Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Ken Ham is all at sea because atheists are praying for his Ark to sink.

In Australia atheists now outnumber Catholics as Cardinal George Pell is charged with multiple child abuse offences.

Once again the FFRF gets a sports coach to stop asking the Creator of the Universe for favors.

The Democrats’ religion problem.

This weeks’ Woo: Delusions are spreads by belief.

Climate Change: We need to teach about it with a sense of duty to the world as most people do not see how it is affecting their lives.

Five mass extinctions and what they tell us about the planet today.

A newly published plate tectonic map of 500 million years of Earth history.

What happens when the reality of the modern world alters the spectrum of the light within the cave and does lacking the ability to think freely help create sociopaths? Maybe it is all a deception that just depends on how our brains are wired.

An artificial brain is scanning the galaxy for fast moving stars.

What really happens during a LHC collision?

How does the Earth move through to Space?

Terror Management Theory is an interesting idea that I have only recently heard about.

Being humbled by our own insignificance is a wise move.

Ten things we did not know last week. Some photographs taken last week.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil.…..

Coffee Break Video:  A great talk about the Neuroscience of Consciousness. The science behind forks with Stephen Colbert.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Have a great week everyone!!

 We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.

Richard Dawkins.

Thanks Strega for the TMT story.

[_Robert_Participant]

Per the Ken Ham ark story…It’s probably satire, but I am so glad that god in on the side of atheists…even god doesn’t believe in the Noah story !

But Ken, you didn’t do your homework. You don’t understand what Disney did. People want to be entertained while being misinformed. Your building resembles an oddly shaped boat with wood cages filled with stuffed animals. It’s no fun. Now there are lots of good people in Kentucky that are well meaning and all; but lots of Christians are struggling with their faith, let alone taking the old bullshit stories literally.

There may be a silver lining.  I realize that many religious deny climate change; but as the sea rises, eventually that ark may come in handy..I hope it actually floats !!!

[StregaModerator]

Thanks, Reg!

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

I think that Terror Management Theory is interesting, but it misses one major point: the fear of death, for a religious person, is more like a fear of hell.  For someone who believes, this is truly terrifying.  For atheists, and others, not all are scared of dying.  Most people are more scared of wasting or screwing up their life, or of physical or psychological pain.

I agree that self-esteem is based on a belief in 1) the validity of one’s world view; 2) living up to one’s own values and that of one’s milieu.  It’s presented as a “buffer against death anxiety” but I think it’s more like an internalised “reputation”: like passing an exam, you only get a good grade if you actually measure up.  So it’s linked to death anxiety, in that having a good reputation enhances one’s survival ability.

I think this view of self-esteem is confirmed if we look at narcissists: they are famous for their brittle and fragile sense of self-esteem.  The hypothesis is that they lack genes for cooperation, leading them to act competitively while still being addicted to people: life for a narcissist is more like a war than a party; they are, genetically, directly at odds with most people, leading to an internalised reputation which is poor, and therefore, a fundamental lack of self-esteem.

So I think that self-esteem is aimed at promoting life, through cooperation,  rather than a fear of death.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

I agree that the evangelists do seem like a bunch of horrible spiteful bigots.  But it’s the same story with most extremists: they care about their ideology more than people.

I knew an evangelist Christian in real life, and while she’s not a bleeding-heart liberal, she’s a nice person with good values.  So we shouldn’t paint them all with the same brush.  Maybe it’s the political wing that is the problem.

[StregaModerator]

I think you have the cart before the horse, Simon.  I think the position is that terror management gave rise to the religiosity that includes a hell.  Hell is simply a label given to the fear of death, not the other way around.

Self esteem is the internal measurement we use to evaluate our own ‘success’ in coping.  Terror management is the source of our need to cope.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

@strega – why would religious people be scared of going to heaven?  Isis are prepared to machine gun children in order to get there.  They love nothing more than dying.

I can see your point about self-esteem being a measure of our ability to cope – but I think this is more like self-confidence.  I think that self-esteem is much more about what people think of us – mainly ourselves, but also what other people think, especially as our opinion of ourselves depends so heavily on the way we treat others.  Presumably Isis can maintain their self-esteem because they think they’re doing God’s work – that their world view is valid, and they’re living up to it.

I can see how the idea of an afterlife is in some ways a defense against the idea of full extinction, and this seems to be very ancient.  But it’s not particularly comforting, unless religion tells you you’re going to heaven.

[StregaModerator]

You know, Simon, if by some extreme chance, there actually is some post death experience, I’d find it a lot more comforting if it didn’t include a ‘Great Leader’ or a pre-set recipe for assumed happiness.

Take the 72 virgins that the Muslim terrorists believe they’re going to get once they’ve blown themselves and all around them to bits.  Eternity is a very long time, and 72 virgins aren’t exactly going to last, now, are they?  At a pinch, 90 days?  So three months into eternity, what then?

Take the Heaven that the Christians are aiming for once the ‘Great Leader’ has approved all their activity.  Lots of singing and angels? Perhaps a sense of completeness in a sort of osmotic merger with the One?  And how long exactly is that going to be fulfilling?  Eternity is an awfully long time.

 

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

@strega – I think the details are unimportant: the point is, it’s an eternity of “bliss” which can’t be bad.

[StregaModerator]

Are you kidding?  Can you imagine an eternal orgasm?

[_Robert_Participant]

Yes Strega !

The idea of heaven was poorly thought out. Its the ying without the yang, the white without the black. Ice cream with sugar all day, every day. Same with hell. After a few thousand years of suffering….you may start to enjoy it.

 

 

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Eternity would be Hell. As Woody Allen once said, eternity is a very long time, especially towards the end. Maybe the desire for eternal bliss is a form of sadomasochism just as belief in a god is a form of master\slave bondage, a relationship where theists are compelled to fear the god they profess to love.

I know I have said it before but I really do consider atheism to be a more mature position to hold. Theists do not have to dwell on any musings about mortality for too long. Once any sense of the reality of human existence sets in, they can play their “I am saved” card and end their introspection or philosophical inquiry about life and death. The atheist, on the other hand, is compelled by the realization that gods do not exist, to venture further down that road. It has no detours or rest stops. It is that “bravery” to follow that path to its one and only conclusion that I admire. We are mortal, just like all other species on Earth. When we die, it is over. Once we accept that fact we are set free from any desire to need or to want a second life. This life is then much more interesting. I am yet to meet a theist that does not fear death. They never seem to really believe it.

Anyway, if we learn to time our orgasms to the sound of the pizza delivery scooter pulling up outside we can get a glimpse of everlastingness. That’s good enough for me.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by  Reg the Fronkey Farmer.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

[NoelParticipant]

This: How does the Earth move through to Space?

So it isn’t nice circular orbits. It’s a mad dash through the Universe at great speeds and “Oh Dear” hope we don’t hit anything…Like another galaxy!

Thanks Reg. This week edition was pretty freakin’ enlightening.

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