The ‘scientific method’ is an epistemology – It’s a way of knowing something, discerning validity, and practicing that knowledge.

It’s not a belief system.

‘Believing in science’ means you’re a moron at best and a psychopath at worst.

ransos – Member
Like God?
Do we need to talk about celestial teapots?

Anyway, it would seem that religious fundamentalism (i.e, May doing what God tells her to do) is only a problem when it’s Islamic.

I’m just pointing out why these threads go in circles, God can’t be disproven or proven, and people try one way or the other to convince people of the impossible.

May is not a religious fundamentalist, imo.

And God telling anyone what to do isn’t an issue either, people are responsible for their own actions, I don’t care who they blame it on. (In christian circles, even god tells ye that it’s your responsibility, you know the free will patter.)

Since we’re talking in wide brush strokes, I’ve presented another view above.

I’m not saying they all christians are small-minded and mean-spirited. Just some. Same as with any other section of society. I’m just saying that assuming a belief in god indicates any kind of adherence to actual christian values, as allegedly decreed by the beardy one (God, not Jeremy Corbyn) is like saying that all ginger people are inherently nicer, or that everyone called Colin is a ****!

Rather than get into another pointless “Religion bad, science good” debate – wouldn’t it be more interesting to discuss why the PM feels the need to assert her faith and her apparent belief that she is doing God’s work?

Much of the liberal left have become suspicious and sniffy about religion (as demonstrated here).
Does that push the authoritarian right towards greater religious dogma and justification?

To quote a suitably swivel-eyed commenter that I noted on Breitbart recently:

“To me, the further “right” we get, the closer to Christ and that’s a good thing”

😯

God can’t be disproven or proven

Much like unicorns and the tooth fairy.

binners – Member
Since we’re talking in wide brush strokes, I’ve presented another view above.
I’m not saying they all christians are small-minded and mean-spirited. Just some. Same as with any other section of society. I’m just saying that assuming a belief in god indicates any kind of adherence to actual christian values, as allegedly decreed by the beardy one (God, not Jeremy Corbyn) is like saying that all ginger people are inherently nicer, or that everyone called Colin is a ****!

See above, in christian cicrles (I don’t know if other religions have the same concept), free will places the blame directly on the individual and exempts god from jail time! 😆

I’m just pointing out why these threads go in circles, God can’t be disproven or proven, and people try one way or the other to convince people of the impossible.

I would no more try to disprove the existence of God than I would try to disprove the existence of a teapot orbiting the earth 😉

May is not a religious fundamentalist, imo.

Someone doing stuff because “God told them to” pretty much meets the definition IMO. People would certainly be quick to apply it to a middle eastern leader saying the same.

5thElefant – Member
God can’t be disproven or proven

Much like unicorns and the tooth fairy.

I’m not disagreeing, but the simple fact is you can’t disprove them, particularly to believers. So discussion of whether they actually exist or not isn’t really worth discussing. You’re as well focusing energy on other points of discussion that will lead people to come to their own conclusions, rather going for the full on attack of, your god doesn’t exist and you’re a fool!

I’m not disagreeing, but the simple fact is you can’t disprove them, so discussion of whether they actually exist or not isn’t really worth discussing.

Plus the tricky problem of proving a negative…

I’m not disagreeing, but the simple fact is you can’t disprove them, particularly to believers. So discussion of whether they actually exist or not isn’t really worth discussing.

True, but you can make some assumptions about people who believe in unicorns.

ransos – Member
Someone doing stuff because “God told them to” pretty much meets the definition IMO. People would certainly be quick to apply it to a middle eastern leader saying the same.

Depends if they are incapable of applying logic and tempering their instructions with free will and some critical thought.

May isn’t incapable of that, imo.

You’re all fools,being sidetracked by religion while the lizards in their subterranean caves get one step closer,and its not a YMCA tribute act they are forming!! Wake up fools!!! (oh and has anyone a pair of small kneepads they want to get rid of,see my wanted ad,thanks awfully.Any way as you were,religion boo, yay,i’m right,no i’m right etc.

If you know you are…

Anyone who says they know anything scares me. It’s how people deal with unknowables that measures their greatness.

If they try to reduce everything to the known/knowable, you know they have no greatness whatsoever.

IMO.

Depends if they are incapable of applying logic and tempering their instructions with free will and some critical thought.

May isn’t incapable of that, imo.

If you do something because God tells you to, then it’s very difficult to see how critical thought has entered the equation.

8 pages?

Double figures I reckon.

God can’t be disproven or proven
Much like unicorns and the tooth fairy.

That’s not true though, is it. It’s impossible to disprove, but theoretically at least you can readily prove all of those things. We just haven’t managed it yet.

you can make some assumptions about people who believe in unicorns.

Unicorns do exist; they’re fat and grey and we call them rhinos.

Ah well.. I tried. Have fun.

*ducks out*

God loves a trier.

Seeing as you asked though,

wouldn’t it be more interesting to discuss why the PM feels the need to assert her faith and her apparent belief that she is doing God’s work?

I’d hazard there’s two things going on here. First is the generic propensity for believers to talk about their beliefs and use it as a reason / excuse for doing what they’re doing, be that good or bad. But moreover it’s just another political spin, an attempt to get people on her side.

