Godless Apostate

[troutman]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

I'd love to see Nye debate Dr. Francis Collins on the existence of a deity and how the universe came about. That would be heavyweight vs. heavyweight.

How can you debate about the unknowable?

[Devils'Advocate]

Debating the existance of God - that's not Nye's game. He isn't interested in philosophical debate of whether there is a God or not. He just does not care. He may well have been awarded the "Humanist of the Year" award, but even in his acceptance speech he seemed uncomfortable with the position. Similar to Sagan in the past, Nye does not like to pit science against religion and he was careful not to do that in this debate against Ham. His quarrel is NOT with those who are religious. His quarrel is with those who are so religious that they refuse to believe science. Evolution is just a common example. But the mistrust of science is widespread, particularly with the new Earth people. What really, really, really gets Bill's blood boiling is when school boards are forcing creationism to be taught in science class.

And if you know anything about Bill (or about his rivalry with his next door neighbour, Ed Begley Jr.) you know about his dedication to the environment. He is a strong supporter of spending more money on finding solutions to climate change.

"I hope climate science becomes the big thing. What I want is electrical engineers to solve the world's energy problems and energy distribution problems. I want mechanical engineers to make better transportation systems. I want chemical engineers to develop better solar panels, and so on."

But convincing people of the science of climate change *AND* that the solution is MORE SCIENCE in the face of people who are very anti-science has been very frustrating for him.

So he wouldn't debate the existance of God. It doesn't suit his needs. It doesn't help his agenda. In fact, like his old professor Sagan, Nye welcomes religious people to join him in celebrating science. Sagan went one step further and said that the battle to help the environment would be won or lost on the basis of getting the religious to join the fight. Pitting science against religion would likely do more harm to his agenda then help.

[GGG]

Also science does not seek to ask or answer the question of is there a diety. It may end up in the same sandbox as it goes further and further back but science is only interested in what can make predictions and be tested.

Science is open to the existence of diety its just no.evidence has been found. So the debate would be rather lackluster all Nye can say is that at this point no evidence has ever been found to support the existence of god. You cant really have a debate around that.

[DuffMan]

Bill Nye is on Bill Mayer right now.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Bill Nye is on Bill Mayer right now.

Probably talking about the Seahawks.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by troutman

Probably talking about the Seahawks.

Nope, religion, science, evolution, climate change, but he's done now.

[Knut]

Neil Degrasse Tyson interviews "God", the guy behind the Tweet of God.

http://www.startalkradio.net/show/a-...tion-with-god/


Youtube link if you can't get it through the website

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Hesla

Neil Degrasse Tyson interviews "God", the guy behind the Tweet of God.

http://www.startalkradio.net/show/a-...tion-with-god/


Youtube link if you can't get it through the website

Hilarious, Degrasse is on his way to being a "rock star"

[cancer man]

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by cancer man

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

I'm an atheist and I don't do any of that, nor do I preach or pray.

How can you hope what you got for Christmas is in that box?

You should actually get into preaching, with that non sensical, rant.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by cancer man

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

Because we all know that foxholes are for religious people, God answers our exam prayers and Christmas to Christians is ALL about gifts? Religion offers no hope.

[old-fart]

Originally Posted by cancer man

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

Ironic that you would start your post about ignorant people, then go on a nonsensical rant about Christmas in a box.

I don't pray about any of those things. I don't pray at all because I know that aside from perhaps making me feel better about something, it accomplishes nothing. Want a better mark on an exam? Study harder. Want to live the night in a foxhole? Be a better soldier. Want the best gift for Christmas? Buy it yourself, or better yet buy it for someone else and stop being a selfish ****.

I have no issue with people who believe in God. Fill your boots. Having said that, I choose to put my trust in things that have proof. To each their own, as long as you don't try to force your religion on me or anyone else, I'm fine with whatever you want to believe in.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by cancer man

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

If hope is religion, then religion is hope. And if religion is simply hope, it's meaningless. Simply an expression that circumstances beyond our control come out in our favour. If you reduce it to those terms, then you have done a vast disservice to religion, removing any humanity from it. We're not the only creature to hope. Dogs hope. They are the most hopeful creatures there are. Your hope that you did well on your exams is functionally the same as my dog hoping I let him lick out the bottom of the peanut butter jar. Is my dog religious? Am I then his God? I suppose it's possible, but I don't see how anyone defending religion would want to make that connection.
I'm not knocking hope. Hope is an important survival instinct, handed down through the eons of evolution and a bestiary of distant ancestors. But religion merely co-opted hope and gave it a backstory, a narrative. Religion might suggest that hoping can lead to positive results; or it might preach an interventionist God who will intervene regardless of your hope, nonetheless giving justification to your hope. Different religions (and different interpretations of the same religion) have differing takes on this.
The most popular contemporary Christian take on hope isn't even scripture: 'He helps those who helps themselves' (often attributed to Ben Franklin, but who knows?). It's a sentiment that both increases the likelihood of your hope being rewarded by encouraging positive action, while ensuring God gets all of the credit but none of the blame. But functionally, the 'He helps those' mantra is the same as saying, 'no cosmic intervention is coming, so look to yourself'.

[Antithesis]

So, cancer man: which one of those BuzzFeed photos from after the Nye debate was you?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by cancer man

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
[followed by rest of post]
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

If someone asked me to explain to them what irony is, I'd show them this post.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by cancer man

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

Lets all welcome back Calgaryborn.

[bradster57]

Originally Posted by cancer man

Atheists are the most ignorant people.
They still pray in a foxhole, before exams and the best is... they hope what they got for christmas is in that box.Hope is Religion.
I preach Humanity.Everybody prays.

Step 1: Cut a hole in a box.

[Montana Moe]

I find it refreshing that someone has such faith in astrology that they would include it in their username. Hats off to you, cancer man!

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by bradster57

Step 1: Cut a hole in a box.

What's step 2?

[Cheese]

2. Peek?

No hope needed?