Yes, but did you actually believe in the Catholic faith? What I mean is, did the Catholic faith help shape your worldview, your ideals, etc.I was a Catholic for the majority of my life and that didn't stop me from changing my beliefs
You're retroactively defining things in order to prove the validity of your argument and terminology; it's almost like amending your definitions for your own convenience in an argument. There's something fishy to me about this; anyone else?Yes, but did you actually believe in the Catholic faith? What I mean is, did the Catholic faith help shape your worldview, your ideals, etc.
If no, then you didn't really change your beliefs.
How am I retroactively defining things? Look up confirmation bias. It says that the effects of confirmation bias are stronger the stronger and more emotional your beliefs are. I'm not saying it's impossible to change your beliefs, but the stronger and more emotional your belief (I'd call faith pretty strong and emotional), the harder it is to change, and the more you ignore facts pointing out its faults.You're retroactively defining things in order to prove the validity of your argument and terminology.
Probably "Mother of God" or "Jesus Christ".I can't wait to see what the church's response will be.
Excellent thread! Very simple and to the point. I'm also glad you took this conversation out of the election thread. I hope this thread can stay civil and on-topic.We were getting off topic in the election thread so I decided to make this thread.
This thread is to discuss the theory of biological evolution and the implications of the controversy surrounding it. Some key questions to be considered here are:
From a completely secular point of view, completely excluding the possibility of any supernatural, or more appropriately unexplainable phenomena, our current, general theory of evolution is hands-down the most reasonable, and best supported explanation of biological diversity and the origin of all species. If it is not possible that any currently unexplainable phenomena, such as but not limited to the influence of a deity, had any role in the diversity of life that we see, then of course evolution is the best explanation. There are several other theories that try to explain the biodiversity that we see, but our general theory of evolution is far-and-away the best supported and most reasonable theory.Is the theory of evolution the best explanation of biological diversity and the origin of the human species?
Definitely. What matters most to a person, and what makes one person vote for any particular candidate, varies from person to person. If evolution is a breaker for you, more power to you. Personally, if a candidate vehemently opposes the possibility that the God of the Bible had a hand in the creation of life on Earth, I would have some immediate difficulties about voting for them, regardless of what their other beliefs are. Although, honestly for me, their view on evolution and creation pales in comparison to their view on abortion and a whole host of other issues.Is it reasonable to allow a candidates views on evolution to affect your vote?
Yes. It definitely "can". But whether or not one can accept said reconciliation differs from person to person.Can the theory of evolution be reconciled with religious beliefs?
I am not J-man (been here much longer, though don't post near as much), so I first question your reading comprehension skills.So J-man
Should homosexuals be able to marry or at least have civil unions? Sure. It's not the governments role to uphold what is clearly church doctrine. I still believe it's a sin, but there are many other sins listed in the Bible that are perfectly lawful today.homosexuals can't ye married in most countries, or why abortion isn't allowed in many countries, or why official proponents of this belief are exempt from tax
Good on ya.We were getting off topic in the election thread so I decided to make this thread.
Probably not. While science has provided insurmountable evidence towards evolution there's plenty more we still dont know about it. The day may come when we all completely change our views on evolution simply because it still isn't completely proven yet. That's not to say I dont believe in evolution. I'm a firm believer of it. My view is "don't count your chickens before they hatch".Is the theory of evolution the best explain of biological diversity and the origin of the human species?
There are plenty of more important views candidates may or may not have that can change a vote. Just because you don't believe in evolution doesn't mean you a backwards person. It's when you force your views on other people that I tend to view you in a negative way.Is it reasonable to allow a candidates views on evolution to affect your vote?
I'm a firm believer in evolution however, I'm still not sure if god exists or not. If he does exist then it's obviously not in the way he was written. I would say it's more the bible that I don't believe in. A god is perfectly possible simply because when I consider everything in and out of our universe, it all seems so chaotic.... but at the same time perfectly in order. It just feels strange to me that there's not some form of omnipotence at work behind it all. At least that's my view on it.Can the theory of evolution be reconciled with religious beliefs?