Unicorns do exist; they’re fat and grey and we call them rhinos.

I’d have thought Narwhals would be their closest descendant! 😆

Disruptive video attack!

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykwqXuMPsoc[/video]

Read the complete works of Richard Dawkins and then come back to the debate.

I have. And pretty much everything by Paul Davies and John Gribbin as well as many other books on our understanding of the universe.

I didn’t say that science was faith based. Just that there are elements of faith in it.

The key difference between faith as used by religion and science is that science uses faith to establish current wisdom only in the absence of falsifying evidence whereas religion does the same thing.

wouldn’t it be more interesting to discuss why the PM feels the need to assert her faith and her apparent belief that she is doing God’s work?

I’d say it’s interesting that someone who is presiding over worsening conditions for the elderly, poor and the sick can claim to be Christian.

Faith or peer review?

If you do something because God tells you to, then it’s very difficult to see how critical thought has entered the equation.

“I suppose there is something in terms of faith.

“I am a practising member of the Church of England and so forth, that lies behind what I do.

“It’s not like I’ve decided to do what I’m going to do and I’m stubborn. I’ll think it through, have a gut instinct, look at the evidence, work through the arguments, because you have to think through the unintended consequences.”

In defence of May, there’s what she said. Quite a bit away from a religious fundamentalist imo.

Btw, I feel the need to also clear up that I am not a believer in the tories either! 😆

I have. And pretty much everything by Paul Davies and John Gribbin as well as many other books on our understanding of the universe.

Its actually magic? This is god…

In defence of May, there’s what she said. Quite a bit away from a religious fundamentalist imo.

Faith, gut-instinct and a review of the evidence are not really compatible.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E39htndsmA[/video]

ransos – Member
In defence of May, there’s what she said. Quite a bit away from a religious fundamentalist imo.
Faith, gut-instinct and a review of the evidence are not really compatible.

Depends on how people use their faith. Not everyone will use it in the way you imply.

People are welcome to have faith but the guidance part is loopy. Her argument is the same as a member of ISIS , why Catholics in many places still treat abortions the way they do and why a place like Russia treats homosexuals brutually.

We don’t need religion to guide us ethically and morally.

edenvalleyboy – Member
Her argument is the same as a member of ISIS

All the evidence we have is in a few quotes from the OP. And it really doesn’t stack up to that conclusion.

You’re using your own belief system to come up with that answer.

Depends on how people use their faith. Not everyone will use it in the way you imply.

That’s true – not everyone is a fundamentalist.

I wonder how the media would take it if she’d said “I am a practising member of Islam” or “I am a practising member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints” or “I am a practising member of the Church of Scientology”?

…or “I think it’s all poppycock”

Don’t you lot get bored of posting the same shite over and over again?

May’s faith is of no significance here. If she started making policies directly based on scripture then yeah, it would. But saying ‘I talked to god and he agreed it was a good idea to put billboards on lorries telling immigrants to go home’ is no different to simply having thought of it yourself.

In other words, it’s just how she visualises her decision making process, I doubt it affects the conclusions. If Christianity really did affect her politics as suggested above then she’d not be quite such a nasty Tory…

“I am a practising member of the Church of England and so forth, that lies behind what I do.”

Oh not this again… Did we not have enough of this last time with Blair-Bush?

“wouldn’t it be more interesting to discuss why the PM feels the need to assert her faith and her apparent belief that she is doing God’s work?

I’d hazard there’s two things going on here. First is the generic propensity for believers to talk about their beliefs and use it as a reason / excuse for doing what they’re doing, be that good or bad. But moreover it’s just another political spin, an attempt to get people on her side.”

Agreed.

If Christianity really did affect her politics as suggested above then she’d not be quite such a nasty Tory…

This is part of the issue. People’s twisted view of scripture makes them believe their stupid, selfish, often intolerant and persecutive (Is that a word? If not, I have invented it.) actions are morally right and justified. Shame they don’t apply their religious-based action approach when it comes to money lenders, being a good samaritan or turning the other cheek… Seems just a bit selectively applied.

If Christianity really did affect her politics as suggested above then she’d not be quite such a nasty Tory…

That was my thinking: if I were a Christian, I’d be distancing myself from her actions.

Yesterday, I visited a Quaker meeting house, a Roman Catholic church, a Methodist chapel, a mosque, an Anglican church, a Sikh gurdwara, and a Buddhist centre. At all of these places, the message given was of peace, tolerance and love.

Theresa May’s actions, and the policies of Conservative governments, seem to be rather at odds with everything I heard yesterday.

Yesterday, I visited a Quaker meeting house, a Roman Catholic church, a Methodist chapel, a mosque, an Anglican church, a Sikh gurdwara, and a Buddhist centre. At all of these places, the message given was of peace, tolerance and love.

They obviously haven’t read the handbook. 😯

STW intolerance at it’s worst

Yesterday, I visited a Quaker meeting house, a Roman Catholic church, a Methodist chapel, a mosque, an Anglican church, a Sikh gurdwara, and a Buddhist centre.

You seem to be wavering.