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Originally Posted by KnifeMissile
That doesn't follow. At the very least, you're assuming that there is a finite number of things to investigate and there's no reason to think that.
It's ironic that you think I tend to oversimplify...
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Where in what I said is there any assumption of a finite number of things to investigate?
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But theism is an attempt to explain things arbitrarily, with no reasoning behind it. It's my contention that a fictional explanation is worse than no explanation at all.
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There is reasoning behind theism. The fact that you don't agree with the reasoning doesn't somehow invalidate it.
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In my experience, the things that religion attempts to explain are things that I don't think bear explanation...
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Fixed it for you.
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Yes, not all theists are attempting to make me live by their beliefs... Are you even understanding my arguments or are you desperately trying to find every pedantic way that my statements aren't strictly true and comment on those fine points?
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I'm just saying that for someone who seems to claim to hold reason and science in high regard, you're pretty sloppy about how you communicate. A scientist would at least acknowledge the fact that his statements weren't strictly true and attempt to refine them so that they were. All you can seem to do is complain about me pointing out how your statements aren't true.
Your problem is that your entire premise is based on arguments that aren't strictly true. Make the arguments strictly true and you lose the dramatic "every theist is trying to force me to believe in god" angle. You're left with, "Some theists are real crumb bums." Which is a statement I don't disagree with.
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Effectively all christians on this continent are, in fact, trying to enforce their beliefs onto me. They do so whenever they elect a politician whose views and policies coincide with their christian sensibilities. In other words, they're trying to erect public policy based on their fairy tales. This is an enforcement of their beliefs onto me. Of course, this is their democratic prerogative but, of course, I will want to convince them that they're wrong. Hence, the debate continues...
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Okay, now you're being a tad histrionic. I'm certain if one was so inclined one could find various christian undertones in all sort of laws. Why, the recent bailout of Bear Stearns is clearly just a christ-like gesture of charity towards the poor, destitute shareholders.
Seriously, though, if you're trying to claim that christians can't govern secularly, then you should probably take a gander at the political state of the United States in the context of christian doctrine. Christ loved the poor- americans don't. Christ was a pacifist.
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You're just saying that, though. Surely there are complexities in the problem. However, very few atheists deny scientific findings while the pious assault science with superstition. People are the problem. They have replaced reality with religion!
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I'm just saying that because its true. I'm sorry you can't seem to modify your position to reflect any sort of nuance. Some pious folk don't deny scientific findings- a lot of them don't. Some do speak out against the denial of science by their fellow theists.
The problems of humanity manifest themselves in everything humanity does, including religion
and the scientific establishment. The fact that you seem to think that we'd all be better off without religion seems to me to reflect a certain naivety concerning just how fucked up humans are.