Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Morgan Matthew on January 9, 2009 at 4:44am

You ask a great deal of questions but ill answer this one 1st. Do atheist believe in extraterrestrial life?

I do. The concept of an omnipotent, all-knowing being is laughable. But the existence of other forms of sectioned life in the vast expanse known as the universe is not only possible, it is probable.

If you don't believe in god, then essentially you believe that life on earth occurred by natural means. If that's the case, then wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that it happens on other planets as well?

Of course there's not proof of it, but it's not like people are setting government policy based on what they think extraterrestrials might expect. Let's say someone told you they lived their life based on a book that was written 2,000 years ago by a guy who said he met an alien. Would you think he was nuts?

Permalink Reply by Dave G on January 11, 2009 at 10:37pm

Here's Wikipedia's entry on Pope Joan, the female pope. It's reputedly a legend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Joan

Permalink Reply by Alex Gibson on February 3, 2009 at 3:12pm

I'd always heard it was a legend too, but I would argue it's more than just a random story. Not that they really needed a reason, but it provided a good justification for barring women from the priesthood. "We can't have women clergy because women have babies, ergo women will have babies all the time in inappropriate places!"

Well, maybe.

I think 'believe' is the wrong word when you're talking about extraterrestrial life. We really have no way of knowing. Considering the vast expanse of the universe, I *hope* that there's some other intelligent species out there, but I would be getting ahead of myself to say that I definitely believed there was or wasn't I think.

Permalink Reply by Tim Jones on June 1, 2011 at 10:44pm

Many questions there Meg - won't answer them all (gotta leave some fodder for the others :D) - take a sample and look at them.

 

Far as the tikes (catholics) voting on whether women have souls, like everything else in catholicism, it was misogynistic and ultimately about control and fear. The catholics DESPISE women because they are TERRIFIED of women. Recall, according to the so-called 'fall' story in genesis, it is WOMAN who takes of the 'forbidden fruit' and thereby causes adam to fall - therefore it is WOMEN who are to blame for all the sin in the world. But of course that doesn't serve the interests of a male-dominated church does it? *scoffs*

 

Far as religion's impact of the development of mankind goes the stifling effect of religion is staggering - religion is about power and control lubricated by fear and loathing. Religion creates, indeed thrives on, fear and self-hatred. To paraphrase a line from Pat Condell clergy don't want you looking into your heart, because that's where the bullshit detector is. So they monger self-hatred, despite (to borrow from Monty Python) 'blessed is anyone with a vested interest in the status quo' - essentially blessed are all. But who needs that? Who needs people actually having an iota of self-worth? Sure as hell not clergy - why - they'd be out of a job

 

Far as god made into a man I'm always amused by this - god sacrificed himself to himself in order to appease himself so he wouldn't meat out this massive 'punishment' that he has in mind for man because he chose to think for himself and not submit to and obey the self-serving hypocrites that call themselves clergy...sorry - got a little carried away there lol :D

 

Hope this helps (hell if you've read to here I reckon you've done well lol)

 

pax vobiscum