What problems with our current, general theory of evolution are you talking about? You could make a list if you want, but from what I've seen, every "argument" against the evolution paradigm of biology is basically a demand for more information to fill in "holes" in the evidence. Guess what? There will always be holes in a scientific theory. Statements like this seem innocent enough, but they reflect a pretty severe misunderstanding in how science (or logic, or statistics) works. If any of you are to argue about science, you should know that science isn't about what can be explained with 100% accuracy (mostly since nothing can be explained with 100% accuracy), but it's more about what can't be explained, as well as how accurate a claim might be. If you can explain anything by poking your logical paradigm accordingly, you honestly have a really crappy logical paradigm. Moreover, the accuracy of a claim is (or should be) very important in comparing the truth of one claim to the truth of another. So before anyone proclaims that the theory of evolution isn't accurate enough, how about you go and question less reliable things, too, like the safety of your home? I find it intellectually dishonest for someone to trust the integrity of so many everyday things and take them for granted, yet have issues with evolution (or relativity, or whatever else is very firmly established) just because "God". On that note:mattj said:And for a lot of us, we honestly see enough problems and difficulties with our current, general theory of evolution, to cause us to seriously question some of its commonly accepted, general claims.
It does have some pretty heavy implications about a candidate's priorities concerning stuff like education and research - implications that I don't find desirable.KurashiDragon said:Just because you don't believe in evolution doesn't mean you a backwards person.
Lots of people make very little money and still pay taxes. I'm not one to pick on low-income individuals, but why on earth should some segment of people be completely exempt from one or more taxes based directly on their jobs? I think that exceptions like this are why the U.S. tax code is so convoluted and riddled with loopholes. Exceptions are a terrible way to achieve a system that's fair or even efficient.j-squared said:Should clergy pay taxes? Are you kidding me? Most of the clergymen I know make next to nothing.
This isn't a bad summation but it is a bit more complex I think. If the embryo has rights that outweigh those of the mother then it must be considered a person. There are various definitions of the word person, though it gets somewhat tedious and I will not get into it here. But I think most reasonable people would agree that, at least for the early stages of the fetus' formation (a clump of cells), it is most certainly not a person. If you accept that this is true, then you must also accept that there is some point at which the fetus does become a person, and it is ascribed certain rights, and at that point you end up right where the US abortion law is today: Abortion is legal until a certain point in the pregnancy.Abortion: comes down to whether you believe an unborn embryo should have rights in this country. If yes, then it should be illegal. If no, then abortion should be legal . I'm currently on the yes side.
I think the issue people have isn't with the tax rates of the clergy but with the tax exempt status of the churches themselves. In many cases it is clear that a church deserves to be tax exempt, but there are numerous examples of overly extravagant churches in the US. For example, the church of scientology is considered tax exempt as a non-profit religious institution, though it is well known that followers are required to pay for church services, and the owner is absurdly rich. As I leave my university today I will pass by the san diego mormon temple, which I have to admit looks awesome, though it is clearly quite extravagant by the standards of any non-profit organization (also keep in mind that the LDS church has essentially mandatory tithing). There are also numerous "mega-churches" of various sects of christianity which are extremely large and have monster sound/video systems, apparently to aid in worship.Should clergy pay taxes? Are you kidding me? Most of the clergymen I know make next to nothing. You want to make tax free income, start your own church. There's nothing stopping you from making a "goldmine." It's not discriminating against anyone.
People that make as little as the clergy make are not taxed by the state or the feds (unless you count sales tax, which clergy are obviously subject to). I believe that clergy members are taxed just as members of any other profession, though I could be wrong. It is the churches themselves that are tax exempt, meaning they are not taxed as a corporation, and they avoid property taxes.Lots of people make very little money and still pay taxes. I'm not one to pick on low-income individuals, but why on earth should some segment of people be completely exempt from one or more taxes based directly on their jobs? I think that exceptions like this are why the U.S. tax code is so convoluted and riddled with loopholes. Exceptions are a terrible way to achieve a system that's fair or even efficient.
