is this 'membrane'?" 'M-theory' states that the membrane is part of everything, in everything, but so thin that you would never be able to sense it. The 'membrane', in theory, takes up very little physical space, but we know that each universe takes up a huge amount of physical space. This means that although our universe does take a lot of physical space, it can still 'fit' inside the 'membrane'. All of the universes are actually in the same physical space, but layered using the 'membrane', so that they can all be in the same place. You can visualise this as being like an endless set of guitar strings, with each string being a universe. This is all very hard to grasp, but once you accept this, you can see how parallel universes could work.

You are probably still wondering how this 'membrane' came to be here, and how it was created. 'M-theory' says that the membrane was always here; that the 'membrane' was always in existence. You have to accept that something was always here, because if you use religion as an explanation for the universe, you have to accept that a god was always here. The 'membrane', in theory, will always be here, with an infinite number of parallel universes inside.

There are going to be anomalies in the 'membrane' as nothing is ever perfect; without problems or faults. Such anomalies could cause any number of things to happen. There is also a possibility that in another universe, there are beings that can travel between universes. This is irrelevant, though, as this is not related to the creation of everything.

'M-theory' is just one of many plausible scientific explanations for the creation of the universe. It shows us that religion is not the only explanation available, that science can also be used to account for the world we live in.

I think that if we base most of the 'laws' of the universe, such as gravity, on science, then why not the creation of the universe? I believe that there is no god or spirit, that science can explain the creation of everything and the world around us.

end

Food for thought :D

[James]

thats a very good argument, but i was under the impression that the big bang was the result of a 'super nova' when a star implodes or something.

i cant remember the exact deatils, but i can recall something about a mega explosion that threw out matter. this matter then colided together and got bigger to form the planets, evolving around the sun whos gravity stopped them from going off-course. there is also a theory that our solar system is ever-expanding, surely a result of the big bang?

im very intrigued by the fact that there must be other life out there somewhere- are they the same as us or totally different?

but everytime i do i think back to that episode of red dwarf- the one where they land in the 'reverse world' :D

[jim]

JEDI!

[davetwin]

I believe the Bible was a book of morals and nothing more, it has just gotten out of hand with different religions reading it in different ways.

I am an Athiest and agree science can expain everything, even if our science is not yet advanced enough to explain something yet it will be soon

[Kenny Karzi]

I think Bill Hicks summed up religion quite nicely

if you don't know who he is...... (maybe poss. you're a little young) i suggest you pick up one of his DVD's - Revelations

and remember Fundamentalist christians once again have thier pudgey little fingers over the "button" once again..... and Mr Hicks has been dead for over 8yrs

He's my own personal Jesus Christ.... who said dead people don't talk

[Phil]

Hey Kenny, welcome to the forums :D

[Kenny Karzi]

i've been told that we'll possibly be "meeting" soon

[Phil]

?

Is this something about you joining Groove's GR clan? That's right, I saw you on that forum :P

[Kenny Karzi]

yea..... i'm now clanned up with UKE

and i've seen some of your cru/players in a few games that i been playing in on-line

hmmmmmmm

[Phil]

yeah, you've played with nagmine before

[Kenny Karzi]

yep.... i remember him........ a good player, you got some good players over there..

you'll be picking a strong team then??

[davetwin]

?

Is this something about you joining Groove's GR clan? That's right, I saw you on that forum :P

:shock:

My GR Clan :wink:

Grooves great though, wouldn't have a website or fourms with out him, in fact we probably wouldn't be where we are now with out his help

[Kenny Karzi]

oops..... gone at bit off track there haven't we.....???

my fault i suppose

now....... back to religion...... what was we all saying??

[Phil]

yeah, most people so far reckon there's no god. Anyone beg to differ?

[Jaz]

I quite like the idea brought about by the race called the Minbari in the sci-fi TV show 'Babylon 5'.

This states that we are simply extensions of the universe exploring itself, finding out what it is and why.

Therefore by this argument the Universe is God, not some manifestation created by man to make him feel better about himself.

Another thought... The Big Bang merely created all the physical matter IN the universe. If the universe didnt exist before the big bang, then what did all that matter expand into.

[Melt24]

This matter is a hard one. In some ways i believe there is a god but i don't go to church every sunday or pray i just lie in. No one knows the answer to this question no matter who you are wheather a god exists. Also religion can be many things . Like the jedis they don't have a god. Or jouvna witness.

Funny post :?

[James]

the big bang created the solar system, not the universe.

no-one knows how old the universe is, or at least i have never heard.

all this talk of xbox live- they have to bring broadband to me soon!

[Phil]

what? no the big bang created the universe (including the solar system), not just the solar system

[Jaz]

Current Scientific evidence puts the age of the universe at around 13.7billion years give or take 0.2 billion years. This evidence comes from data gathered by the microwave pictures obtained from the WMAP satellite orbiting the sun at the L2 point (just outside the earth's orbit).

Other sources average out around this figure too i.e one estinate ive seen stated that the universe was older than 13 billion years but unlikely to be more than 14.

And Phil's right about the Big Bang creating the universe and not the solor system.

Woah! This is way off topic :lol:

[jim]

didn't rowntree create the milky way?

I prefer mars bars - ba-dum-tching!

[Jaz]

All hail the almighty Mars Bar

*starts a new religion*

[Kenny Karzi]

"no, no.... he has given us a sign, we should collect shoes....."

"Give me your shoe,"

"no, the gourd....... follow the gourd!!!!!"

[Phil]

didn't rowntree create the milky way?

LOL :P