A Few questions I have thought of, and also been asked:
* “If we evolved from monkeys, why are their still monkeys?
Because, if every animal died after it evolved into a new creature, their would only be a few animals alive. Monkeys (particualiry Chimps) evolved as well...therefore, we both have evolved from similar creatures, that is why we are similar.
*Why do we need a New Testament if God was “all knowing”?
If God knows everything, why do we need a new testament? He should have known that things would change, and created “rules” that went along with them. (If God created everybody and everything, and has a plan for them, why didn’t he foresee it all?
*If God knows everything, why was it at one time okay to beat your wife?
*Why is the opposite of believing in God always being a Devil Worshiper? Why is it that if you tell an atheist you don’t worship the devil, he doesn’t automatically think you’re a Christian?
Based on every Christian I have ever met, if they assume that they don’t believe in God, that person is automatically “a devil worshiper”. Which to me is ridiculous. If a person is wearing black they are certainly not a devil worshiper because of that!! In fact, if God created everything...isn’t it safe to assume he also created the color black?
*Why does it seem like the people that judge the MOST are the ones that say we shouldn’t judge at all?
Again, based on every “Christian” I have ever met, they are always very judgmental. Somebody obviously worships the devil because they don’t dress “normally”, he must be gay because he’s “weird”, don’t talk to him because he’s gay, weird and dresses funny. Why do they then assume that they are living their lives “well” and the way “God” intended them to? If God says not to judge, which is what I have always been told, why do so many “Christians” take it upon themselves to judge others? Isn’t this a sin?
My main point to this topic is not that I don’t believe in God, which I find hard to do, but a few questions I have come up with, and been asked. I can’t make assumptions about all of the people following one religion, but I can tell you what I have observed through all the people I have ever met. I pretty much agree with a lot of the stuff said in the bible (don’t kill, lie, steal, cheat, judge, etc) I mean why would anyone disagree with that? I don’t, however, believe that there is a God in the sense of there being a “person” watching over us, or that there is a Heaven or Hell. I think there was a “Jesus” and He came up with all these good “rules” to live by. He was noble enough to be A “god” not THE God
(Personally, I think the “be bad and you’ll go to hell”, “be good and you’ll go to Heaven” thing sounds an awful lot like “Be bad and Santa won’t bring you any gifts.” I think that Jesus was a real person (like “Santa”), and was made into a commercial person in order to keep everybody in line. Which is a good thing as long as it isn’t abused.)
I am not trying to piss anybody off with this post, that’s far from it, I am merely stating my opinions/thoughts. If anybody wants to “debate”, or tell me a little about “their” side, that would be WONDERFUL. I am looking forward to it. I am pretty much an open minded person, and I am willing to treat you with respect about your opinion (and consider it), if you do the same to me. (In case you’re wondering: this is progressive because religion is CERTAINLY a topic that everyone deals with everyday, whether you have one or not. Without constant debates over religion, no new religions could be created, and everybody would be forced to listen to one or two churches.
(It would be like Wal-Mart taking over K-Mart)
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I don't have my doctorate on darwinism or anything, but i think your first question is a little miss guided. Things evolve to suit themselves to their surroundings better, but (as far as i know, and as evidence would tell me) as something evolves, its entire species doesn't just die out. Firstly, evolving takes thousands upon thousands of years. Don't quote me on this, but if i were to guess why monkeys are still here, it would be that they aren't done evolving, and in a few more thousand years, those monkeys will be humans (i'm not so sure about that last part, but whatever)
As far as religious people go, not all religious people are overbearing in their beliefs, and quick to judge someone for not having the same opinion, but a vast majority of them are. Why? Simply because a lot of people are sheep, and they just follow the beliefs that people tell them, so when someone comes with a different idea, or something refuting what they believe, they don't know what to say, and start baaahing about with nonsense. These type of people are the quickest to judge, because they don't have the capacity to consider a different idea, or the fact that they may be wrong
It is just ridiculous how those of a certain faith can have such disdain and hate towards people with a different belief. Honestly, no matter what religion you are, its all the same. They all believe in the same fairy tale, the only difference is who the villain and the hero of the story are (sorry for calling religion a fairy tale for those religious people... just my beliefs)
i have a blog about what i think about religion if anyone wants to check it out
http://www.progressiveu.org/203731-worlds-number-one-killer-religion
it kind of covers similar topics as this. yeah that was a shameless ad for my blog just in case you were wondering
I agree about the evolution thing. My dad tried to argue with me about religion and evolution, I hadn't really given it a whole lot of thought except what I already wrote.
~In order to have a better society, we need to CREATE a better society."
Well, I really like the fact that I found someone who is also been asking questions or being asked about various aspects of religion. As I comment on this blog, please remember that the following are my own views.
Men are thought to be evolved from monkeys. According to Darwinism, as far as I remember, he stated that during a long period of time, a species change its form, shape, behavior to suit to the environment that is just right for that. While it is transforming, some of this species may survive to live up to the transformed state, some dies out. Based on the "survival of the fittest", the fittest will continue to live & produce fertile offspring. This transformation stage can be very lengthy. And this can take several hundreds or thousands or millions of years or more. However, Darwin never said that the initial species from which the new species emerged, would be extinct from the planet. That species would still be surviving in places where it find its suitable habitat. In that sense, monkeys could be the ancestors of men & they are still existing for that reason. If you look at the shapes between monkeys & men, you would find them similar. I also remember that my Biology teacher once told me that chimpanzee & men are 98% genetically identical. So, that could be another proof to the similarity between men & monkey.
