Should science replace religion?

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by wegs, May 7, 2019.

  1. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Brilliant post!
     
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  3. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    Ok
    so I read him
    more'n once

    "you are what you eat, including what you feed your head(brain)"?
     
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  5. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    And sisters. Maybe Mary had sextuplets, and all the stories of the Nativity missed the other five?
     
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  7. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    What makes you think there is such a thing?
    I can tell you that. There has to be a physical reality so that it can eventually grow a brain convoluted enough ask "How come there's something instead of nothing?" Because if there wasn't you couldn't ask that.
    Since man is talking to himself, there is nobody and nothing that can tell him about the unknown and unimaginable.
    Religion can tell you about what you can imagine. Science can you tell you about what's real.
    Life's already got a direction - and only the one: birth >>>> death. Any illiterate savage can tell you how to flourish, while the highly civilized find ways highly sophisticated - and all too frequently god-ordained - strategies to thwart the flourishing of lives, both human and other.
    Why should a human life have a goal? When, how and by whom was this mandated?
     
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  8. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Why the Catholic Church teaches that Mary was a ''perpetual virgin'' ....
    not was; is
    The perpetual virgin is not the Mary in the biblical story, who married, raised kids and eventually died.
    It's the blue-robed icon with the halo. Kind of a spiritual portrait that captured the essence of this character at a moment in her life when she had just given birth to the Saviour, preserved unchanged forever; who has the tender compassion of a mother and is willing to intercede with the stern father on behalf of poor sinners and frail human souls.
     
  9. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    Thanks for the post. I appreciate what science has given us, a closer look at our environment. My love of science is our exploration via planetary probes and space telescopes.
     
  10. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    Nor do I. It seems unnecessary and ridiculous.

    I suspect the unhealthy influence of St Paul, who seems to have encouraged the early church to regard anything to do with sex as unclean and sinful, or at any rate second-rate compared to celibacy (it is better to marry than to burn, etc). The idea seems to have taken root from as early as 300-400AD and is found not just in the Catholic but also the Orthodox traditions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_virginity_of_Mary
     
  11. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Sure, because the priest who has dedicated his life to the church has no distractions, no other commitments, no other loyalties.
    From that lofty, invulnerable position, he can judge - condemn or pardon - all those congregants who are still in the grip of their animal passions, who have not yet renounced the things of the world, who are still mired in original sin, which is passed on through procreation.
     
  12. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    And the opposite can be true as well - a lay person exclaims with defiance, ''well, science doesn't know everything!'' but that doesn't mean he/she should assume that any claim (without evidence) thereafter, will suffice. Just because science can't explain something, doesn't mean that any new claim is true. Further, just because science can't refute something, doesn't mean it is true. Or not true.

    From my observation (and personal experience), people don't believe in a higher power or follow religion, because science has its limits.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2019
  13. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Non-binary gender fluid...
     
  14. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    It's "brilliant" simply because you agree with it. Or am I wrong?

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  15. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    People who believe in a higher power are typically people who lead theirs lives through emotion. Those who don't are typically those who are more analytic in how they lead their lives. That's my observation. What's your's?
     
  16. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    That's right. People don't choose one way over another because of the limitations of any system of thought -
    they don't even try to find out what the boundaries of each system of thought might be -
    they choose on the basis of their own limitations.
     
  17. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Well, I've always liked his and CC's writing styles - objective, well reasoned, and empathetic to others' opinions within the discussion. And yes, I happen to agree with that post.

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    I don't disagree with you, except to say there is an assumption about religious people in general, that their lives are governed by their ever changing moods and feelings, therefore they are more gullible than atheists. Having gone through a period of unbelief myself, it honestly just felt like indifference. Nothing more or less. If you look at the writings of CS Lewis however, he was a self proclaimed atheist, who converted to Christianity, and seemed rather unemotional about it. If I had to brand him with a label, it'd be ''intellectual Christian." He seemed to come to belief through logic and reasoning. His writing style is quite stoic, and there are others like him, who despite being religious, don't wear their emotions on their sleeves.

    But, I don't disagree with you. It's a general observation I've made, too.

    Maybe, but I don't think there's any shame in that, honestly.
     
  18. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Why would there be any question of shame?
    You choose to fill your need and get what you pay for.
     
  19. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Well, we all have limits, right? I may have read your comment wrong, but it seems like you're inferring that only religious people have intellectual limits, therefore they seek God to fill in the gaps.
     
  20. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    I was just thinking of the wife of a friend who appeals to her "Prayer Warriors" on Facebook to help her talk to a 13 year old. I think it's very helpful to be very emotional if you are going to embrace the concept of "prayer".

    How many people do you hear of that just wouldn't be able to get though a day without the emotional support of praying to God? I just don't know many people that are that "needy" who aren't religious. Not all religious people are that needy of course but it's hard to be stoic and be too involved in religion it seems to me.

    You have to be "saved", "to have given your life over to the Lord" "pray for guidance". What if you took the word "Lord" or "God" out of it and then described that kind of behavior? What if it were more like "I just don't know how I would get though the day if I didn't call home and phone my Mother for advice" "It's such a comfort to talk to my Father with his strength, wisdom and grace" "When I come home from work after a hard day, I really need to call my friends up and vent and ask for their comfort or I just don't know how I'd go back to work the next day".

    A more analytical person who think, why do I want to both my friends with my problems as they have their own and venting isn't going to help me anyway. I'd better learn to cope with reality and maybe actually do something tangible to make things better rather than just venting and reinforcing needy behavior among my social group.
     
  21. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    I get where you're coming from.

    Do you ever ask anyone for help? There's nothing wrong with that, you know.

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    Your friends might want to help, if they knew you needed it.

    Without ''relying'' on friends, family or gods of any sort, can you walk me through how you go about handling difficult situations and making tough decisions?
     
  22. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, I just handle it.

     
  23. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Without getting too personal, can you walk me though an example of where you couldn't handle something?
     

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