When it comes to the religion of others, it is easy to apply common sense and reason, and quickly discount their beliefs as false, and more often than not, downright ridiculous and absurd.
But when it comes to our own religious beliefs, we are somehow capable of suspecting critical thinking...
Do religious figures like Mohammed and the Pope provide moral guidance on the topic of sex that their followers claim?
Like many of you, I recently learned through RF debates that the prophet Mohammed consummated his marriage to his child bride Aisha, by the time she was only 9-years-old...
The terms mind virus has been used by scientists and others to describe how religious (and other) beliefs are transmitted from individual to individual, and from generation to generation.
More information can be found in an essay by Professor Richard Dawkins entitled Viruses of the Mind...
I have just finished the book "The Great Theft" by Islamic scholar Khaledm Abou El Fadl.
In it, he describes how "Islam is currently passing through a transformative period no less dramatic than the movements that swept through Europe during the Reformation."
He describes how two internal...
As creationists in the USA join forces to make one last stand against science and rational thinking, and as creationist chatter increases on RF, this 2002 story from the UK is as relevant today as it was then.
In short, back in 2002, UK clerics and scientists joined forces to appeal to...
Throughout history, human civilizations have always gone through the same cycle of run-away growth, followed by almost total collapse due to non-sustainable, over-consumption of resources, etc... a rise, followed by a mighty fall.
But in the past, geographic isolation has minimized the impacts...
Not sure if this is the right section. Admins feel free to move...
There had been lots of talk on RF recently about whether morality is derived from a Creator, from Evolution (as a survival benefit), or from some other means. This got me thinking, if morality was derived from a Christian...
I just spent about 30 minutes in a polite discussion with a Jehovahs Witness who knocked on my front door this morning.
He was unable to answer some of my questions on their creation beliefs and had to go (his 4 colleages were waiting for him in the car in front of my house) but promised to...
Is faith "pre-wired" in us, is it something we learn, or is it something else?
If something is "pre-wired" (a genetic predisposition) the way this trait changes is through an increase or decrease in the reproduction and survival of those with a faith predisposition vs. those without. Some...
Another thread asks...
"What would you consider the best thing God did for humanity?"
I could not think of anything.
So instead of de-railing the other thread, I though creating this one would be better...
"What would you consider the worst thing God did for humanity?"
I'm an Atheist, and encourage my 10-year-old to think freely and without fear on all topics, including religion and God. Today, on the drive to the ski hill, all I had was a pen and paper to keep him busy. I asked him "If I'm wrong and there is a God, what would you tell him his job was?" Here's...
My understanding of evolution (and I’m no expert) is that any act (no matter how cruel or barbaric we consider it to be) which contributes to us surviving long enough to have children, would result in the predisposition to commit said act to be carried forward in our offspring and...
My understanding is that the human brain develops until we are in our early twenties, and that during this time, the activities we engage in can have a dramatic impact on the final results of our brain's development.
My question (which I hope will trigger some good discussion) is this...
Do...
Is anyone else scared? Really, really scared? Not just for themselves and their families but for the human species as a whole? Does anyone else think the human species is currently facing the single, biggest threat to its existence that it has ever faced? Does anyone else think most of us are...
I am an Athiest.
I have never believed in a personal God as worshipped by any of the Abrahamic Religions.
Throughout my life, I have not encountered a single piece of evidence that supports the claim that such a God exists.
Need, desire, desperation, or fear are NOT factors when I am...
Why is it such a taboo to suggest that "profiling" be used at airport security checkpoints? Why must selective screening be entirely at random? When deciding between 2 passengers to search, why can't security decide to search the young male instead of the old granny? When was the last time a...
Just read a very short, but interesting article...
Using fMRI, researchers at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders have identified the region of the brain we use to think about God. The region (the prefrontal cortex) is the same region used to rationalize mysterious phenomena and...
There are a staggering number of different religions in the world today. Countless more have come and gone over the eons. From this I assume that independent of what one believes, man has a strong need to believe in something.
While I can understand how cavemen would use god(s) to explain the...