fellis:
Sometimes you sound like a theist.

snthesis:
and then, what next?

unclenna: I just sold EJ Now 10:10pm 15/07/2012... @ 97.203, T.p = 96.821.............The market will tend to move towards the Pivot point before going to any direction..this is a sure trade and alert......


EJ, GJ, GU and EU all of them are moving towards the Pivot Point before any move.....You can sell any of the pair for 10 - 20pips before morning........Ensure to exit the trade before morning to avoid being caught off by the main trend.....Unclenna

Avicenna:

The conditions that sustain life on Earth is likely to be present in some other part of the universe.

A God should be readily observable like gravity. If he decides to hide himself(deism) then it follows he doesn't want us to bother about him.

See me, thinking you wanted an honest discussion on ET.

Evil Brain: If you're referring to UFOs, then no. There is no evidence that we've ever been visited by extraterrestrials. Those who believe that we have are just deceiving themselves.

On the other hand, if you're asking if life exists on other planets, then yes, I do believe it does. There are an unimaginably large number of stars in the universe. If you add to that the evidence from the Kepler telescope that extrasolar planets are extremely common, It seems really unlikely that earth is the only place where life has taken root.

However, given the huge distances involved, its very unlikely that we'll ever encounter another intelligent species barring a major breakthrough in physics.

SimonAndal: It'll be cool if they did exist, wouldn't it? Me personally I'm rooting for the Klingons and Galliefreyans.

snthesis: whats d importance of his race?
does it make u sleep better?

tpia@:
because he married 700 wives and had 1000 concubines, that makes him a black man?

snthesis: Please i need your honest answers related to the picture below:

1. what is your first opinion about the picture?
2. do u think it occurred by chance?
3. what are the odds of rain, wind, thunderstorms, lightning etc -severe weathering, producing the design of this work?
4. do u instantly think it was created by an intelligent designer?
5. which is easier to create, this work or a living cell?

if you have answered the questions above honestly, then please answer just one more
6. Do u still think Atheism/evolution/big bang theory makes sense?

plaetton: ^^^^^
Agreed.
For example, when you stop at a red light, do you do so primarily because of the police(the authority) might catch and punish you if you did not, or , do you do so because your higher sense tells you that it is in the best interest of yours and other road users to do so?

Another example; political and military leaders are quick to send soldiers into war to figh for or to protect their personal or group interests. The soldiers march off to war, irrespective their opinions, because they are duty bound to do so. But the larger public, who are not duty bound to fight wars for political leaders, oppose the war and usuaaly turn out to protest because they can see, through their own inner conscience, the horrors of war.

The point here is that morality or ethical conduct does not need an authoritative source.

thehomer:

If by authoritative force you mean someone issuing decrees to be taken as moral pronouncements, then it is possible without such an entity.
What we need to understand at the core is that humans decide whether or not an act is moral based on the sorts of effects it has on sentient organisms. With this idea at the back of one's mind, one can arrive at various moral precepts without the need for such an authority and another effect of this is that it grants humans the ability to morally improve based on the degree of their understanding of where they find themselves.

ubcandid: look i am tired of people linking religion with morality.it has to do with ur response to your conscience and your self discipline as an individual.

mukina2:
if babies could talk, they would have reported a lot of us.

when am mixing baby food, one scoop for bottle one scoop for me
you just have to taste it . .and once you start tasting . . its just so hard to stop.



am sure you finished up the baby's food wipe your mouth, still add more, wipe your mouth and pretend to be mixing

Caracta: *angry face*
I didn't STEAL it, i had to taste it to certify it ok. I'm serious. It wasn't a theft...certification, maybe.

*crying*
I've been doing dat for a long time now. I need help. I want to stop. Actually, i don't want to stop!

#wipes the tears and puts the baby food in her mouth#

Pastor AIO: I have a feeling we might have to abandon this thread soon Due to Front page disease.

frontpageisis.

jackbauersballs:

You assume that my assertion that you are wise is an insult.?
You assume wrongly.


A boy is a boy, a girl is a girl, and mkmyers45 is a wise man.
All verifiable facts.

Cheers.

jackbauersballs:

I am more intellectually unsound than anybody in your family.
Dont think because you have access to a keyboard and internet, you are now a philosopher...
Have you not noticed how people have been taking pot shots at religion- christianity in particular, all in the name of defining an 'authoritative source'? Although i myself cannot define it


If I sit down to discuss with you and pick your brain, you will be the better for it...
However I will leave you to bask in your intelligence as i don't know better.

Reyginus: Quick to fish out the errors(maybe to humiliate), but slow to recommend a solution-THE HEART OF MAN

Reyginus: Show me where i went wrong then

I dont believe that an authority is overlying morality,but spirituality.To say that morality is linked to the existence of a godhead is illogical and cannot be proven, and that which cannot be proven is a fallacy.morality can exist in the presence/abscence of a godhead.Though the presence of an authority may command morality,it ll be a fallacy to restrict it there.The presence of atheists proves it to be a fallacy (except you are telling me that atheists believe subconsciously in God)

mkmyers45:

The authority talked about here is not restricted to a 'God-head'

Cheers

Mr_Anony:
Ok fine, I now challenge you to provide a moral judge that fits all those criteria other than God or better than God.

