May 21st, 2011 - Page 2

Rbstr · 2011-03-14, 02:40 PM

It'd be neat if they were right, It'd be at least one less midterm I had to take.
Really, who wouldn't want to see the end of the world, if it has to happen? Only a small % of the humans that have existed will get that chance!

But really, these guys are going to be wrong, except for some finitely probable cosmic coincidence, and I feel sorry for them. They found something to believe in, to give them a bit of purpose and belonging, even if it is full of shit. To find something that could convince me to drop everything for to go fly around the world? It sounds like adventure to me. In some ways it's a shame I can't believe in invisible entities found in thousand year old books.

Aside from that, the moon is nearing the combination of perigee + full (a "supermoon") ATM...but that would be a natural cause of disaster(perigee happens with alarming regularity! every 27 days[gasp, that would happen to be the period of the moon's orbit, weird, eh?]), the moons phase has nothing to do with gravitational pull), it's only a few % closer and really shouldn't have anything to do with anything.

Manitou · 2011-03-14, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by Rbstr

...the moons phase has nothing to do with gravitational pull), it's only a few % closer and really shouldn't have anything to do with anything.

I have a wife and three daughters...the moon's cycle does indeed affect me catastrophically once a month.

Firefly · 2011-03-14, 03:08 PM

I've got enough firepower and, in the event that I run out of ammo, there are a number of places within a mile radius from which ammo can be purchased.

Sentrosi · 2011-03-14, 06:36 PM

I have my mastery of The Force to protect me and my family. Apart from that the family and I can just head to the secret Dragonwolf compound deep in the Tennessee hills. Fully manned and stocked.

Rbstr · 2011-03-14, 06:49 PM

If it's really the biblical end of the world....Why do you think any amount of preparations in guns or food is going to help?

krnasaur · 2011-03-14, 07:03 PM

Uhhh... guys you do realize all religion was back when Science couldn't explain anything, everything was called a "miracle" right? For example: All of Moses' ten plagues can all be explained by an underwater volcanic eruption. But back in BFE in whatever BC, they see red water and see ashes in the sky they thing "ahh wraith of god!" not "hey look, a volcano erupted"

EDIT: As science evolves the arguement for religion becomes weaker and weaker. I can see the day when everyone just gives up and accepts that religion is for the naive.

The idea that we have a predetermined "doomsday" is silly.

Raymac · 2011-03-14, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by krnasaur

Uhhh... guys you do realize all religion was back when Science couldn't explain anything, everything was called a "miracle" right? For example: All of Moses' ten plagues can all be explained by an underwater volcanic eruption. But back in BFE in whatever BC, they see red water and see ashes in the sky they thing "ahh wraith of god!" not "hey look, a volcano erupted"

EDIT: As science evolves the arguement for religion becomes weaker and weaker. I can see the day when everyone just gives up and accepts that religion is for the naive.

The idea that we have a predetermined "doomsday" is silly.

Having faith is not silly or naive. Sure, there are plenty of religious people that take it to the realm of the absurd (i.e. the 5/21/11 people) but that doesn't mean it's all garbage.

Frankly, I think it's pretty bigoted to say if you believe in a higher power, you must be naive or stupid. For example, evolution doesn't conflict with the Bible, even though alot of people seem to think you have to accept one or the other.

I've yet to find anything in science that conflicts with my faith. Sometimes you'll see a headline where some scientist makes a statement about "such and such proving there is no God" but they always fall short of that. Part of that is because it's almost impossible to prove something doesn't exist. The other part is that we find an anwer we didn't have before. Like if we discovered exactly how the Big Bang took place, it doesn't mean a higher power didn't set the right conditions for it.

I'm getting off on a rant, and I'm not even very religious. I just hate being called dumb because I believe in a higher power.

Firefly · 2011-03-14, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Rbstr

If it's really the biblical end of the world....Why do you think any amount of preparations in guns or food is going to help?

There are two different kinds of "end of the world" according to Christianity (of which I am not a member). One, the Rapture or something like an event where all good Christians ascend to/go to heaven. Then there's the actual destruction of the planet. We're talking about the first. When the first comes around, there will be people left behind. This is typically said to be when Satan will rule over the earth in the Tribulation. During that time, if such a thing were to actually happen and turns out we **** were hideously mistaken for 2000 years, well then I guess I'd need a lot of guns, ammo, and food. Does this clarify the situation for you, or shall I continue?

Originally Posted by krnasaur

Uhhh... guys you do realize all religion was back when Science couldn't explain anything, everything was called a "miracle" right? For example: All of Moses' ten plagues can all be explained by an underwater volcanic eruption. But back in BFE in whatever BC, they see red water and see ashes in the sky they thing "ahh wraith of god!" not "hey look, a volcano erupted"

EDIT: As science evolves the arguement for religion becomes weaker and weaker. I can see the day when everyone just gives up and accepts that religion is for the naive.

The idea that we have a predetermined "doomsday" is silly.

I bet you think wrestling is fake, too.

krnasaur · 2011-03-14, 08:49 PM

belief's are belief's, I chose to believe there is no "higherpower" and that others are wrong and thinking there is one.

Haven't you seen "The Wrestler" ofcourse its real!