About your theory of God, as a Hindu & modern philosopher, I believe God is more of a power or energy that drives everything that happens in the universe. God is the sole creator of all the things in the universe. There exists two sides in human or maybe animal minds, good & bad consciousness. The good one advises the person to follow what is morally right in the society's point of view. The bad always tries to make the person do bad things. It is the person's duty to do what's best for him. I think, in this point God does not tell what to do. The person himself decides his actions. From the action's result, the person suffers or enjoys happiness in earth, in my philosophy. Once I read a Bengali poem where the poet said that there is no heaven or hell outside of this world, it exists here. I also think alike as the poet that heaven/hell exists here during our lifetime. According to my religion, the goal of life is to attain salvation which can be gained by being a true worshiper of God. But, I believe to free ourselves from the world, we need to focus on what we do, what we find interesting to us (since everyone has different perceptions), what makes us happy & what's good for the society or everyone's well-being. To me, God is more of a guidance who is my conscious.
Im more partial to Freud's theories on the unconscious mind. Since it is the unconscious mind we are talking about, how could it possibly promote bad thoughts? How would it know what bad thoughts are. And for that matter, how could it know what good thoughts were. I think it is more like the unconscious mind has certain urges, sexual, hunger, etc. etc. and our conscious mind takes these urges, and applies the morals of our society to them. I mean, we are animals, there is no doubting that, and if you look at animals with less developed minds than us, it kind of agrees with what i said. A human may be hungry, but it may be socially unacceptable for him to eat some scrap of food off the floor, but for a dog, its hungry.food. eat. and it doesn't care, or even know to care, that eating food off the floor is looked down upon
However, i like the rest of what you said. I agree that the world we live in is the heaven or hell we make it. Our goal in life is basically to procreate, and be happy, and by whatever means that takes, we go for it. Some people look to religion for happiness and purpose. i look to myself for those
Not everything died from evolution. That is why monkey's haven't. Crocodiles were very similar but quite larger than they are now and they are still around. They are one of the oldest living creatures that have evolved into what we have today. many other animals have evolved and haven't died but I can't seem to think of any at this moment. lol. As for the new testament people decided they wanted to make something better than the old testament. In my opinion I think it is confusing on which bible to follow. I follow the 10 commantment but the bible I have no clue because all of these religions have formed from the main one we used to have a long ago. Who knows who altered the bible or any book because they felt that wasn't good enough so they would add a new part. Another point also that I have thought of is: if there is a god (which I believe there is) who created him?
Something people should know about:
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
Okay, your last question is the one that bakes my noodle every time, whether I'm considering the potential existence of a higher power or the plausibility of the Big Bang. Where did it all start?! That's what keeps me agnostic, instead of atheist. If the gases collided and exploded, where did the come from in the first place? If they were created, who created the creator? Bah!
*brain explodes*
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Your first question is a common misconception. Humans never evolved from monkeys - they evolved from primates. This is an important distinction, as monkeys are a specific type of primate that, as it turns out, share a common ancestor with humans. Our real ancestor? According to recent findings, it looks like sahelanthropus tchadensis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahelanthropus_tchadensis). You are, however, correct, that evolution does not destroy species that evolve... even if you don't seem to understand why.
T.k.
Wow, you’ve asked some really tough questions! Obviously you’ve put some thought into these issues and it’s great that you keep an open mind. I tend to be the type of person who isn’t satisfied with just believing something either; I like to know why I believe something. As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time reading and studying different issues from different points of view. So here are some of my thoughts on one of your questions!
“Why does it seem like the people that judge the MOST are the ones that say we shouldn’t judge at all?”
Well, no one is perfect, but I agree that people shouldn’t be putting themselves above others simply because of their beliefs or looks. And yes, judging others unjustly is a sin. Obviously the Christians that you have met need to remember this and reread Matthew 7:1-5 or Luke 6:37-42. I’d tell you to try to meet some true Biblical Christians. I’ve met both types of Christians – those that tend to use it as a label and those that actually live it. Unfortunately, those that use Christianity as a label have given all Christians a bad name. Try not to let these bad examples of Christians influence your opinions of all Christians. Like I said, I’ve met several Biblical Christians who are great people and actually live out what they believe. They believe that God created everyone equally and that He commands them to love everyone, regardless of what they wear or what they do. These people don’t consider a person a devil worshiper because they don’t believe in God or they wear black. (Actually, several of them wear black themselves quite often.) They also talk to homosexuals, criminals, etc just like they would anyone else. Although I will state that this doesn’t mean that they accept that person’s lifestyle as acceptable to God. Biblical Christians still consider homosexuality wrong because it clearly states this in the Bible. However, they don’t believe this gives them any right to treat this person any different from anyone else.
Like I said, these are just some of my thoughts from my experiences. Hope you enjoy them!
Generallee