Philosophy. Just read and tell Me what yas think.

[TurboSuper]

I don't believe in "God and Satan", but rather "God and not god".

Think of God as a lamp. Now, some places, in the corner of the room will be shrouded in darkness. This is, in my opinion of course, the metaphor for why evil exists.

[mark.f]

Here's my philosophy of life. Please criticize it as you may, but don't scoff and yell at me because it's too "crude".

Life is like a 5th grader having a wet dream. He hurries up screws all the gals he can before he wakes up.

Obviously, this isn't meant to be taken literally. The point I'm trying to make is not to argue or debate and question "why". "Why" is such an overused and paradoxical question these days, nobody cares "how" or "when" or "who" or "what", all they wan't to know is "why", and we as humans cannot always answer this question.

[SpudUke5]

I like your philosophy its not crude at all, its a good summary.

I think that its always good to ask questions because this way you find out many things that cant sometimes be found out with asking that question. We will never be perfect, therefor we will ask these questions.

When we question what we dont know, it makes you thing of possibilites unimaginable. It helps you diversify options and make you unique. So i dont worry about these questions, but i ask them so see what others think and review options of what maybe feasable or not.

Some people do care for asking these questions. If they didnt, you wouldnt be writing that post. (think about that)

[MrCrowley]

We had argued this point ad nauseum in the epic Does Evil Exist thread on Spudtech, happy days

Does evil exist? Yes, undoubtedly, but it is not the absence of God/good.
You can have no good without evil. Take an empty box - there is no good in it, but there is certainly no evil. Evil is a deliberate and conscious attempt to do harm. Also, as you pointed out there, Einstein's "God" was really just a belief that things don't need to be complicated - just Ockham's razor really.

I've heard all the "watch" type arguments for God, and they don't cut it with me. Why should a watch that just exists be any less logical than an all powerful being that just exists?

I'm of the morbid view that we have no higher purpose, we're just on this planet for the sole purpose of passing on our DNA, and ironically, religion often destroys that. I know it's not much to look forward to, but all the time in between is yours, do with it what you will.

I leave with a note on the theory that:
- if there is a god and you worship him, you have infinite gain in the afterlife.
-but if you worship a non existent god, your losses are finite.
- If there is no god and you don't worship him, you are level pegging.
- If you fail to worship an existent god, your losses are infinite.

Therefore, if you sum that all up, you are more likely to win out if you worship god... but, my grandmother said a great thing about that, probably one of the better arguments: "If there is a god, and he won't accept me into the afterlife because I wasn't prepared to believe in him on solely blind faith, then it's not a god I would want to worship."

Smooth Rag, now everyone is talking about god

Never thought i'd have to say this to you, but did ya read the rules?
http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/nsgrd-r ... 11888.html

In particular: Rule 2
2. Under no circumstances is there to be any religious, political, racist or competitive topics. This includes but is not limited to:

Firefox vs Internet Explorer
Macs vs PC's
Apple vs Microsoft
Dogs vs Cats
XBOX vs Playstation

[Ragnarok]

@MrC: I'm sorry, I completely misinterpreted the meaning of that rule.
By all means, if you're not happy with it, just delete it, but I'm just the devil's advocate here. If I hadn't said something, someone else almost certainly would have, and what I said was hardly "competitive"*. I gave my views on what the "meaning of life" is, an afterlife has to come in there somewhere, and a god is part of that. Well, I'm off then.

*I'm hardly going to support either the theists or the atheists, because I'm personally in a mid-ground between the two sides. I think the universe is a simulation, not unlike an advanced version of "The Sims", and it was written by someone, but is just left to it's own devices. I could explain why I believe that, but I'd probably just get told off again. Anyway, looks like I've been bad, so I'm now doomed to the Recycle bin when I die.

[MrCrowley]

@MrC: I'm sorry, I completely misinterpreted the meaning of that rule.
By all means, if you're not happy with it, just delete it, but I'm just the devil's advocate here. If I hadn't said something, someone else almost certainly would have, and what I said was hardly "competitive"*. I gave my views on what the "meaning of life" is, an afterlife has to come in there somewhere, and a god is part of that. Well, I'm off then.

*I'm hardly going to support either the theists or the atheists, because I'm personally in a mid-ground between the two sides. I think the universe is a simulation, not unlike an advanced version of "The Sims", and it was written by someone, but is just left to it's own devices. I could explain why I believe that, but I'd probably just get told off again. Anyway, looks like I've been bad, so I'm now doomed to the Recycle bin when I die.

It can stay, seeing as it's half the thread and we'll see how many people are tempted to argue but have to hold themselves back because i'm watching over them

Ah you see the rule doesn't apply to only competitive religion, just religion in general. You overlooked a key word 'or'.

I'll show you what I mean...

2. Under no circumstances is there to be any religious, political, racist or competitive topics. This includes but is not limited to:

It says, there is to be no religious, political or racist or competitive topics. It doesn't mean there is to be no religious, political or racist competitive topics.

If that's too confusing, try this:

That rule prohibits any discussion including:
Religion
Politics
Racism
Competitive topics.

Understand it now?
So it prohibits religion in general, not just competitive religious topics.

This topic should've never touched religion, Twitch was asking for feedback and we decided to share our views also, we managed 7 posts, 6 of them being different members, without touching evil or religion.

[Hotwired]

There is no "meaning of life" for me.

Thats not to say I'm suicidal. Far from it, death has even less meaning for me.

How can you give existance a meaning if you have no experience of non-existance.

Certainly there are experiences to be enjoyed, but in the end all life does is try to continue its existance.

Any other theories of why and wherefor are merely the opinions of other humans, religion being one of the ones I feel has the least substance to it.

And that is of course my opinion.

[jrrdw]

Who holds the measuring stick? Man or life? There's to many what ifs in philosophy.

I agree with this guy, there's to many what ifs.

[mopherman]

Don't have a lengthy post like some, but here goes.
It doesn't matter whether there is a god or not. As long as you work for the betterment of others, your life has meaning. If you follow this one guideline, you get either "heaven" or blissful nonexistence after death. I was born into the church and I am fully behind most of their ideals, but their more dogmatic views put me off.

[Zen///]

"What I have tried to create is a paradise. One that devoid of western hypocrisies. One that devoid of lies, half-truths, and self serving people. Right here--with this power--We are one step closer to reaching that goal. Soon the chains that bind each man, woman and child into slavery shall be severed, and the hold that the Ruling Elite have over vox populi shall finally come to an end. The only question remains is this: When the time comes for the revolution against the World Order that has been forged over the last century, which side will you be on? Will you be on the side of those who try to maintain that order--Who desire to keep humanity trapped by classes and borders? Or will you join those who try to end such debauchery?"

[MrCrowley]

It's a common conception that soldiers who fear death seem to die more in combat, is there any proof to this?

I've always found it interesting, and it seems likely.

[Zen///]

"And now I am Death, the Destroyer of Worlds. May God help us all."

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another."

Robert Oppenheimer

[MrCrowley]

I just heard that somewhere, but I think it's from some guy who witnessed a nuclear test in the pacific?

[Hotwired]

Nah, fairly sure it was one of the first, if not the first land test in the US.

[Zen///]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_test

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always."

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghandi