#1, here we come.

I LOVE THIS PLANE! It is the very symbol of the highjacked United States. It's hard to ignore this poster boy for government/military reform.

So here it comes....

How many American Citizens could have had $50,000 college scholarships for the price of this single aircrafts program?

TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Believe it or not, I can personally relate to how you feel about it. I used to feel mostly the same way as someone who was previously agnostic to the idea of whether there is a supreme being or not, a Creator of the Universe. I also know why you feel you have come to a very sound conclusion about the idea, which is that you see no evidence of God or spirit. If you believe matter is all there is, it makes the existence of a supernatural Creator rather far fetched doesn't it?

Now you talk about logic, but even if you don't believe in the supernatural, there is by default no logical reason why either scenerio is more likely than the other, if you go by the initial premise that everything is equally unlikely. Why should there be something rather than nothing? That is the great question on Stephan Hawkings mind, even though he believes he can get the entire Universe from quantum foam.

These were questions I wrestled with as an agnostic. For one, I knew the limitations of our subjective perceptions. The limitations of human knowledge. It's a big Universe out there and we haven't even left our solar system yet. There are many possibilities even within the traditional secular understanding. What if life emerged on another planet far, far earlier? What would an intelligence evolving over billions of years look like? Was there a power that ruled this entire Universe? Those were just wonderings. But I found the real struggle was to objectively define truth. Any foundational truth, really. What is beauty? What is altruism? What is truth itself? 7 billion subjective perspectives does not equal one objective one. There is no way to get outside the Universe and look into it, and there is no way to go back to before it was created. These are simply the differences between relative and absolute truth.

These questions are much bigger than atheism, which is why I was agnostic. I didn't see any way I could write God off and be objective, but at the time I didn't see much reason to believe in Him either. You apparently feel differently. I'm interested to hear your logical reasons for not believing in God. A revelation that I had when I was thinking about these things was that I had entangled the concept of God with all of the religions of the world. To truly be objective, you have to look past religion, and consider the problem on just a probability basis. What is the likelyhood of any of it? You can explain it away with this and this and this happened, there was this explosion and then rocks came together and then amoebas appeared and then apes and then me, tada. You have to put all of that aside, as well as the size of the Universe, and just consider Stephan Hawkins question. Why is there something rather than nothing?

In any case, you don't see any evidence for a spirit so you are dealing with an entirely different set of parameters. For there to be a spirit you would have to deal with the fact that everything you know is in some way, wrong. You just naturally are not going to look in that direction.

The thing about God is, He isn't going to push Himself into your life. You think it's just a matter of evidence, a matter of discovering something; the truth is that to know God is not a right, it is a priviledge. You could spend 10,000 lifetimes dedicated to searching for God and you would never find Him until that moment when He chose to reveal Himself to you.

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Sometimes He has mercy on atheists, like this man:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4lgvZ5MCZ4

But biblically, He tells us to seek Him out. If you refuse to do that then you don't have any excuses. You've heard the truth and we are accountable to what we know. You don't feel a need for God right now but that's why we're here. God is patient, but we aren't guaranteed a single day on this planet. If you died today you would face judgement, but His mercy keeps you here that you will repent and turn from sin. So don't take your life for granted because that isn't anything we control. I say this out of love. God gives a lot of grace, and to know Jesus Christ is to know peace, and joy. It is to understand the meaning of truth, to have love, and to be free. It is to be made new. My prayer is that you, and others here, will come to know that for yourselves.

>> ^BicycleRepairMan:
@shinyblurry said: Fletch, you're even denial about the definition of atheism,which is the denial of any deity according to the dictionary.
Thats not how most atheists define atheism. Atheism is the LACK OF BELIEF in any theistic claim. There is a crucial difference. I dont "deny" any deity, that sentence doesnt even make sense to me as an atheist, any more than the sentence "The denial of any leprechaun".
You (@shinyblurry) believe in God
I dont.
Thats all there is to it.
"Not believing in god" wasnt really a conscious or deliberate decision on my part, its just "the way I am". But when i examine that position rationally and deliberately I find that it does also make more sense than believing there is a god. Can a beliver really, REALLY say the same, I wonder?

Yea, that's true...you do have some pretty ignorant "sods" over there don't you? (btw I love the word "sod")>> ^alien_concept:

>> ^rottenseed:
Well, we've got that whole "middle bit" that drives the average down.>> ^alien_concept:
>> ^rottenseed:
I do. We are.>> ^alien_concept:
>> ^Edgeman2112:
After watching this, Americans (I'm one) aren't all that stupid in comparison. This was painful to listen to the unfunny, high school wise cracks. I feel bad for Cox.

