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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2009 18:38:35 GMT
A bird lost a feather?
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Post by asdfg on Sept 12, 2009 18:52:58 GMT
Guess what, when I went back to my lounge, there was a beautiful white feather, caught in a web outside my window. I wonder what that means. ;D Think skeptically - there's obviously a big, feck off, bird-eating spider living outside your house!
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Post by terry on Sept 13, 2009 10:59:01 GMT
I like that. ;D
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Post by terry on Sept 13, 2009 11:06:53 GMT
What you are up against. In the mail today, Susanne Moore, I should imagine a reasonably intelligent woman. Just part of her admiration for Derren Brown. About he prediction of the numbers. We now know how he predicted the lottery numbers- but most of us won't believe his answer because we still want to believe in magic, we want him to be a wizard king, not a trickster who knows all about Neuro Linguistic Programming, we want him to talk to the dead and predict the future, not to tell us how to speed read punters. etc etc.
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Post by terry on Sept 17, 2009 10:46:53 GMT
To follow up on the above. In the mail today is a Mac cartoon. Recently departed Keith Floyd, the Queen mum, among many others with red noses (drinkers) lots of bottles around, having a party in "Heaven" Do you think that these subtle suggestions influence what people believe? reinforce their belief? I know its a cartoon. On the BBC tonight, (is that a dirty word) watchdog. A man who claims he can heal cancer with his bare hands. Hope this is not the bit that Jon has locked.
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Post by wanderingspirit on Aug 25, 2010 10:25:03 GMT
Surely faith plays a huge part in a person's stance?
This whole skepticism debate is so black and white, unfortunately life rarely is that black and white. Advising people to go with what they KNOW is a ridiculous view, akin to telling people until something is proven you WILL only believe what we know.
Like it or not a lot of people have faith which is rarely built on fact but at the same time gives them a comfort blanket through life. I'd never suggest to anyone that their faith is built on nothing.
So I guess my point is, we DON'T have to just go on what we know. People are free to practice their faith and skeptics need to accept that.
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Post by morganp on Aug 25, 2010 13:35:48 GMT
Surely faith plays a huge part in a person's stance? This whole skepticism debate is so black and white, unfortunately life rarely is that black and white. Advising people to go with what they KNOW is a ridiculous view, akin to telling people until something is proven you WILL only believe what we know. Like it or not a lot of people have faith which is rarely built on fact but at the same time gives them a comfort blanket through life. I'd never suggest to anyone that their faith is built on nothing. So I guess my point is, we DON'T have to just go on what we know. People are free to practice their faith and skeptics need to accept that. Scepticism is merely a methodology for examining claims and evidence in order to come to a logical conclusion. I've no doubt that in some claims there are certainly grey areas that could indicate a number of likely possibilities so IMO it's not as black and white as you're painting it. If people want to go through life holding onto the comfort blanket of faith then that's fine by me as long as that blanket is not being used to smother anyone who doesn't have the same faith or is using it to hide more malicious intentions. By 'what we know' I presume you refer in part to science? All I can say to that is that science has resulted in the emancipation of humankind from the shackles of dogma, superstition and barbarism - often caused by the blind faith and irrational belief that you hold in high regard. Let people practice their faith - I'm all for practice but perhaps if they were a bit more sceptical about what they were putting their faith in and why they were putting it in there they'd realise that healthy enquiry and the pursuit of knowledge could ultimately bring them more than a comfortable blanket. morganp
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Post by terry on Aug 25, 2010 13:38:57 GMT
Although I agree with your point, I am forever saying that this has become such a nanny state, let people choose to believe in what they want. The charge on here is always, everyone who believes in life after physical death is deluded. I think you will find that the majority on here are reasonably happy to allow the person to have a religious belief, lets face it, there are millions throughout the world believing in their god, but what they seem to be against is fraudulent mediums, talking to the dead and taking advantage, money wise and perhaps creating problems with false promises etc.Having said all of that, the Spiritualists are trying to be recognised as a religion.
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Post by Amaris on Aug 25, 2010 14:18:37 GMT
Karma given morganp for your post
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Post by wanderingspirit on Aug 25, 2010 15:34:24 GMT
There is a flip-side to that comment, simply put, anyone who holds god in high regard would be devastated to learn what skepticism attempts to teach. Namely that nothing exists after death. Their faith keeps that kind of thought at bay, who are we to attempt to sway them in a different direction?
I'm not referring to charlatans or other organisations prepared to cash in on vulnerable people, I'm referring to the average man or woman who merely engages in faith.
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Post by morganp on Aug 25, 2010 19:19:14 GMT
There is a flip-side to that comment, simply put, anyone who holds god in high regard would be devastated to learn what skepticism attempts to teach. Namely that nothing exists after death. Their faith keeps that kind of thought at bay, who are we to attempt to sway them in a different direction? I'm not referring to charlatans or other organisations prepared to cash in on vulnerable people, I'm referring to the average man or woman who merely engages in faith. People who hold their god in high regard are probably well aware what those who are sceptical of their gods existence think - unless they are isolated from society. People have doubted god/gods for as long as gods have been created. Given the evidence and there are no valid reasons to suppose that life exists beyond physical death then that would seem to be a realistic assumption to make unless one wants to hide behind a comfort blanket of faith and ignorance. If people want to believe that accepting jesus or allah into their lives guarantees them an automatic free pass into the afterlife then that's their business and I wouldn't have it any other way as long as their beliefs don't extend beyond the comfort of their heads or their places of worship. Like Dawkins I think the bible is a wonderful piece of literature but should be filed under the fiction section in anyones library or head. I also appreciate the sheer architectural majesty of churches but on reflection I think the effort that went into them would have been better served elsewhere. I have friends who engage in faith - they're my friends. We agree to disagree when the wine flows and talk inevitably turns to god, belief and proof but we remain friends non the less. Life is too short to lose friends over such discussions and at the end of the night I'm tucked up in my duvet of scepticism and they're wrapped in their comfort blanket of faith. We're all happy and warm and that's what counts morganp
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