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Interesting. And going about as far off topic as you can go, I am always amused that scientists with a brain the size of a planet admit they don't understand exactly how the universe works (or indeed what it is made of), yet are completely sure that God doesn't exist. There seems to be a contradiction here, which to me is rather arrogant.

In their case, you are correct.

The scientific method demands the following question first :

Is the existence of god(s) FALSIFIABLE ??

Can I make a reproducible test that gives a yes/no answer ??

Philosophers ask whether such a test can ever be constructed.

Engineers ask whether tis merely a matter of time before
the necessary tech arises to construct the test.

For example : the particle physics model proposed by Higgs et al.
That model existed for other nigh on 5, and 50 years, but it took
the colossal engineering effort in building the LHC to run the
experiments that led to acceptance that the Higgs boson exists.

For the existence of god(s) , it may take similar (or even much
more) efforts. I doubt I will be allow to see that test created and run.
 
In their case, you are correct.

The scientific method demands the following question first :

Is the existence of god(s) FALSIFIABLE ??

Can I make a reproducible test that gives a yes/no answer ??

Philosophers ask whether such a test can ever be constructed.

Engineers ask whether tis merely a matter of time before
the necessary tech arises to construct the test.

For example : the particle physics model proposed by Higgs et al.
That model existed for other nigh on 5, and 50 years, but it took
the colossal engineering effort in building the LHC to run the
experiments that led to acceptance that the Higgs boson exists.

For the existence of god(s) , it may take similar (or even much
more) efforts. I doubt I will be allow to see that test created and run.
In the case of the existence of God it is demonstrable that it is not falsifiable. If I conjecture that God created the universe a second ago with everything as we all see it now there is nothing to test. Much better to start by testing whether there is anything we observe that requires a supernatural being to explain it.
 
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Not surprising....if anyone had written such piffle they would have tried to cover it up.
very unfair comment, Christopher Hitchens never tried to cover up anything. If he did write or say it I would have to see the context because it's the kind of thing he might have said in terms of If you believe in religion you might just as well believe something like this. Your piffle aim is a little wide of the mark.
 
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Where did you find this quote? "My own view is that this planet is used as a penal colony, lunatic asylum and dumping ground by a superior civilisation, to get rid of the undesirable and unfit. I can't prove it, but you can't disprove it either."

I've never heard that one before.

I think it’s from God is not great
 
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I think it’s from God is not great
OK thanks I have it but have not read it yet. I have listened to many of his lectures on you tube.
Not surprising....if anyone had written such piffle they would have tried to cover it up.
Having looked a bit further it's clearly to show the level of religious books. You can basically say things like this and nobody can disprove them ie you can't disprove the existence of a god but the answer to something you don't understand (none of us understand) is not to make up ridiculous nonsense and then speak as if you have a special line to this god.
 
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Not a good look for the club when the name comes out.
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https://www.not606.com/threads/rival-watch.112743/page-3820
See post [HASHTAG]#76399[/HASHTAG].

Partey (or his social media team rather) posted on his Instagram story today for the pre-season game we have in Nuremberg. They've turned off all replies/options to send it on.

It's becoming increasingly clear what club it is and which player it is.
 
Interesting. And going about as far off topic as you can go, I am always amused that scientists with a brain the size of a planet admit they don't understand exactly how the universe works (or indeed what it is made of), yet are completely sure that God doesn't exist. There seems to be a contradiction here, which to me is rather arrogant.

Also while scientists often don't get as much credit as they deserve for what they have achieved for humanity, there is also a case that science has from time to time outstripped ethics. Something along the lines of just because something *can* exist, *should* it?
Who's completely sure that no gods exist?
I've never even heard a coherent description of one, so that'd be a start.

I'd suggest that it's far more arrogant to not only claim that there's a supreme being, but to understand what it wants and feels.
Up there with the smug, fence-sitting supremacy of the Lib Dems of religion, agnostics.
I don't believe in them.
 
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OK thanks I have it but have not read it yet. I have listened to many of his lectures on you tube.

Having looked a bit further it's clearly to show the level of religious books. You can basically say things like this and nobody can disprove them ie you can't disprove the existence of a god but the answer to something you don't understand (none of us understand) is not to make up ridiculous nonsense and then speak as if you have a special line to this god.
That's why I said it was piffle. It fails every criteria for a sensible hypothesis. If it was said to illustrate that very point then that's different.
 
In the case of the existence of God it is demonstrable that it is not falsifiable. If I conjecture that God created the universe a second ago with everything as we all see it now there is nothing to test. Much better to start by testing whether there is anything we observe that requires a supernatural being to explain it.

The extensive of god(s) may not be falsifiable,
but nothing you stated has anything to do with why that
may not be the case.
 
I always felt the faith has more in common with the far right!
I think there are two major parties: those who want to get on with it as well as possible, and those who want to turn back the clock. And the only problem with the second group is that the clock doesn't turn back. It doesn't matter if they're some kind of religious fundamentalists or conservatives. It amounts to saying, "I don't like the way things are now. I like the way things are headed even less. So I'll click my heels together three times and make it like it used to be. Except not the way it actually used to be, nobody wants that. I'll make it the way people like me like to imagine it used to be."

Trump used to talk about the steel industry dying in western Pennsylvania like it happened a couple of years ago. It's been half a century. Nobody wants the steel industry back now, because everyone who used to work in the mills is dead or retired, and nobody now wants a dirty, dangerous and grueling job.