Who on earth suggested you were?


Oh right, you mean in general? Because out of the Top 8 Smartest People Ever (based on IQ) 3 of them are American...


And we have chavs. Idiocracy reality here we come!

>> ^rottenseed:

Well, we've got that whole "middle bit" that drives the average down.>> ^alien_concept:
>> ^rottenseed:
I do. We are.>> ^alien_concept:
>> ^Edgeman2112:
After watching this, Americans (I'm one) aren't all that stupid in comparison. This was painful to listen to the unfunny, high school wise cracks. I feel bad for Cox.

Who on earth suggested you were?


Oh right, you mean in general? Because out of the Top 8 Smartest People Ever (based on IQ) 3 of them are American...



And we have chavs. Idiocracy reality here we come!

Wait... so, oxygen is bad for you? Sheesh, I going to stop breathing immediately! Eternal life here I come!!

Also, what's with the creepy extreme-closeup at 1:55?

Minority Report Dystopia, here we come!

I think the disagreement here basically comes down to whether you consider a particular expression of religion to be a promotion of that religion or one of its doctrines.

I don't see a meaningful establishment of a religion in any of it. I do see a bias towards the 80%-90% of the people who believe in some kind of deity.

The Ten Commandments on the courtroom wall, that's a whole other thread. How can you have a courtroom when the Bible says "Judge not lest ye be judged."


>> ^jonny:

@quantumushroom - I don't understand how you define the boundary of the 1st Amendment's prohibition on government to espouse one religious doctrine over another.
I absolutely agree that in a free society no one has the right to live free from exposure to ideas (or speech or any other expression) that they don't like. But it's one thing to read a prayer on a billboard, and quite another to read it on the wall of a courtroom. When I see the billboard I know that someone cares about that message enough to spend quite a bit of money on it. When I see it in a courtroom, possibly facing the full weight of government authority, I have to wonder if my own religious beliefs will be used against me if they don't conform to what's on the wall.
I don't have a problem with things like a nativity scene in a public park, so long as it is privately sponsored. I don't really have a problem with references to god on money or in the pledge of allegiance. I don't care for it, but in those cases its as much a figure of speech as a religious statement. (The recitation of the pledge in schools is a larger issue, because there you're dealing with kids in an essentially authoritarian environment.)
I think the disagreement here basically comes down to whether you consider a particular expression of religion to be a promotion of that religion or one of its doctrines.

@quantumushroom - I don't understand how you define the boundary of the 1st Amendment's prohibition on government to espouse one religious doctrine over another.

I absolutely agree that in a free society no one has the right to live free from exposure to ideas (or speech or any other expression) that they don't like. But it's one thing to read a prayer on a billboard, and quite another to read it on the wall of a courtroom. When I see the billboard I know that someone cares about that message enough to spend quite a bit of money on it. When I see it in a courtroom, possibly facing the full weight of government authority, I have to wonder if my own religious beliefs will be used against me if they don't conform to what's on the wall.

I don't have a problem with things like a nativity scene in a public park, so long as it is privately sponsored. I don't really have a problem with references to god on money or in the pledge of allegiance. I don't care for it, but in those cases its as much a figure of speech as a religious statement. (The recitation of the pledge in schools is a larger issue, because there you're dealing with kids in an essentially authoritarian environment.)

I think the disagreement here basically comes down to whether you consider a particular expression of religion to be a promotion of that religion or one of its doctrines.

*promote... It is a horrible, shameful thing to force your values on someone else.

On a side note, I am disappointed by the antisemitism going on here. You can do better. I expect as much from @gorillaman. This is the character he plays here. But come on @Fletch. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." You might hate the christians, but Jesus had a point on that one.

>> ^Fletch:

Silly hats. Silly coats. Silly hair. Silly religion.

>> ^gorillaman:

So stop pretending jews are human beings.

Whoa, here she comes.. Watch out boy, she'll chew you up!

Maybe Bieber knows that he's making enough money as it is.. And the fact that if this kind of law would've been made ten years ago, he would be poor.. Make fretilized eggs a person, make corporations persons, take away all the rights to express yourself, make suing corporations illegal and see what happens.. Dystopia, my friend, here we come, i hope you're ready and have a lot of comfy cells for all of us!

YOOHOO, Galaxy and Dag-serenades here I come!!!!

Warp drive, here we come!
(maybe)

You know I love you, right?

I am now on a mission to help you make bronze asap.

Your inability to do the simplest invocations is a crime against a good sifter.

Bronze, here you come!