br0k3n

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Everything posted by br0k3n

  1. this applies equally to those who claim there "is not a God" To be clear, when it comes to the issue of the existence of God, on which side the burden of proof lies. The theist, of course, makes a positive claim that God exists; he believes in the existence of God. The atheist, the natural position for the skeptic on theistic issues, on the other hand does not make a positive claim. The believer may protest: isn't the skeptic here also making a claim: that God does not exists? This protest however is erroneous and is based on a misunderstanding of the skeptic or atheistic position; the skeptic does not assert that God does not exist, he simply says that he is without any belief in theism. Let us elaborate on this in more detail. Traditional theists and philosophers have defined atheism as the belief that God does not exist. Stated this way atheism is a positive belief, and the burden of proof of God’s non-existence must then fall on the atheist just as the burden of proof of God’s existence falls on the theists. Atheists themselves however, do not use such a definition of their position; and for a very good reason-for it is etymologically incorrect. The prefix “a” in any English word means “without”, thus amoral does not have the same meaning of immoral but simply means without morals. Similarly atheism means simply without theism or without theistic beliefs. As the atheist philosopher George H. Smith said: Atheism , in its basic form, is not a belief: it is the absence of belief. An atheist is not primarily a person who believes that a god does not exist; rather, he does not believe in the existence of a God. [1] Most people are atheist when it comes to the gods of Greeks without any positive proof that they do not exist. They are atheists as far as these gods are concerned for the same reason modern atheists are to the Christian God: there is simply no positive proof that such a thing exists. Thus the burden of proof falls squarely on the believer. If the believer is unable to provide positive proof of God's existence, the skeptic is justified in his atheism. ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  2. It is not my job as a non believer to prove there is no God, the responsibility to prove there is one, lies with the believers. Actually it is. That's the difference between the atheist and agnostic view. If you categorically claim that God does not exist, the lack of proofs substantiating God's existence is irrelevant, you need to provide positive proofs of that non-existence. Otherwise, your statement is as vacuous as, "there are no lifeforms in the Universe based on silicon." The general principle, laid down in a court of law is that the burden is on the prosecution to prove the facts essential to their case. The general rule is that “he who asserts must prove”, i.e., the burden rests with the plaintiff….. you claim there is a God, therefore you the burden of proof lies with you.. ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  3. What would do it for you? Why do you believe in Jesus but not Santa Claus? Argument (1) Santa Claus: When I write my list for Santa Claus, I feel such a rush of joy and happiness. With all these emotions, Santa Claus MUST be real! Jesus Christ: When I pray to Jesus Christ, I feel such a rush of joy and happiness. With all these emotions, Jesus Christ MUST be real! Argument (2) Santa Claus: If you don't believe in Santa Claus, you'll get no presents! Jesus Christ: If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you'll not go to heaven! Argument (3) Santa Claus: If you don't believe in Santa CLaus, you'll get charcoal in your stockings and you'll be laughed at by all the other children! Jesus Christ: If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you'll go to hell and burn in eternity in a bottomless pit where you feel pain eternally! Argument (4) Santa Claus: You just gotta have faith that Santa Claus is real! Jesus Christ: You just gotta have faith that Jesus Christ is real! Argument (5) Santa Claus: Stupid head! Jesus Christ: Heathen! Argument (6) Santa Claus: Our elders are intelligent and knowledgeable beings. They gave us knowledge of Santa Claus. Since they are intelligent and knowledgeable beings, as well as honest beings, they would never lie to us about the knowledge of Santa Claus. Jesus Christ: Our elders are intelligent and knowledgeable beings. They gave us knowledge of Jesus Christ. Since they are intelligent and knowledgeable beings, as well as honest beings, they would never lie to us about the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Argument (7) Santa Claus: Santa lives far, far away. He lives at the North Pole! However, we do see his effects, and just because we can't see him, it doesn't mean he doesn't exist. Jesus Christ: Jesus lives far, far away. He lives at the North Pole! However, we do see his effects, and just because we can't see him, it doesn't mean he doesn't exist. Argument (8) Santa Claus: Santa Claus has magic. If you can create millions of presents for millions of children and deliver them all on one night, then he must be magical. If you believe in him, then you'll get him working for you and giving his magical powers to you! Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ has magic. If you can create billions and billions of grams of matter in one week, then he must be magical. If you believe in him, then you'll get him working for you and giving his magical powers to you! Argument (9) Santa Claus: We can know that Santa is real! Where did the presents come from? Natural phenomenon? Natural phenomenom has explained nothing! Jesus Christ: We can know that Jesus is real! Where did the Universe come from? Natural phenomenon? Natural phenomenom has explained nothing! Argument (10) Santa Claus: Santa Claus use to be a saint who delivered presents to children. He did exist in one form! Therefore, he must truly be alive and around today! Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ was formed from the religion of various religions. Saturn, a god of a thousand year old religion, was born of a virgin mother, performed miracles, and was resurrected. Christmas, December 25, is actually the birth of the god Saturn, from December 25, as well, except it was called Saturnalia. He did exist in one form! Therefore, Jesus must truly be alive and around today! Argument (11) Santa Claus: Santa Claus, as you know, has been commercialized by the market. All around Christmas, people are buying lots and lots of toys. Lots of this money goes to charity and such. Why would you want to hurt good things like Santa Claus? Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ, as you know, has been commercialized by the churches. The churches use the money they get from willing donors to do good things and sometimes religion can even bring a community to either be closer or go on a crusade to rape women and torture children. Why would you want to hurt goods things like Jesus Christ? Argument (12) Santa Claus: But all the other kids believe in Santa Claus, and they're not stupid! Santa Claus must be real! Jesus Christ: But all the other people believe in Jesus Christ ,and they're not stupid! Jesus Christ must be real! Argument (13) Santa Claus: You'll believe someday! When you get your presents and see that they were designed with intelligence and beauty and that you wanted those exact ones, despite the fact that you told your parents or that you may have gotten ones that you didn't want, you'll know that a supreme designer of toys must exist. It must be Santa Claus! Jesus Christ: You'll believe someday! When you look into the world and see that animals are designed with intelligence and beaty and that they exist to reach a means, despite the fact that many of them have vestigal organs or that Natural Selection perfectly explains it, you'll know that Jesus Christ must exist. It must be Jesus Christ! Argument (14) Santa Claus: Sure! You may say Santa Claus is illogical, but that doesn't mean anything. Santa Claus created logic! He can disobey it! Jesus Christ: Sure! You may say Jesus Christ is illogical, but that doesn't mean anything. Jesus Christ created logic! He can disobey it! Argument (15) Santa Claus: Well, certainly NOT believing in Santa Claus is ALSO a myth! Jesus Christ: Well, certainly NOT believing in Jesus Christ is ALSO a religion! Argument (16) Santa Claus: The burden of proof is on the skeptic! Jesus Christ: The burden of proof is on the skeptic! Argument (17) Santa Claus: That's it! I proved Santa Claus and he exists! End of debate! Jesus Christ: That's it! I proved Jesus Christ and he exists! End of debate! Argument (18) Santa Claus: Why be a good little boy without Santa Claus? You're good and you get no presents. If you're bad, nothing happens. You're a fool and immoral! Jesus Christ: Why be a good person without Jesus Christ? You're good and you don't get heaven. If you're bad, nothing happens. You're a fool and immoral! Argument (19) Santa Claus: Why don't you just kill yourself now? There's no hope to live without Santa Claus! Jesus Christ: Why don't you just kill yourself now? There's no hope to live without Jesus Christ! Argument (20) Santa Claus: If Santa Claus isn't real, what is the meaning of life? Jesus Christ: If Jesus Christ isn't real, what is the meaning of life? ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  4. How do you figure that there's no evidence that Jesus existed? *yawn* do you have any evidence, not anecdotal or circumstantial, just some plain hard authentic undisputable evidence…… ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  5. It is not my job as a non believer to prove there is no God, the responsibility to prove there is one, lies with the believers. However after nearly 2000 years since the supposed Birth of Jesus, there is still no evidence that he even existed.. Therefore I feel quite comfortable in saying there is no god... If the believers think otherwise, and want others to take them seriously, then they need to show some proof…. So can anyone here prove there is a god, or any gods????? ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  6. Well prove me otherwise...... whats that noise... oh its silence..... you claim there is a "god" so prove it.. and like I said before "you CANT" ... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  7. prove your answer... Do you really need to prove that light exists, I can if you want??? As for God I dont have to, its your job to prove that he DOES exist.... which *ahem* you can't...... Actually if you think you can, I know a chap that will give you a cool million bucks... So want to step up??? I thought not....... