Do theists believe in other bullshit?
Posted on: July 25, 2008 - 3:47pm
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Do theists believe in other bullshit?
I am wondering if theists are more likely than atheists to believe in other bullshit such as UFO's, psychics, bigfoot, etc. My guess would be they are. I know the vast majority of atheists on here don't believe in that sort of thing.
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I been tellin theists for years about the bigfoot living in my fireplace.
Hell, even that sumb*tch Santa won't believe me.
He just glares at me and sez, "Well how come I never see him in there?"
'cause he's hanging with the greys in their UFO for Christmas.
Duh.
Stoopid Santa.
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
Sheeeeiit,
That 'splains it.
Santa and Mrs. Claus revealed !!!
I would say most christians believe in psychics, at the least the fundies. The fundies I know think psychics are tools of satan like witches. So, I guess most believe in psychics and witches. I won't touch bigfoot because I don't know if most do or don't. The UFO phenomenon doesn't negate most of their beliefs so I guess some would and some would not. One fundy I work with really has some weird ideas to explain ufo in that they do exist but come from somewhere inside the Earth or some bullshit.
"Always seek out the truth, but avoid at all costs those that claim to have found it" ANONYMOUS
What astounds me, is that after the tons of myth that gets debunked day after day after day, some people who don't buy the old stories still get sucked into absurd ideas, such as transporters and pantheism.
You can chalk it up to mundane human behavior. The false meme, or light bulb that the moth flies to, is something we are all subject to. It is much easier for a human to try to replicate something they think is familure and will benifit them, than it is to challenge that norm.
"If" I were to define the word atheist myself. It would not stop at the comic book hero god(s). It would include all claims on any issue that are not empericaly demonstrable or falsifiable.
I am not going to fall into the "true scottsman" falacy that theists do. I simply think that when one is going go about finding truth, it is not a matter of label, but a matter of being unafraid that the answer may not match up with what you currently accept.
I do get ticked at si fi fans who want to call themselves atheists, and are by societies norms, but still buy into magic that to me is no different than the crap the theists spew.
Us or them, it is not about human rights. It is not about popularity. It is not about "I am not like them". It is about what we don't know. They don't and we don't. It is about what we can demonstrate to each other as a species. Not by domination. Not by dictation. Not by "Hey I have a tattoo, so therefor I am different".
It is about taking what we do know, without comic book myth or si fi speculation, and using the tools that work.
Scientology and Kwanza and Kabballah work on a superficial club level, just like a placebo. It makes the person feel good, but does it acutally have practical emperical implications.
On the human level, there are basics that transend. A drive to continue. A need for food and shelter, a need for love and companionship.
So when an atheist says they don't believe in god(s) but turn around and promote pantheism or transporters, all they are to me is a new spin on an old unsubstantiated warm fuzzy feeling of "Wouldn't it be nice if".
If I could lick myself I would never leave my home.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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Anything that they cannot understand, they will believe. I certainly think most theists will continue to believe in Sasquatch, martians. However they don't seem to believe that elves or leprechauns exist.
So why are some of these characters accepted but not all?
I haven't done a poll or anything but I know that many christians at my workplace make a point of reading their horoscope every day. Well, maybe 20% of them and I hate to say it but now that I think of it their all women who seem to be interested in this.
Do they really believe in it? Don't know but it seems to be an important ritual in their daily life for whatever reason.
I read a few regularly. I find reading them enjoyable, especially when I need a good laugh and the cartoons look especially stupid and not at all clever that particular day.
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Signature ? How ?
Religion is the main reason that people try to spend their entired married lives sharing only one set of genetalia...
For some reason, God apparently doesn't want us to have sex, unless its with one person of the opposite gender for our entire lives, once a month with the lights out in the missionary position.
Monogamy...the biggest pile of bullshit this side of an invisible omnipotent force of creation who lives in the clouds.
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I think when someone has been indoctrinated into a religion, their brain is programmed to accept anecdotal evidence over logical evidence. So UFOs, bigfoot, whatever, seems much more plausible to them.
And speaking of anecdotal evidence....
When I was maybe 14, I got into an argument with a younger kid over spiritual things. He was a hardcore christian, I was very much the opposite. He told me a story his friend had told him about how his other friend had been using a oija board when his christian dad came in, saw it, and got pissed. The dad then threw the board against the wall, and it began to bleed.(This is the short version of his story, when it was told to me it had much more suspense and flavor to it.)
Despite the unlikelihood of the story, and how many people had apparently heard it and had a chance to embellish it or just plain make it up, I couldn't convince this kid it just might be untrue.
"We are the star things harvesting the star energy"
-Carl Sagan
I remember being told by a Christian friend (when I was still Christian) that if you burn a Ouija board your house will burn down. He was in and out of mental hospitals from age 12 to 15 and has been in since about age 15 after he raped his sister (he tried before that and was sent.) He truly is psychotic though. He got sent one time in 7th grade for punching a kid in the face, hitting him in the face with a chair and then throwing a chair and desk out the window in class because the kid called him a faggot. He sent me a couple very rambling letters from the hospital. Haven't heard from him in over 15 years.
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team