Confidence in Religion at New Low

[*rfaulk34*]

(06-18-2015, 01:17 PM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: You keep using this meme...when it should be used to describe you.  

Hey. You shut your gaping pie hole. I was in a big hurry and that just popped into my head immediately after reading his post and with all our previous discussion in my mind. 

Anyway...i re-answered it. 

P.S. That excuse was way too long.
P.P.S. I still want you to shut your gaping pie hole.  :angry:

[*rfaulk34*]

(06-18-2015, 01:25 PM)Benton Wrote: For the majority, I would guess that's true, but I don't know it. I'm not omniscient or anything.



I'm just saying for me, the more I learn about how the universe works, the more religion makes sense.

Death has never been a factor in my choice to believe. As well, i know many very intelligent believers who have expressed the same.

[RoyleRedlegs]

(06-18-2015, 05:25 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Science tells me I am at the top of the food chain.

If you say so.

In this specific part of the world...

In the Sahara with lions?
In the ocean with a shark?
In the woods with a grizzly? 

[RoyleRedlegs]

I don't completely dismiss the idea of intelligent design. Maybe some ancient beings set everything in motion.
But do I think the earth is 6,000 years old, man walked with dinosaurs and god gave us sunsets? No, no I do not.

[*rfaulk34*]

(06-18-2015, 02:23 PM)Beaker Wrote: Is it not true that religion states that man is superior to all the other species? The more educated you become, the more you realize that is not truly the case. Mankind is part of a whole. Mankind's place in that whole is no more important than any other species. We see this as we become educated and learn about the interconnectedness of life. Sorry that escaped you.

'Have dominion over'. 

[*rfaulk34*]

(06-18-2015, 09:22 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: In this specific part of the world...

In the Sahara with lions?
In the ocean with a shark?
In the woods with a grizzly? 

Hand to hand, possibly not. But man has the brainpower to overcome his physical limitations.

[RoyleRedlegs]

(06-18-2015, 09:31 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Hand to hand, possibly not. But man has the brainpower to overcome his physical limitations.

to a degree yes, but it also causes us to severely overrate our own mortality and ability to be "top of the food chain" 

[*rfaulk34*]

(06-18-2015, 09:33 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: to a degree yes, but it also causes us to severely overrate our own mortality and ability to be "top of the food chain" 

Never underestimate the power of stupidity.

[RoyleRedlegs]

(06-18-2015, 09:36 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Never underestimate the power of stupidity.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/06/stupid-golfer-tries-to-fight-an-alligator-to-get-his-golf-ball-back


Evidence A: 

[*bfine32*]

(06-18-2015, 09:22 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: In this specific part of the world...

In the Sahara with lions?
In the ocean with a shark?
In the woods with a grizzly? 

You really believe this?

[*bfine32*]

(06-18-2015, 09:48 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/06/stupid-golfer-tries-to-fight-an-alligator-to-get-his-golf-ball-back


Evidence A: 

Evidence B
:

[RoyleRedlegs]

(06-18-2015, 10:14 PM)bfine32 Wrote: You really believe this?

That unless we are armed to the teeth, our place on the food chain isn't as high as we might think it is? Yes I do.
You believe in a giant all knowing, all controlling being who killed millions of people but worship him as a good thing....but it's weird I believe a bear could kill a human? 

(06-18-2015, 10:19 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Evidence B
:

So you could go make me a pair of gator skin boots? 
You could go kill a grizzly? 

[GMDino]

(06-19-2015, 12:00 AM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: That unless we are armed to the teeth, our place on the food chain isn't as high as we might think it is? Yes I do.
You believe in a giant all knowing, all controlling being who killed millions of people but worship him as a good thing....but it's weird I believe a bear could kill a human? 


So you could go make me a pair of gator skin boots? 
You could go kill a grizzly? 

[RICHMONDBENGAL_07]

(06-19-2015, 08:25 AM)GMDino Wrote:

LOL...Working in restaurants most of my life, I can say the same can be said when I tell people "careful, that plate is hot". 

[Benton]

(06-19-2015, 12:00 AM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: That unless we are armed to the teeth, our place on the food chain isn't as high as we might think it is? Yes I do.
You believe in a giant all knowing, all controlling being who killed millions of people but worship him as a good thing....but it's weird I believe a bear could kill a human? 


So you could go make me a pair of gator skin boots? 
You could go kill a grizzly? 

But... we are.

That's kind of the point, the reason we are at the top of the food chain. That special brain that lets us sharpen sticks into spears, heat metal into knives and split atoms. That's our trait.

If you want to take that away, then take away the bear's claws, alligator's teeth and thick skin, the lion claws and faster reflexes. We're at the top of the food chain not because we can kill a bear with our bare hands, but because we're smart enough not to fight a bear with our bare hands.

[RoyleRedlegs]

(06-19-2015, 01:04 PM)Benton Wrote: But... we are.

That's kind of the point, the reason we are at the top of the food chain. That special brain that lets us sharpen sticks into spears, heat metal into knives and split atoms. That's our trait.

If you want to take that away, then take away the bear's claws, alligator's teeth and thick skin, the lion claws and faster reflexes. We're at the top of the food chain not because we can kill a bear with our bare hands, but because we're smart enough not to fight a bear with our bare hands.

Except not all of us are...clearly....

[Benton]

(06-19-2015, 01:36 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: Except not all of us are...clearly....

You could fight a bear with bear hands, but that's adding insult to injury (probably yours). Or you could fight a bare with bare hands, but I try to avoid attacking naked people.

[StLucieBengal]

(06-18-2015, 05:35 PM)Beaker Wrote: Science actually tells us we are part of a food web. But way to skirt the question.

Yes everyone knows we are Soylent Green...

[Beaker]

(06-19-2015, 01:04 PM)Benton Wrote: But... we are.

That's kind of the point, the reason we are at the top of the food chain.

There are apex predators throughout the food web in every ecosystem. And wherever they are, they are part of that ecosystem. The ecosystem is affected when you remove any part of the food web. Man mistakenly believes that we can be separate from the ecosystem and have it to use as our resource, when in reality we cannot....indefinitely. Like I said, we are part of it....just like every other species. Religion giving us the idea that we have dominion is incorrect.

[Benton]

(06-24-2015, 12:38 AM)Beaker Wrote: There are apex predators throughout the food web in every ecosystem. And wherever they are, they are part of that ecosystem. The ecosystem is affected when you remove any part of the food web. Man mistakenly believes that we can be separate from the ecosystem and have it to use as our resource, when in reality we cannot....indefinitely. Like I said, we are part of it....just like every other species. Religion giving us the idea that we have dominion is incorrect.

But... we do.

We have dominion. We, more than any other species, have an ability to affect the world around us. Directly and indirectly, intentionally and unintentionally, we control the environment with the decisions we make. Or fail to make. There are too many of us and we have too big a footprint to think otherwise.

Religion, at least Christianity, calls on man to be a good steward. To be responsible. We haven't been. That has nothing to do with Christianity. The Catholic Church has advocated better stewardship for at least a century.