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  8. More than one answer? Is light a wave or a particle? One answer, Light does show all the behaviour of waves with reflection, refraction and diffraction but it does show particle properties with black-body radiation and the photoelectric effect. This is known as the wave-particle duality.. Is God a man or a woman? Light exists, Gods do not… your question has no answer… ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  9. More than one answer? Is light a wave or a particle? One answer, Light does show all the behaviour of waves with reflection, refraction and diffraction but it does show particle properties with black-body radiation and the photoelectric effect. This is known as the wave-particle duality.. ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  10. Well the only reason I lauged was, well it was, whats the word?? ah thats it ....FUNNY..... "Bak. Derk-derka ala. Derka derka, Mohammed Jihad. Baka sherpa-sherpa. Abaka-la." ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  11. I think in general people are only "willing" to believe such things with "no evidence at all" when those things pretty much go along with their own underlying beliefs. For example, I expect that if "his religion" told a devout christian in the USA that child molestation was a good thing, he'd be unlikely to accept that on blind faith. Tom, you’ve hit the nail square on the head here. It is proven the people have an underlying belief system; there are beliefs that have been programmed in over time that people are willing to except without question, and despite the complete lack of evidence or proof. Belief in psychics, mediums, dowsing, crop circles, acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, gods, spirits, the Devil and Angels to name but a few…. Why is this, why do we as human beings in this day and age, still have this biological disposition? One Theory is that we use belief to create a model of that part of the world we cannot sense simply because our senses have limitations. For instance, I believe my house is where I left it before I came to work this morning. I can’t sense it in any fashion, but in order to efficiently find my home after I leave work tonight, my brain has to create an internal “map” composed entirely of belief and independent of my senses. Without this, my senses alone are inadequate when it comes to finding my home. My belief “knows” where it is though my senses have no clue that it currently exists. Ask true believers of any faith to describe the most important thing that drives their devotion, and they'll tell you it's not a thing at all but a sense-a feeling of a higher power far beyond us Understood in this way, belief is seen as an important and necessary way of sensing the world. If the brain’s primary function is to assist in our survival (and it is), something like belief’s tendency to extend our senses serves a biological purpose. In short, belief enhances our tendency to survive, and as such it will form neurologic patterns that prove remarkably resistant to change. Also I think that we as human choose a particular belief because it serves a purpose and promotes an emotional response, or caters to a particular need.. As an example, as children in we are programmed to believe in Santa Claus, we are led to believe that once a year on the 25th Dec a chubby guy, with a white beard and a red suit, will descend our chimneys and deposits lots of goodies for us under our Xmas tree.. As children we never questioned this, we never asked for evidence, why?? Because we wanted Santa to be real, it gives us as children hope, and something to look forward to. If he was not real then we wouldn’t receive any presents. But as adults we don’t believe in Santa any more, why?? Because it serves no purpose, we know where the presents come from… However lets replace Santa with God, people believe unequivocally because for one it gives them hope, it comforts them in the knowledge that when we die, it’s not all over. We will simply go to anther place and live on happily… The key difference here is that with Santa once we reach a particular age, we no longer really care about getting presents at Christmas, or we realise what is actually happening.... and are happy to change our belief structure. However with God, people are desperate to prove and show that he is real, to confirm their belief to discover once and for all that there is a life after death, I think this is what it ultimately boils down to. The mere thought that once we die that is it, for eternity is simply to great a concept for our human brains to comprehend, and therefore we have evolved in a way to counteract this realisation. Dean Hamer has written a book called ‘The God Gene - How Faith is Hard Wired into our Genes'. Hamer studied 2,000 DNA samples. He interviewed 2,000 people extensively (226 questions in each interview). The questions, among other things, looked at how spiritual a person is and what their level of faith in god is. He found that the VMAT2 Gene was significantly more common among people who believed in a higher spiritual being. According to his research, whether or not your upbringing is religious has no bearing on how religious you turn out to be - but the presence of the VMAT2 Gene version does. Whether or not this is the key to religious belief will be debated for years, but I do think it hold a great deal of credibility. Does your dog believe in God, do the lions in the jungle or the fish in the sea, are animals self aware and know what death means, no and therefore do you think they believe in a God? Whilst I can prove this I would guess that they do not believe in God as they have no need for a God, in the same way we adults have no need for Santa Claus….. ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  12. How can anyone hate this movie, it was awesome.... I was laughing my ass off.. I think its ironice that the South Park chaps managed to put Micheal Moore to shame by creating a more fair and balanced political film.... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  13. the added bonus with beach landings is that they always come with a swoop pond ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  14. Damn. I never thought about it that way. Next jump, I'll try a 270 under a Sabre 120. After all, I don't want to deny myself that experience. I would suggest that you wait a while, 18 jumps is a little earlier to start to swoop, get some more jumps and progressively downsize canopy’s. Get some coaching and don’t try to rush into it, otherwise you will hurt yourself…. Don’t worry you will get there eventually, and be able to experience the feeling of busting out a sweet 270 front riser approach… What this has to do with illegal drugs, im not quite sure... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  15. whats your recommendation based on??? its certainly not based on experience??? ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  16. br0k3n

    bungy jumping

    The "Nippon Clip-on"? Nippon clip-on?? ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  17. Adobe Audition (formely Cool edit) will do the job . ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  18. How about sex with waffles afterward? Cuz that's pretty much perfect in my book. why wait until afterwards ..... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  19. In Australia there is a huge problem with Gambling, yet is it illegal, NO… does it ruin peoples lives YES…… your point is moot…. ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  20. I bet a damn site more people have ruined there lives on Fags and booze, and I bet your quite bappy to chug a beer ..... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  21. br0k3n

    bungy jumping

    I did the same off the Auckland Harbour Bridge.... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  22. use virtual Dub..... I wrote a lengthy post a while back on have to use it... do a search... http://www.virtualdub.org/ ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  23. my point exactly, if you are responsible then where is the harm.... ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  24. Trust me, you're missing out on nothing (I can only speak of pot). You have the right attitude, be proud of it! I think its quite a bold/sweeping statement to say that you not missing out on anything by not trying something… don’t get me wrong I’m not saying everyone should go out and take some sort of illegal substance, but from my experience there have been moments that I will remember forever, that I would have missed out on if I/we were not UTI. I recall a particular time when I was with a group of my dearest friends, and we were on a small island in Thailand, we all tried some shrooms and spend the entire day, and actually most of the night on this beautiful little beach where we were staying having the most bizarre conversations and experiences… no whilst some would argue that we would have had a great time anyway if we hadn’t have had the shrooms, I agree, but this was a different kind of time, not something that we had experienced before, and actually have never done since. But certainly something I’m glad I did and was apart of... However I also remember many years ago, I was at a party with some friends, and somehow we had gotten hold of some mescaline (the major active component of the small dumpling cactus known as Peyote.) To start with everything was great… however after the party had finished and we had all left, we were all still spun out on the stuff, and were pretty much incapacitated for 2 days, which was not a pleasant sensation. Needless to say I’ve never tried it since, and will never try it again. However when I look back on this, I have no regrets at all that I did it, im almost glad in a way that I had the experience, although not the best time but certainly something I would have missed out on. The way I look at it is that society leads people to assume that illegal drugs are bad, and that they lead to addiction to crime to suffering. Now whilst this can be the case, although most people happily gloss over the issue of fags and booze, because it’s convenient and not deemed illegal, and most people enjoy them. If you are responsible then what is the problem with the type of high that you choose. I am concerned here about the difference between an act of choice (consumption of a psychoactive substance) and an act of endangerment (putting others at risk by operating equipment while impaired or skydiving while impaired). If an act doesn't endanger others, what right have we to make it a criminal act? ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+
  25. Asked and answered at least a thousand times in the past in these very forums. Do a search and save me the trouble of repeating myself. Ok i've searched and read a whole bunch of post where you rattle on about Random testing, but I there is no mention of why you "hate illegal drugs" ----------------------------------------------------------- --+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+