Whilst I’m sorry you’ve had to experience this from these individuals, this is a gross generalisation and isn’t indicative of a lot of other Muslims. Including myself - who is also a Muslim.

I’ve heard misogynistic, sexist and chauvinistic views about women from Christians, Hindus & atheists, it doesn’t mean I’m going to tar them all with the same brush by making comments like this about them. Because I know there are plenty of people of those faiths (or, in an atheist’s case, lack of) who don’t share these attitudes.

The issues you are talking about are men’s attitudes to women in general - whatever faith they may be part of isn’t relevant.

I respect religion in general. It's not my place to question anyone's beliefs. However, I've found many of the people doing the most harm are religious fundamentalists. There's a great deal of horrible stuff in the Bible. My favorite is the practice of putting a town under the ban, which requires not just genocide, but killing all the animals as well. But unfortunately, from what I've been able to tell, the practice of taking horrible things in holy books seriously enough to do evil with them seems to be somewhat more common in Islamic countries than it is in Judaism or Christianity. Maybe I'm wrong. In any case, I don't mean to imply any criticism of you. I've known many Muslims who are wonderful people. It's not the faith itself I have a problem with either--or at least, not more than I have a problem with Judaism or Christianity.
 
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But unfortunately, from what I've been able to tell, the practice of taking horrible things in holy books seriously enough to do evil with them seems to be somewhat more common in Islamic countries than it is in Judaism or Christianity. Maybe I'm wrong. In any case, I don't mean to imply any criticism of you. I've known many Muslims who are wonderful people. It's not the faith itself I have a problem with either--or at least, not more than I have a problem with Judaism or Christianity.

I think, with all the Abrahamic faiths, there has been violence and warfare committed in the names of those religions and for various reasons. As I've said before though. A lot of it, for me, is really to do with foreign policy, totalitarianism, colonialism and imperialism - especially across the Middle East and Africa. I've seen violence be rationalised in secular regimes just as I have under religious ones, but a lot of this has transpired in more modern times i.e. 19th/20th Century and beyond - which is conveniently where a lot of western expansionism occurred. The religion/secular distinction is a fairly modern phenomenon. There were never issues on the scale we see now in previous centuries based off religion in isolation. Which is why I say people and their thirst for power is more of an issue than the religions themselves.
 
There were never issues on the scale we see now in previous centuries based off religion in isolation.
Religious wars predate the Abrahamic religions and probably predate the written word.
The Old Testament features a bunch of them and there were others we know about, too.
Greece had a bunch of them, for example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphictyonic_league#Sacred_Wars

Now you can argue that they weren't exclusively about religion and that's probably true.
It's far easier to get people to fight The Other when it's ordained by faith, though.
I'd argue that none of the current problems are any different, either.
Modern religious conflicts are rarely about religion alone, just like the ancient ones weren't.
 
In the case of the existence of God it is demonstrable that it is not falsifiable. If I conjecture that God created the universe a second ago with everything as we all see it now there is nothing to test. Much better to start by testing whether there is anything we observe that requires a supernatural being to explain it.

Now, that, is very much my thinking. Or at least has often been something I've been conscious of / questioned, throughout my life.

I'm a person of science but I've always found that there's a misnomer or assumption that science explains the why, whereas I've often found many of those why's are not why's at all, but just another 'how'.

I look at photosynthesis in plants for example and my immediate response to chlorophyll is why? Lots of explanation of how it works, but why that particular concept?

Same with something as basic as a cat digging up earth, taking a dump and covering it up. Why? Someone might claim it's genetic memory or something. Sounds like another term for supernatural to me. Same with turtles coming onto sand to lay their eggs under the sand. Too many why's unanswered for me
 
Barca trying again for Raphinha to beat Chelsea to his signature.

Barca also being linked with Alonso and Azpi.

Potentially a lot of defensive exits for Chelsea after Rudiger and Christensen already left. Not ideal to lose that many, all featured very/ semi regularly too.

Looks like they’re gonna re-sign Ake to cover one of them, I think he’s a decent player but wouldn’t say better than Rudiger. Could be a bit of a transitional season for them this coming season.
 
Now you can argue that they weren't exclusively about religion and that's probably true.
It's far easier to get people to fight The Other when it's ordained by faith, though.
I'd argue that none of the current problems are any different, either.
Modern religious conflicts are rarely about religion alone, just like the ancient ones weren't.

I guess it depends on how far back you want to go, but my overacting point is that, in the build-up to the rise of colonisation, there appeared to be more pluralism and co-existing amongst certain faiths than we see today. I'm not saying it was always like this, because it wasn't, but there were definitely periods of time where there was harmony. I would also argue modern religious conflicts are rarely about religion alone because religion isn't the primary motivation for why they are happening.
 
Barca trying again for Raphinha to beat Chelsea to his signature.

Barca also being linked with Alonso and Azpi.

Potentially a lot of defensive exits for Chelsea after Rudiger and Christensen already left. Not ideal to lose that many, all featured very/ semi regularly too.

Looks like they’re gonna re-sign Ake to cover one of them, I think he’s a decent player but wouldn’t say better than Rudiger. Could be a bit of a transitional season for them this coming season.
Ake's better on the ball than Rudiger, but he's a far weaker defender.
Re-signing Lukaku worked out really well for them, though...