Originally posted by Brother EdwinAsk yourself these questions:
I am undecided on weather to be christan or athest. In arguments on this forum who tends to have the most numbers/best debaters? ie who is the stronger side? Tell me so I can join that side.
1. If you had toothache, would you visit a dentist practising;
a) modern techniques with painless anaesthetics, sterile precise drill bits, antiseptic mouthwash and gold fillings.
b) several hundred year old techniques, supplying you with copious amounts of alcohol before ripping your tooth and roots out with a pair of crude pliers?
2. If you got an infection in your foot would you visit a doctor to;
a) receive a course of antibiotics and a check up to ensure the infection had cleared up.
b) receive copious amounts of alcohol before having the leg sawn off below the knee?
3. If you wanted to be amongst the best debaters would you join people who;
a) regularly familiarise themselves with and critically analyse the latest scientific knowledge and advancements, adjusting their model of the universe and updating their theories when more evidence comes to light.
b) ignore all scientific evidence and seek to discredit any new discoveries which contradict their belief system which is built entirely around a book written thousands of years ago when people thought that the Earth was the centre of the universe?
Choose wisely.
Originally posted by howardgeeI would choose a good man of god who knows medicine.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. If you had toothache, would you visit a dentist practising;
a) modern techniques with painless anaesthetics, sterile precise drill bits, antiseptic mouthwash and gold fillings.
b) several hundred year old techniques, supplying you with copious amounts of alcohol before ripping your tooth and roots out with a ...[text shortened]... f years ago when people thought that the Earth was the centre of the universe?
Choose wisely.
Originally posted by howardgeea book written thousands of years ago
Ask yourself these questions:
1. If you had toothache, would you visit a dentist practising;
a) modern techniques with painless anaesthetics, sterile precise drill bits, antiseptic mouthwash and gold fillings.
b) several h ...[text shortened]... t that the Earth was the centre of the universe?
Choose wisely.
This may be true for some religious texts, but really your letting the Bible off the hook.
The Bible is a compilation of books and letters written at different times in history, all patched together at different points in history. The most modern of these books was written a little less then 2000 years ago. The others are even more outdated!
Originally posted by telerionOutdated? Just say old, outdated implies something I don't believe
[b]a book written thousands of years ago
This may be true for some religious texts, but really your letting the Bible off the hook.
The Bible is a compilation of books and letters written at different times in history, all patched together at different points in history. The most modern of these books was written a little less then 2000 years ago. The others are even more outdated![/b]
is proper for something still relevant.
Kelly
Originally posted by Brother EdwinOk well maybe not everything in it is entirely outdated!
Is "thau shall not steal" outdated?
Perhaps I should say that it is need of a serious upgrade.
If we were talking computers, the Bible would be an abacus.. You can still add, subtract, multiply, and divide, but we need a lot better equipment.
I hope I have not insulted any abacus-lovers out there.
I saw this thread and wanted to chime in.
I am a recovering spiritualist cult member more or less. I was never active in a member oriented cult but I had the cultish spiritualist mindset. 15 years ago when I was 15 I was a Christian fundamentalist. Then I went to school, took some biology classes, read some history and decided that it was untenable.
I look back on my spiritualism and Christianity and wonder how I could have ever believed what I did. I was bright, inquisitive and the same person then as I am now. I will try not to totally condescend to those who get their faith from the bible. I just want to explore the relationship between belief and intelligence, and of course chess skill.
First of all, brilliant people have equal if not greater capacity to believe ludicrous nonsense than average people. This is because they can more cleverly find a way to believe something they want to be true. Secondly, a more intelligent and sensitive person is more likely to observe and think about the state of the world at a deeper level and thus feel more despair and more *need* to explain it in some concrete way or a way that requires faith.
There are very brilliant Christian fundamentalists and creationists. I personally dont find a connection between IQ and what some of these people continue to believe despite obvious overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Intelligence offers tools by which to aquire info to make choices, it does not predict the intelligence of the choices made via that info.
Another point is that many very smart people have not been playing chess for very long and have decent ratings for their low level of experience.
Another point is that chess brilliance is greatly about memory and vision. These are only partial attributes of overall intelligence. I have a good friend who would kill me at chess any day of the week, and he only scored average on his SATs. He was a below average student and people don't consider him the sharpest tool in the shed. I scored in the mid 90's% on my test and my chess ability is nothing to write home about. This friend of mine is in to wicca and magic and other things I consider to be absurd. Take a look at Jeremy Silman's site, and you can see he is into "magic" and other weird stuff as a spiritual tool. There are lots of factors involved.
a
Originally posted by AaroniousI have never sined.
I saw this thread and wanted to chime in.
I am a recovering spiritualist cult member more or less. I was never active in a member oriented cult but I had the cultish spiritualist mindset. 15 years ago when I was 15 I was a Christian fundamentalist. Then I went to school, took some biology classes, read some history and decided that it was untenable ...[text shortened]... into "magic" and other weird stuff as a spiritual tool. There are lots of factors involved.
a