I'll quote myself from another thread. This is what I said:

".........I will go on to say that for anything to be a true standard for morality
1. It must be all-powerful or at least more powerful than man i.e. must be powerful enough to punish evil and reward good.

2. It must be omniscient i.e. must be able to properly know and understand everything and every motive

3. It must be all-seeing i.e. must be able to see a case from every possible angle. No evidence should escape it.

6. It must not waver and must not change with the wind i.e. what was once evil will not suddenly become good and vice versa(note this is different from it's permissiveness)

jackbauersballs: The problem with the 'Intellectual Atheists' on Nairaland is that they keep assuming that the Christian God is an all-benevolent deity.

Study every religion, every deity is a duality of benevolence and malevolence.

There is NO god elsewhere that does not reward his/her followers and punish the infidels.

So why do you expect the christian God to be some sort of father-christmas in the sky?
Even our bible in Deut 4:24 states that "The Lord your God is a consuming fire"

Yes we know religion may be an artificial construct designed by man to make sense of unfamiliar situations.
Yes we know religion has long been a tool to manipulate the masses in the name of God
Yes we know some pastors are getting rich of christianity

Yes we know at the end of the day, amadioha might have been the true god after all

BUT we choose to believe in our lord Jesus Christ as our saviour...
If you dont believe, its cool....

But stop the religion bashing on here for faacksake!

Fanatical Atheists are no different from Fanatical Theists...

Reyginus: Show me where i went wrong then

I dont believe that an authority is overlying morality,but spirituality.To say that morality is linked to the existence of a godhead is illogical and cannot be proven, and that which cannot be proven is a fallacy.morality can exist in the presence/abscence of a godhead.Though the presence of an authority may command morality,it ll be a fallacy to restrict it there.The presence of atheists proves it to be a fallacy (except you are telling me that atheists believe subconsciously in God)

mkmyers45:

The authority talked about here is not restricted to a 'God-head'

Cheers

Mr_Anony:
Ok, let me agree that you are not anti-God.

Now, I need you to make a firmer statement. ".....in some ways more than one it may be so....." is not firm enough for me. It is either you totally agree with the criteria or you don't and wish to make some amendments. If we cannot firmly agree on a basis for judgment, we cannot move forward with our discourse.

By the way, I noticed the thread has made frontpage so I think I'm going to stay off it for a while until the excitement has died down a bit and then we'll continue, plus I have to go to church soon.

Cheers

Reyginus: I dont believe that an authority is overlying morality,but spirituality.To say that morality is linked to the existence of a godhead is illogical and cannot be proven, and that which cannot be proven is a fallacy.morality can exist in the presence/abscence of a godhead.Though the presence of an authority may command morality,it ll be a fallacy to restrict it there.The presence of atheists proves it to be a fallacy (except you are telling me that atheists believe subconsciously in God).

shymmex: Authoritative source has nothing to do with morality...

Morality is a culturally conditioned response, and an individual's level of consciousness.

The first morals a person learns is indoctrinated into them by their parents at an early age - that lays the foundation for everything.

Your level of consciousness and societal values (culture) take charge from there.

easycopyrh: @ PRINCE des ones are for SPIKE traders which am nt one coz it culd brings profit or cause serious damage to accts..... bt al dsame i will try and hav a luk at d release wen its done..

Enigma:

Oh sorry then; so you admit also that cannibalism can be moral? Then I have no problem with your atheism stance then and the issue of compatibility.




I think my opinion and meaning are clear enough. One thing that has become clear to me though is that you still ned to do a lot of careful thinking on the topic.

Wish you all the best.

Mr_Anony: @mkmyers, It is clear that you purposely didn't understand me. You are letting your anti-God bias get in the way. Please read my words in red.



The bolded you didn't understand was simple if u didn't already have a bias. I was stating that the validity of any judge may be based on:-
1. How much power it has,
2. How much it knows about the case
3. If it can see the case from diverse veiwpoints,
4. If it has a good conscience and yet discernible
5. If it is impartial
6. If it is firm and unwavering
7. If it is singular in essense and purpose

Do you agree now with these criteria for a moral authority?

If you don't, please explain why. And then absent your anti-God bias, please provide separate criteria a moral authority must meet.

frosbel:


And this you heard from third hand sources , all conflicting with each other, you guys are hilarious, I wish you and your ilks all the best in your historical journey to nowhere

Bye ya

plaetton:


I have never heard that any of them did?
If you are referring the alleged miraculous crossing of the red sea, it never happened. If you read the bible and plot the movement of the Isrealites after they left Egypt, you will see that they never came remotely close to the red sea. They did cross a sea of reeds, a swampy marshland.