Imagine No Religion

[Nessa 23]

LOL has anyone read the book why do men have nipples?

There's a sequel - Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex?

I thought there's a well known explanation for that. Some hormone that puts us to sleep?

Is it something women don't have? Don't women fall asleep too?

I don't think women are supposed to fall asleep, they're supposed to get back to work (you know, girl work - cooking, cleaning, etc.).

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

LOL has anyone read the book why do men have nipples?

There's a sequel - Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex?

I thought there's a well known explanation for that. Some hormone that puts us to sleep?

Is it something women don't have? Don't women fall asleep too?

Only during sex.

I don't think you're doing it right if that's what's happening

[eric&gen 0]

Sex would be boring without tities lol.

[mawilson 2,133]

Is it something women don't have? Don't women fall asleep too?

Only during sex.

I don't think you're doing it right if that's what's happening

Seriously? That's not how it goes?

[Nessa 23]

Is it something women don't have? Don't women fall asleep too?

Only during sex.

I don't think you're doing it right if that's what's happening

Seriously? That's not how it goes?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Is it something women don't have? Don't women fall asleep too?

Only during sex.

I don't think you're doing it right if that's what's happening

Seriously? That's not how it goes?

Not unless chloroform is involved

Edited December 10, 2007 by Number 6

[mawilson 2,133]

Is it something women don't have? Don't women fall asleep too?

Only during sex.

I don't think you're doing it right if that's what's happening

Seriously? That's not how it goes?

Not unless chloroform is involved

I've always been partial to rohypnol

[jundp 191]

Yes. But then my opinion is a very unpopular one. I am Christian and I believe that ALL humans are created in God's image and that we all have the right to live and be forgiven. I know that most people here won't agree with me, but that is my belief. I don't think that we have the right to choose who lives and who dies. Yes, I know that a killer has made that choice and therefore he should (according to many) not have that right to live, but again, that isn't what I believe. I work with the children of people who would be considered undesirable by most societal standards and yet they have produced loving, caring, empathetic, intelligent offspring.

That doesn't mean I advocate rape or molestation or murder or any other crimes. And I do believe in punishment. I don't believe in "an eye for an eye" and I don't believe in capital punishment any more than I believe in abortion.

Neither do I - but that's NOT what I said.

I said that not all human lives are worth the same. That doesn't mean that some lives can be

taken without a second thought -- it just means that if we absolutely had to choose between

the life of a Nobel-prize winning scientist and a junkie whose biggest accomplishment in life was

scoring some heroin, shooting up and watching Judge Judy, it really is a no-brainer.

I didn't say you said that (why does that sentence make me laugh?). I was giving my POV to support my reasoning.

I agree that I can't say with complete assurance that in the situation you gave me I would have the right answer, but you speak in hypotheticals. In the situation you describe I don't know what I'd do without more information. But in the greater scheme of life, using my spiritual beliefs, I say that all life is equal. I don't feel compassion or believe these things because I "have to" but rather because I choose to. I am not at all ashamed of being Christian or holding such unpopular beliefs.

Besides, I've known a couple of people like the ones you describe (ok, I don't actually KNOW a Nobel-prize-winning scientist...) and the former junkie went on to become an elementary school teacher who inspired kids with similar backgrounds to get out of the gutter and do something with their lives....

[chri'stina 190]

Nothing wrong with religion. It's not the source of the world's problems - it's only an excuse.

Some people would say it's the manifestation of the human brain's weaknesses and a good excuse for people to kill each other.

Take away religion and these things will find some other way to manifest themselves. At least there is also a tremendous amount of good done in the name of religion.

Nicely put.

I think a world without people believing in something higher than themselves would be a scary place to live. I wouldn't want to live there. It would be interesting to see what that world would look like, and I bet it wouldn't be as pretty as some imagine.

John Lennon's song may sound all nice and cozy but it sounds scary to me. I do "live for today", but I also live my life in a way to please God and following my beliefs. I am very happy with it.

Well said, Stina. I think it's a pie-in-the-sky ideal - like saying, 'imagine no government'. I don't think Lennon's words should be taken literally...the emphasis is on 'imagine' ...thinking outside the box. Sometimes we need to step back from all that openly accept and re-examine our perceptions...not to necessarily throw out all beliefs and ideas but to look at them in a fresh way.

Here's what I focus on sometimes....imagine no cookies in this world. While it makes me terribly frightened by the idea, it makes me appreciate cookies even more when stop imagining they don't exist.

Imagine cookies for free on every corner! MMMM....

That would be good...though that could make us all even fatter!

I think a world without people believing in something higher than themselves would be a scary place to live. I wouldn't want to live there. It would be interesting to see what that world would look like, and I bet it wouldn't be as pretty as some imagine.

John Lennon's song may sound all nice and cozy but it sounds scary to me. I do "live for today", but I also live my life in a way to please God and following my beliefs. I am very happy with it.

Why would it be scary? Do you believe that without the goal of serving God, the average human is incapable of making moral choices?

I find my choices much more satisfactory when I know I made them using my own moral compass, and not because I feel I'm supposed to do it.

(Please don't read this as an attack. I am curious.)

Don't worry I don't see it as an attack.

I don't believe that only "religious" people do good. I know of non religious people who do good things in the world. But I would find an entire world without anything to believe in would be scary, the beliefs I have do hold me to a certain moral compass and they are also common sense things like do not murder, do not steal, etc. While people are capable of doing good without religion involved, people are also capable of doing very bad things, even when religion is involved. I imagine it's even worse when religion isn't involved. A lot of Christians and others do tons of charity work in this world. The reason stems from our beliefs to take care of people, and not for some personal reward for helping them but because it's the right thing to do. I know non religious people do that, but I think the religious people do it lots lots more.