Rbstr · 2011-03-14, 11:25 PM

Really, I wanted to put up an argument sort of supporting you. But then you put an apostrophe in "beliefs" and I just couldn't muster up the energy. My grammar may not be impeccable...but come on. At least turn on the firefox spell check.

One this I will say is about Raymac's statement: It's equally impossible to prove something does exist in the absence of any evidence. That whole "can't disprove" argument is tired and should be left for the middle-schoolers. You have your belief, it's not rational or empirical in any way. But that's ok as long as it's constructive and not being used to justify the unjust. Religion can bring comfort and happiness and there's some great stuff in the dogma on how to be a decent person (I like the beatitudes myself), on those grounds you can't call it idiotic.

Firefly: When the rapture happens is by no means clear in Christianity, it may happen before during or right at the end of the tribulation depending on which sect you happen to belong to. Personally I think world wide mountain leveling earthquakes and giant hailstones are hard to survive no matter the preparation.
Really that was just a joke, if you couldn't tell I've got no stock in a mythical end of times. But if God exists and is really out to get us, I feel like all the guns in the world would be holy inadequate

Baneblade · 2011-03-15, 12:05 AM

I unsubscribed from Apocalypse: Next Tuesday Magazine, I just want to have fun killing the zombies the believers turn into. I got my shotgun and enough ammo to commit suicide just by hitting a speed bump too hard.

Firefly · 2011-03-15, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by Rbstr

Really that was just a joke, if you couldn't tell I've got no stock in a mythical end of times. But if God exists and is really out to get us, I feel like all the guns in the world would be holy inadequate

I don't think G-d is out to get us. I was raised in a bi-religious household. My father is a Methodist (now a Methodist minister), and my mom is Jewish. As I understand it, the "end times" prophesied in the Bible have nothing to do with the destruction of the planet but rather the Rapture wherein all Believers are taken home to Heaven (not exactly the actions of a guy who wants to take you all out), followed by Satan's rule of the world. After a sufficient time, the Messiah will come again (Second Coming) and abolish Satan and rule the earth for a thousand years. Satan's dominance comes from the fact that true believers are gone, leaving behind unrepentant sinners, non-believers, and wishy-washy on the fence types who don't want to offend anyone by claiming to be devout Christians or atheists (aka liberals). So there's no one left to say "Hey Satan, old bean. Shut the hell up and get thee gone from me." IE, your father caught you looking at his playboys, and now you're grounded. Punishment. Disciplinary action. And once your grounding is done, he comes back and says "Here old bean, let's go fishing!"

It all sounds rather fantastical when you think about it, but who's to say we've reached the pinnacle of our evolution? Who's to say we've achieved all that we can? Who's to say we have developed and plateau'd? Could people living in the 11th century imagined what would happen a thousand years hence?

Let's think about this in realistic terms. A thousand years ago, could they have imagined rifles and machine guns? Could they have imagined aircraft? Could they have imagined tanks? Could they have imagined electricity? Could they have imagined body armour that didn't weigh eighty pounds? Could they have imagined skyscrapers? Computers? The internet? Could they fathom being able to talk to someone on the other side of the planet? Hell, they couldn't even imagine what lay beyond "Here There Be Dragons".

So, we have advanced technology but we can't explore past our own solar system. We're primitive but we have science fiction. Spaceships, lasers, BattleMechs, colonies on other planets, terraforming, faster-than-light travel, tractor beams, Death Stars, etc. We can dream and we can achieve. So is it really that far-fetched that some all-powerful being comes out of the sky and dominates our planet?

Maybe G-d is some space-faring guy with awesome technology like in Stargate. He's gonna come back, and he's gonna be mad as fuck about shit like Sarah Palin and Justin Bieber. And we're all gonna pay.

Hamma · 2011-03-15, 02:46 PM

Hey I am an Atheist and not a Liberal.

Manitou · 2011-03-15, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by Hamma

Hey I am an Atheist and not a Liberal.

What's interesting is I am a born-again, blood-bought believer called to preach the name of Jesus Christ from His Word, as well as a "degreed" theologian and Bible student, and me and Hamma are friends.

Raymac · 2011-03-15, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by Rbstr

One this I will say is about Raymac's statement: It's equally impossible to prove something does exist in the absence of any evidence. That whole "can't disprove" argument is tired and should be left for the middle-schoolers. You have your belief, it's not rational or empirical in any way. But that's ok as long as it's constructive and not being used to justify the unjust. Religion can bring comfort and happiness and there's some great stuff in the dogma on how to be a decent person (I like the beatitudes myself), on those grounds you can't call it idiotic.

You are absolutely right. The whole "can't prove a negative" arguement cuts both ways. Having faith is not about having evidence to support it. I'm someone who is usually a skeptic, so I actually surprise myself a bit that I've maintained my faith.

The only evidence I point to is the exisitence of the universe itself, and mathematics. We don't create math, we discover it, and that kind of order to the universe, to me, shows design.

One of the other remarkable bits of evidence is a little more tangible. While visions of Mary seem pretty common, and I'm usually very skeptical of their claims, there is one that I just have not been able to discredit. There is a town in the former Yugoslavia called Medjugorje where starting the 80s, Mary appeared to a group of children regularly. I won't go into the details, but I recommend looking it up because no matter how skeptical you are, it is very interesting.