h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

[LTP]Hi Az

Oh - sorry, yes, that was one of the many things in the backlog I wanted to comment - hi Azahar!

But you don't have any songs stuck in your head, T?

No songs? No songs?!!! I *always* have something playing in my head - it's the times when I don't have anything playing that worries me (in the past, thankfully)

Right now? Well, because of this conversation, it's currently "I spin you right round baby right round"

Magic, said Lil and I immediately thought of Clarke's 3rd Law - Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

Creationism V Darwinism

Being brought up in a Christian household by scientists I have an interesting take on this.

Firstly man wasn't created until the 6th day.

Day and night weren't created until the 3rd day.

So are the periods mentioned day of an ability to convey stages of development in terms that can be understood.

Also God would have a master plan and he could evovle things as he saw fit. Having to establish mechanism and ecosystems etc to sustain things along the way.

Dinosaurs: Alternatively he could have created everything with age he created trees not acorns, man not a feotus etc. The Flood could also have wiped out larger creatures and the resulting compression under the water could through off our scientific measures.

My conclusion: I do not know what the answer is. However I believe more that there is some master plan than chance behind it all. After all if chance alone things like this would be happening all over the place but don't.

I'll wait and see waht the final answer is though, that is part of my faith.

I've long believed that it was all a matter of determining the length of God's days, being the daughter of a priest.

Hati, Is not knowing about religon that bad? if it's not a significant part of the society they live it do people need to know about it.

I;ve not read Sophies world but I'm told that it was a good introduction to the whole relgion phisophly thingy.

(I have to admit that the lack of religon seems to be one of the attactions that draws my mad lefty side towards the mad left.)

Do they contribute anything but hate to society?

Disclaimer that last sentance was a deliberatly controversial and designed to inspire debate..

{Back later this evening with some cogent responses. Just now starting my third shift in a 24-hour period.}

B4inodoffwhiletyyppppiiiiinnnnnnnnnnn

Poor B4!

Z, it depends on a few things, especially: the way that the religion is presented to the child and the way that the family views it. These things make all the difference when it comes to whether or not religion contributes.

Z, your last sentence might inspire debate if we knew what it meant. Who are the 'they' to whom you refer? Mad lefties or believers in religions?

If it relates to religion.

I have as a result of my believes:

Served warm drinks to the homeless on the strand
Transposted medical supplies to the Ukraine
Various tasks to help new students at Uni
And making international students welcome
Various small acts have stemmed out as a direct result
Plus my political beleve and activity stem from my religious beleives as well.

Amy, well either really..

DD are you sure that you wouldn't have done them without religon? Do most Christians/religous people acutally do things to help others?

I do things to help people but not beacuse of religon - just because I know that it's the right thing to do. Marx had a great sense, of justice and right and wrong, but despised religon.

I got it to me it translates
they would be parents or leaders of familie's-tribes as several cultures will be mother father whilst other great great grandparents dominate importent factors in family life like ripples on a pond influences radiate outwards.

{the way that the religion is presented }
takeing Methodist now if the parent when the child is of a age when perception and understanding can comprehened religeon as a part of there life they explain about it to them and let them decide what to do about it,then you have the catholics who would be going to worship confess on a reguler basis so the child would allways be a catholic

And likewise with the jehovas witness

{way that the family views it. These things make all the difference when it comes .}

Now methodists by and large will not be so strict in there enforcement
for want of better word in baptisment/marriage(divorse) and several other religous observences ,unlike the catholics who will not accept mixed religeon coupleings both wait untill child is certain ages before inductation into church
Then you have the jehovas witness who tend to never take no for a answer and tend to often travel as family when recruiting new believers.

{to whether or not religion contributes}
This i take to be the time and trouble taken in responses to complaint from not just the above but when any religeon recieves or exspects "special" treatment as/or because of.

I think part of the problem in thinking that not all Christians actively help their community is the widespread belief that a person is a Christian just because they say that they are.

To take an incredibly extreme example: if I considered myself to be Buddhist, and had heard the expression "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him," but was not a true Buddhist at heart, then this could lead to a few problems. For one thing, the statement itself is something of a paradox (you won't meet Buddha on the road for one thing; a true Buddhist wouldn't kill anyone on the road for another). However, if I thought that a person might potentially be Buddha and then killed him "because my faith told me to do so," then there would be no doubt as society and other Buddhists saw it that I had done some incredibly heinous act. Not only would I be missing the hilarious humor with which that saying was written, not only would I be in ni-direct conflict with practically all of the pacifist ideals that Buddhism offers, but I'd also send an incredibly bad and undeserved message about Buddhists in general. (I don't think this paragraph is offensive, but if it is, I apologize).

Similarly for Christianity, you have countless historical examples of people who think that they're Christians but aren't. Most modern examples are the people who just show up on Sundays, mumble some prayers, sing a few hymns, take offering, maybe give whatever spare change they have in their pockets and go home. They're not interested in setting a good example by helping others (and many will often try to exclude "outsiders" from the cliques that they subconciously set up), and they don't really think much about their "faith" until the next Sunday comes. Other more extreme examples from history would include those who opposed Gallilleo (religious leaders taking passages entirely out of context), and the driving forces behind the horrendous Spanish Inquisition (religious leaders who were just missing the point entirely).

But there are people who are better because of faith. I know a good number of former gang members and drug dealers who've escaped from their old habits due to various faiths, and I know that I personally wouldn't help my community at all if I wasn't a Christian (I'm far too lazy to be a nice guy naturally. It's one of the sad truths that I've accepted about myself over the years).

I agree with Afgncaap5 I'm naturally a lazy sod. I wouldn't have travelled up from Kingston to the Strand ever Friday and Sunday night at 1-2 am if I wan't ispired to do so by Christ. As for the Ukraine trip I would never have done that at least not with so many supplies not as I was a student at the time. And the supplies were all paid for by otehr Christians who realised there was a need for serile supplies post USSR and the disarray whic hwas not widely reported in the national press and our reports back led to even greater support for Christians.

I really have no thoughts on religion until religious groups try to work their way into the government - whether that be local (schools, town boards) or national. To me a religious group is no better than Big Business.

Most of the *teachings* of any religion are about helping others, doing the right thing, etc.

However, a lot of the trappings of organised religion, for example:

-the idea of any kind of ministry/hierarchy(sp?),
-many of the rituals and rules extrapolated from holy books,
-the whole notion of deciding that you believe something just because others say it is true;

they are the things that do the damage, in my opinion.

(I know I haven't expressed myself very clearly, but I hope you get my point)

Forgot to say - it's good to see you here, az