I'm not exactly sure how to answer this because I've been removed from that particular worldview for 4-5 years already. I was baptized and confirmed as a kid and went to church and youth groups fairly frequently. I would say yes it did shape my worldview since many of my friends and people I knew, including most of my family were pretty involved with religious activities. I don't think I ever completely bought into the idea of god but I never really questioned it until later because I never felt super strongly about the beliefs. They were just kind of there and I had no desire to confirm or reject anything I believed for the longest time.Yes, but did you actually believe in the Catholic faith? What I mean is, did the Catholic faith help shape your worldview, your ideals, etc.
I'd say it was a pretty gradual change. What really started me questioning it was my freshman year roommate in college who was an atheist without question. He never argued with me or tried to convince me otherwise (maybe because I never felt too strongly about it), but he was the first person I ever met that was explicitly an atheist. I later found out that my dad was an atheist for my entire life but never spoke about it (my mom was the one who did most of the church stuff growing up.If yes, then what caused you to change your mind (if you don't mind me asking)? Don't answer if you don't want to. It's just that people don't wake up one day and decided to reject their core beliefs.
and before you take little quotes from my response and do the whole "you never truly believed so that's why" BS, I did have a fairly strong emotional attachment to religion for the first 13-14 years of my life just because there was no one telling me otherwise, and the vast majority of my friends and family were very religious. Obviously it would be easier if you didn't buy into it but anyone can change their beliefs if they're given a sufficient reason to do so.How am I retroactively defining things? Look up confirmation bias. It says that the effects of confirmation bias are stronger the stronger and more emotional your beliefs are. I'm not saying it's impossible to change your beliefs, but the stronger and more emotional your belief (I'd call faith pretty strong and emotional), the harder it is to change, and the more you ignore facts pointing out its faults.
If you never feel an emotional attachment to your faith or Church, it's going to be much easier to change your beliefs.
thanks I wouldn't want to waste my post on something dumb like that...wait shitBAM it's called post-merging, it's something cool mods (not tobes) know how to use on double posters
also guys would it KILL you to try and talk about the thread title instead of a tangent from the thread title when you make a splinter thread?
...Confirmation bias is a bias. A weaker confirmation bias makes you more objective and more likely to take a neutral, balanced view of things.How am I retroactively defining things? Look up confirmation bias. It says that the effects of confirmation bias are stronger the stronger and more emotional your beliefs are. I'm not saying it's impossible to change your beliefs, but the stronger and more emotional your belief (I'd call faith pretty strong and emotional), the harder it is to change, and the more you ignore facts pointing out its faults.
If you never feel an emotional attachment to your faith or Church, it's going to be much easier to change your beliefs.
That's hard for me to answer objectively. Evolution was simply assumed in my environment growing up, and so it still does have some lingering plausibility in my mind since my conversion. I always hear evolutionists talk big about the beauty of the system, but since I'm not expected to be able to fully understand the mechanisms, I get a dumbed down version of events, and so miss the point they're trying to make. The case for Christ is much stronger in my experience, and if Genesis worked for him, it works for me.Is the theory of evolution the best explain of biological diversity and the origin of the human species?
Views are cheap. How they translate into their record is more important than what they say they believe.Is it reasonable to allow a candidates views on evolution to affect your vote?
With my religious beliefs? No. I can accept a world older than just a few thousand years, but the idea of humanity falling under the banner of 'the first Adam' unless they move under the banner of 'the second Adam', Christ, doesn't work if there is no 'first Adam'.Can the theory of evolution be reconciled with religious beliefs?
First, if I can't address this because of the title of the thread, then change the title, because clearly this is stuff people talk about.another question to ask is - people born in africa / india / china / wherever are probably not christian - how is this in anyway fair; they can't be closer to god simply because of a matter of circumstance!
I would never, do that. The only reason I asked is because I know a lot of Catholics who were raised as Catholics but never really felt overly connected to their church and especially its many customs (mass, confession, etc.) As seen by some of the other former Catholics in this thread, it seems like a lot of Catholics become disillusioned with their church. I'm not Catholic myself (I'm actually Protestant, who broke away from the Catholics long ago), and would like to get a better understanding of why this occurs.before you take little quotes from my response and do the whole "you never truly believed so that's why" BS