If you also agree that an animals suffering should be avoided rather than encouraged, consider what steps you can take.
I remember, when I was about 4, the family cat was having an all-out fight with the family dog. So what did I do? Well, I stuck my hand right in the middle, to stop the fight. You can guess what happened. Here I am 30 years and many band-aids later, jumping into another fight! Do I expect better results? No, not really; I guess it's just in my nature to want to see cats and dogs playing together, or even (*gasp*) cuddling!
Now I know you folks want to make it seem like there is no common ground to stand on, and you may want to play the “victim” card at times (or any other number of random cards), but (here we go) there are, for a fact, things that you can agree on. And there are plenty of households where dogs take care of cats, and vice versa; dog + cat does not necessarily = instant bloodbath.
I am enjoying this debate, and I'm not trying to stop it (I'm quite sure I couldn't even if I tried for yeeeeeears!). I'm just throwing my 2 cents into the pot again to show a different perspective, one that can see (get ready for it, here it comes) both, yes I said both, points of view.
Science does not rule out God. But who are we, as mere humans who have the opportunity to worship an AWESOME (not in the surfer sense) God, who are we to say that we can understand even a tiny portion of God's will? God is beyond human understanding. Many of the things that we who follow the Christian tradition take as Gospel and Truth are, let's face it, things handed down by men and women struggling with the very things that we struggle with today. To say that those men and women were imperfect and subject to misinterpreting God's will is considered blasphemy by some, but if we're being honest we know that it is not an overstatement.
You can tell when I get off from work early, my brain starts spasming and squirts its contents all over this forum! Sorry if I made a little bit of a mess in my excitement!
Last edited by Microcosmos; 03-03-2010 at 09:51 PM.
Sean
I have never claimed "there is no God" not that i know of anyway, however, there is probably no God. And that's only a deistic God, nevermind then having to pick which of the gods to follow, either a few of them, or, even more amazingly, just one, the one 'true' one....
If you also agree that an animals suffering should be avoided rather than encouraged, consider what steps you can take.
ah, well if a real atheist shows up, perhaps he will try to demonstrate why his beliefs are "rational thought"........in the meantime then, since you cannot explain it, I assume you are retracting your earlier statement?......after all, you did make the mistake of saying "atheism comes about by rational thought"......
Last edited by PostmodernProphet; 03-03-2010 at 11:02 PM.
...full immersion.....
An atheist is someone who does not believe in the existence of Gods, that does not mean they are not there, that just means they do not believe in them
Maybe Yahweh is there, maybe not, maybe Thor is there, maybe not, maybe Ra is there, maybe not. But i do not believe in any of them, and thus i am an atheist.
If you also agree that an animals suffering should be avoided rather than encouraged, consider what steps you can take.
If you also agree that an animals suffering should be avoided rather than encouraged, consider what steps you can take.
clarification......if you are simply saying that atheists say "there are no gods" but might be wrong, I can obviously agree with you......
but if you are saying that atheists say "there might be gods but I don't believe it", then you are wrong about your definition of 'atheist'........
...full immersion.....