Medusa's Question Du Jour

[Asmodean]

Have you ever had a spiritual experience (an experience that cannot be explained by science)?

Sure... Having had a bit too much of them, I threw the spirits up on the carpet though. A terrible mess... I'm pretty sure scientists found the cause though... But there and then... Truly unexplainable.  ???

[Medusa]

Can you have faith and reason?

[Tank]

Can you have faith and reason?

Yes. You just need to be good at compartmentalising your world view. It is also rather important how one defines faith and what one has faith in. For a faithful YEC (Young Earth Creationist) reason has to be banished. One can't reasonably contend that the Earth is 6,000('ish) years old and accept the Greenland ice core samples (GRIP) show ages in excess of 200,000 years. The YEC faith position and a reasonable view based on observed evidence are mutually exclusive.

However the Catholic church happily accept that humans et al are the product of evolution, they just fudge the issue with the ''vital spark' introduced by God at some point. As such their faith position is not compromised by observed reality.

[fester30]

Can you have faith and reason?

That depends on your definition of faith.  Some define it specifically in the realm of believing in things that don't exist.  Some would say that if they believe in their child's ability to learn math, then they have faith their child will pass a test.  I have faith that some day more than half of the human race will be non-religious.  I think that's reasonable.

[Rizuidad]

Just listen.

[Ihateyoumike]

Can you have faith and reason?

Absolutely. People have their faith, and come up with reasons for for having said faith.

[roy1967]

I wish more people of faith would use more reason.

[OldGit]

They do, but as Tank said, they keep reason and faith separated by a mental barrier.

I have known several physicists and mathematicians who managed to be evangelical christians, including one who converted as a freshman.  He was said to be one of the ablest in his year at Oxford.  I also recently met a physics lecturer of my age, who seems to have been a christian all his life.

Often, such people claim that science has opened their minds to the marvels of god's creation.  Like most atheists, I am totally unable to understand how they can do it.

[Medusa]

Some people believe the Holocaust was a hoax?. What do you think of this?





*and behave!

[fester30]

Some people believe the Holocaust was a hoax?. What do you think of this?





*and behave!

Too much evidence for it to be a hoax.

[roy1967]

Evidence is not important to a great number of people.   

[The Magic Pudding]

Evidence is not important to a great number of people.   

Yes it is, it's what people I hate try to use to stop me hating them. 
It just makes me hate them more, superior bastards with their facts and figures.

[OldGit]

What gets me is when these nazi apologists claim "it wasn't 6 million, it was only about 300,000".  Whaat?
Only 300,000, so that's OK then.  Nothing to worry about.

Anyway, it's not true - the personal belongings found at Auschwitz alone point to over a million.

BTW I found this site  which is just the kind of stuff I was talking about.  I see the author is with IHR.org, a very nasty site.

[Tank]

Some people believe the Holocaust was a hoax?. What do you think of this?





*and behave!

I think you're just shit disturbing for the sake of it.

[Tank]

Medusa, I would like to see your own answers to the questions you are posing if you don't mind. Obviously not immediately when you ask them as I expect you don't want to bias the response. But simply asking questions smacks of the behaviour of theists that come here looking for flaws in atheist arguments for their own purposes. I'm sure you don't want to keep giving that impression. Please engage in the discussions you start.