Instead of seeing things as better without religion I'd see it as worse. Even as VJ troll or others said, if there wasn't religion then the only reason to kill would be money and natural resources(or something like that). Well I can't imagine the mayhem if people lived in fear because instead of believing there was a loving God who was someone who cared about them, they only had money hungry and power hungry people ruling their lives and no hope for something better. I don't see that as a weakness but something that has been put into the human mind for a reason, a desire for freedom and love, to me it is a connection or longing for a connection to something, to me it's to God. Many atheistic governments who banned religion have fed fear, loss of self worth, and chaos to their citizens over history, not love and peace or anything like Lennon sang about.

[Ursa Tripudio 2]

As I was hoping: This thread has some interesting commentary.

I'll fan the fire with one final post and then probably let it rest.

China's One-Child policy is not draconian, it is realistic.

China receives a lot of negative propaganda in the western press. Certainly, there are many problems there, but they're exploited and exaggerated by the 'news' here. China is not a horrible place and some of their ideas are actually good, although that is rarely an acceptable statement in America.

Think about it: When is the last time you've seen positive press regarding China in the U.S.? Do you really believe that's because there is nothing good to report about China? Or, are you flexible enough in your thinking to believe something other than what you're manipulated to believe?

Regarding overpopulation:

I agree, there were a lot of problems before the world became overpopulated. However, the majority of those were local and most of those that were not local can be attributed to technology advancing faster than principles of civilized behavior. (Which is actually still a problem.) But, isn't the lack of civility and morality demonstrated by so many people exacerbated by overpopulation? Isn't it necessary for governments to constrain the freedom we treasure as maintaining societal norms becomes increasing difficult under the pressure of exponential population growth? Isn't the natural environment of the planet which sustains all life being systematically destroyed for the purpose of maintaining a ridiculously large and rapidly increasing population?

Is it really the 'right' of every person to contribute to the decline of our planet's ability to support humanity or any other species? I repeat: China's One-Child policy is not draconian, it is realistic.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Richard and Li

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

As I was hoping: This thread has some interesting commentary.

I'll fan the fire with one final post and then probably let it rest.

China's One-Child policy is not draconian, it is realistic.

China receives a lot of negative propaganda in the western press. Certainly, there are many problems there, but they're exploited and exaggerated by the 'news' here. China is not a horrible place and some of their ideas are actually good, although that is rarely an acceptable statement in America.

Think about it: When is the last time you've seen positive press regarding China in the U.S.? Do you really believe that's because there is nothing good to report about China? Or, are you flexible enough in your thinking to believe something other than what you're manipulated to believe?

Regarding overpopulation:

I agree, there were a lot of problems before the world became overpopulated. However, the majority of those were local and most of those that were not local can be attributed to technology advancing faster than principles of civilized behavior. (Which is actually still a problem.) But, isn't the lack of civility and morality demonstrated by so many people exacerbated by overpopulation? Isn't it necessary for governments to constrain the freedom we treasure as maintaining societal norms becomes increasing difficult under the pressure of exponential population growth? Isn't the natural environment of the planet which sustains all life being systematically destroyed for the purpose of maintaining a ridiculously large and rapidly increasing population?

Is it really the 'right' of every person to contribute to the decline of our planet's ability to support humanity or any other species? I repeat: China's One-Child policy is not draconian, it is realistic.

Well... you may say it. You may repeat it - but can you qualify that statement with specific reference to:

1) The content of the policy

2) Its practical implementation

3) Its quantitative effectiveness?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Is it really the 'right' of every person to contribute to the decline of our planet's ability to support humanity or any other species? I repeat: China's One-Child policy is not draconian, it is realistic.

So you think that it's the 'right' of some self-proclaimed government to make that decision on people's behalf? Who or what exactly gives them the 'right' to tell people whether and/or to what degree thy can procreate? I suppose the slaughter at Tiananmen Square and the public executions and the subsequent harvesting and trading of the organs of those executed is just another way of the Chinese government to conduct population control? Well, the latter really isn't as each executed prisoner served to preserve life elsewhere. But it's all just bad media, I'm sure.

[Scott & Lai 12]

Is it really the 'right' of every person to contribute to the decline of our planet's ability to support humanity or any other species? I repeat: China's One-Child policy is not draconian, it is realistic.

So you think that it's the 'right' of some self-proclaimed government to make that decision on people's behalf? Who or what exactly gives them the 'right' to tell people whether and/or to what degree thy can procreate? I suppose the slaughter at Tiananmen Square and the public executions and the subsequent harvesting and trading of the organs of those executed is just another way of the Chinese government to conduct population control? Well, the latter really isn't as each executed prisoner served to preserve life elsewhere. But it's all just bad media, I'm sure.

Didn't you know that the Tiananmen Square massacre was actually filmed in a sound stage in Burbank?

[hitchoo 0]

if there is NO religion there will be NO LAW.

money wont last,

land resources wont last,

women wont last,

and if i have them all i wont stop asking for more, the more will be drinking blood away from eyes and human law or not f i have the bower

but i believe my ALLAH will Last ,

i will go for what will last

No thing worse killing a human self , is right .

dont assume killing for sellf-defence is NOR RIGHT!!

[mawilson 2,133]

money wont last,

land resources wont last,

women wont last,

and if i have them all i wont stop asking for more, the more will be drinking blood away from eyes and human law or not f i have the bower

I think you just described your religion, Islam.