Phil Zuckerman - Atheists, Agnostics, and the Irreligious [1/9]

Atheists, Agnostics, and the Irreligious - what the social sciences reveal

A lecture on the sociological differences secular and religious societies.
Recorded at Copenhagen University, 25 November 2010.

Parts 1-4 are the lecture, 5-9 are the Q&A session.

[AGrandt]

@justicecallicles A typical problem with the religious fanatics, they rarely make sense when you think about it.

[justicecallicles]

@valu777

"A flute with no holes is not a flute. And, a doughnut with no hole is a Danish." -- Caddyshack

[americanliberal]

For some odd reason when it comes to irreligion. People will always lump atheists along with agnostics as if they are the only ones who can be non-religious. But nevermind for the fact that there are "non-theistic religions" that do exist. And there are "non-religious theists" who do exist.

[valu]

@AGrandt ( NON random selection) this then must be intelligence, a designer selecting right? as how can you have unintellectual non random?/

[AGrandt]

@valu777 You don't get it, do you?
You lost the "debate" on morality when you decided to call your opponents idiots. Besides you never did answer my question on WHY you are 'good'. That is assuming you are of course.

[AGrandt]

@valu777 Dill? Is that some sort of derogatory term?

[valu]

@AGrandt you are right the bible says that in the last days faith will be hard to find, it also says the way of salvation is strait and narrow and only a few find it, it also says that the way of destruction is wide and many fall into it, my question to you is are you saved?

[valu]

@AGrandt like a whole nation returning to Israel after 2, 000 years can be orchestrated, right?

[AGrandt]

@valu777 Be specific. Vague claims are useless. As I stated in another reply, you are the one making the claims...

[AGrandt]

@valu777 When did I call myself an idiot?

As for being "good", you claim you are good only because you pray to an invisible sky daddy, and a 2000 year old corpse, all in an effort to get into their good graces in an afterlife?
Not because you do good just for the sake of being a good person?

[AGrandt]

@doaftheloaf I can't believe valu777 is still at it here, I gave up making sense of his ramblings months ago.
A chaotic pendulum makes more sense than valu777, though he is about as easy to predict as gravity.

[doaftheloaf]

@valu777 the reason the calendar is based on jesus' birth is because some high-ranking church officials decided to center the calendar on what they thought was the year of his birth. this would have happened some time after christianity became the roman official religion, at least three centuries after the supposed life of jesus. the church would never have had the power to do so before that.

[doaftheloaf]

@valu777 where? with what specific claims?

[valu]

@AGrandt here is reality 520 weeks in every 10 years right? how many weeks do you have left to live? reality a finite amount what then o wizen one? coming back as an ant?

[AGrandt]

@valu777 The non random selection is the environment. If a random change is beneficial and aids its survival, the change is passed on to the next generation, if not, the chances are slim that it will happen.
History is full of examples where previously beneficial changes turn out to be lethal later on. For instance large lizards tend to fare badly in an ice age. They don't produce their own body heat, something that is a great energy saver in warmer climates.

[AGrandt]

@valu777 Thanks. I'm ending the "debate" here. You lost it right there.

[AGrandt]

@valu777 Whenever the topic is the stupidity of the religious, there will always be one willing to prove the irreligious right...

"Thou shall never use circular reasoning." - PI 3:14

[valu]

@AGrandt try the destruction of the temple?

[TrueRamses]

@valu777
Umm... Are you being ironic or taking that to heart?

[valu]

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." – Revelation 12:11