Correct!

“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.” -Woody Allen

To answer your question, we believe that it is better to have free will (disregarding the argument of free will actually existing) than to rid the world of suffering and evil.  We see it as the ying-yang.  It simply depicts the idea that you have “good” and “evil” and there will always be some of one in the other no matter what.

I played drums for Giant Heap of Perfected Chaos ;)  Not sure if we jump on board with your 4th dimension (time) statement, but it would make for some good song lyrics for an indie band I am sure!

All kidding aside, thanks again for the question!  Keep thinking deep!

Original Post Here

Beautifully put zeitvox.  Maybe just the fact that we find ourselves discussing these supposed topics of morality and ethics means that they exist, and they only can exist in such discussion.  And if morals/ethics don’t originally exist, we naturally find ourselves looking for them.

In addition to this idea, Nietzsche puts it best: “Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us; nowhere do they touch upon absolute truth.”

Perhaps we should stop trying to reach these absolute truths and just focus on the discussion itself; take away those ideas that we feel apply to us instead of trying to force those ideas onto others.

So I was asked one day, what if a God made an unstoppable force and directed it to an indestructible, immovable object?

the only answer that I could come up with without cleverly avoiding the question and obeying Aristotle’s laws of logic, was that it would create a universe before impact where the force will keep moving towards the immovable object.

What answer do you guys have for that?

ReligionMinusReligion:

Two great questions in one week??  How do you live at that speed?  But seriously, thank you so much for contributing.  We wish more would join in.

We have two answers for you. 1) “Quoted paradoxical statements do not imply a real contradiction and the puzzling results can be rectified by demonstrating that one or more of the premises themselves are not really true, a play on words, faulty and/or cannot all be true together.” [Source Wiki]  In other words, there is no absolute indestructible/unstoppable/unmovable force.

But that is no fun at all.  Who the hell cares if things are impossible right?!  Let’s assume what you stated is true. I give you answer 2 (Dr. Seuss ain’t got jack on us). 2) The unstoppable/indestructible object would pass through the unmovable/indestructible object.  Think of it like two beams of light passing through each other, or a ghost through a wall as some describe it.  The closest thing in science explaining it would be quantum mechanics.

But this is just what WE think ;)

Great question!  Many philosophers have posited the same question and spent years and several volumes addressing the issue, so I am flattered that you think we might be able to answer it in a single post ;)

Everything is subjective in some part or another.  It boils down to “if everyone has their own opinion and concept of reality/life how can there be a “true” anything?”  So really, there isn’t a “true” morality.

The inverse, immorality, is also subjective.  So is there really any “true” immorality?  A possibly more interesting question, is it necessary to define a true and ultimate morality or immorality to create happiness in everyone’s lives?  Is it worth getting caught up in the semantics and finite definitions of words?  We cannot create catch-all morals that everyone will accept because of this objectivity you preset, but we can create general ideas that are widely accepted that do not directly and negatively effect someone else, thus allowing us to make our own decisions and find our own way of living our lives that we are comfortable with and acceptable of.

Again, to answer your question, no.  We don’t believe that one can be “truly” virtuous, just as no one can be truly happy, sad, successful, unsuccessful, good, bad, tall, or short because it is subjective.  However, I feel happy; I feel loved; I feel pain; I feel empathy; I feel anger; and just because I can’t have one “true” definition of each, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist and doesn’t make how I feel any less important to me.

 Thank you so much for this timeless question.  I wonder what other’s think about this.

What are questions you have on your mind?  What would you like to discuss?

Jesus has some great stories.  Nietzche is full of one-liners.  But did they every say “what do you think”?

We build ideas together, not alone.

In an absence of a god creating and controlling our universe, we are left to try and understand the building blocks of life and our reality.  So while some may pass this video off as just being a nerdy science video, one might try to look at it as a replacement of a god’s role in our reality.

It’s not as hard to keep up with as you might think ;)

I wish we had more people like Rob Bryanton to help us break down these complicated ideas.

Thanks for the great questions; you craft them well. In my humble atheist opinion, there are definitely positive aspects of religion. My favorite is that is provides a collection of methods to live your life, usually in a positive and loving manor. It is years of practices that could bring us and others happiness without causing grief. In other words, it gives people a starting point for a “code of ethics”. I couldn’t imagine having to find my own set of morals without having anything to base it off of.

Another positive influence that religion has provided is a sense of fellowship. It can nurture a community based on common morals. I think of it as friends. We become friends with people who usually have a common interest and set of morals/goals in how they live their lives. In the same way religion can group people with common life practices. A hard aspect of being an atheist is believing that there is no god to watch over us or protect us or guide us. But having a community of people who practice and experience life the same way can be an enormous support for those who feel alone in a chaotic world/universe.

For someone who provokes such great questions, it would be interesting to hear your answer to the same question.

Thank you again evokit

Quick Question: People spend their lives practicing their art/skill.  We know we are better at some things than other’s, so why are people surprised when they find it hard to love?  Why do some assume that love shouldn’t take much effort?

Thanks for sharing!  I agree with a good portion of what you wrote, and I hope others take the time to have a quick read.

Cheers!

Most know the bible is chock-a-block full of do’s and don’ts, numerous ethical parables, and letters from the disciples (and oddly, no one wrote back).  With so many rules and suggestions on how to live your life, it’s hard remember and practice them all the time (if you are in to that sort of thing).  What if we could narrow it down to a select few, or even find THE rule?  Which one is the most important?

I am a few centuries too late.  Jesus was asked that very question (Mark 12:28-31).  His first answer was to “love god with all your heart”, but for us atheists, that doesn’t apply.  Commandment FAIL. But he says second is “Love thy neighbor as yourself”.  This idea has become known as the golden rule.

Apparently Jesus was a pretty unoriginal guy ;)  He was quoting Leviticus 19:18 which was written around 1400 BC, but the golden rule was found about 2000 BC in an Egyptian parable.  It was also found in ancient Babylon, Persia, India, Greece, and China.  Confucius is credited with coining the term “golden rule” 500 years before Jesus goes all retro.

But who cares who had the idea first; what matters is that we have it, and that we have seen that it is a common practice spanning time and geography.  We have had the idea for thousands of years now, so how about we start using it?

That depends on who you ask ;)  Atheist here.  To paraphrase the litany of definitions, religion is defined as a belief system and culture that outlines what that culture considers to be best practices for life, usually in an ethical/moral manor.  Most often it tries to explain the origin and meaning of life and includes the belief of some sort of deity.

My studies show that a deity isn’t necessary, and that the core of a religion is that it has a culture (group of people) with a belief or moral system to live their lives by.  But most people today associate religion with a god or higher power.

What is your take?

3 Things everyone should know about Islam. We are going to look more into the validity of this video, but it brings up a much needed perspective.  We would love input on this.

NOTE: This is not meant to scare or create fear, but simply to educate.  Like every religion, there are varying degrees of commitment from fundamentalists that take things very literally and those who practice more in moderation.  Do not assume this is how the entire Islam population practices.  Just be informed.

Original post (here)

Brilliant!  Glad people are having fun with religion again ;)