TCorp: [...] I understand it’s difficult for some people to distinguish between things that exist (matter, light, physical laws, particles, etc) and things that do not exist (ghosts, goblins, dragons, gods, vampires, magic, demons, zombies, etc). I’ve never really had a problem distinguishing bullshit from fact. Even when surrounded by bullshit, I could always see the truth. All I ever had to do was to wait for the people around me to catch up. [...]

Tifton: HAHAH “and things that do not exist (ghosts, goblins, dragons, gods, vampires, magic, demons, zombies, etc”

GHOSTS DO EXIST..IT’Z BEEN PROVEN. I’VE SEEN’EM & SO HAZ OTHER PEOPLE AROUND ME (NOT @ THA SAME TIME & NO I WUZN’T UNDA THA INFLUENCE EITHER), VAMPIRES..THEY DO EXIST EVEN IN MODERN TIMEZ. TRUE THEY DON’T TURN IN2 BATS & FLY AWAY..SHIT LIKE THAT..BUT THEY DO EXIST. DEMONS WOULD BE UNDA THA DEVIL..WHICH DO EXIST. FUCK U THINK THA EMILY ROSE & AMITTYVILLE MOVIEZ IZ TELLIN U? GODS..DO EXIST. THA WHOLE REASON THAT U HAVE LIFE.
MAGIC DOES EXIST. FUCK U THINK VOODOO IZ? & I KNOW PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE WORK WITH WITCHCRAFT & OTHER MAGICS.

“I’ve never really had a problem distinguishing bullshit from fact”

IF THAT WERE THA CASE..U WOULDN’T BE A TRANSGRESSOR MY DUDE..

WIT’ THAT SAID I’M DONE WITH THIS TOPIC. AIN’T NOBODY STIRRIN ME AWAY FROM MY FAITH & BELIEF IN A SUPREME BEING THAT CREATED ALL OF THIS. IT WUZ DONE IN 7DAYZ. A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN THAT TIME FRAME

TCorp: In reply to your post,

Tifton, I’m going to have to strongly suggest you seek professional help my friend. Not as in psychological help, but rather academic help to further your understanding of the world around you.

Ghosts do not exist. Do you even know what the word “proven” means? Have you considered that what you may have seen may not have been a ghost?

Vampires are mythical and folkloric creatures that are said to have supernatural powers. They were made famous in 1897 by the Irish author Bram Stoker in his book “Dracula”. It’s fiction based on myth based on folklore based on a massacre by a Romanian prince. He was so ruthless, people thought he was the spawn of the devil (another mythical creature).

“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” was based on the true life story of Anneliese Michel, an epileptic woman who was thought to be possessed by the devil when having one of her attacks and was given psychotropic drugs that eventually killed her.

“The Amityville Horror” is the title of a fictional book by author Jay Anson which was published in 1977. It’s FICTION, not FACT. Come back when you have learned the difference between the two.

“GODS..DO EXIST. THA WHOLE REASON THAT U HAVE LIFE.”

The only reason that I (or you for that matter) have life is because some 20 or 30 years ago, people were fucking. No more, no less. Get over it. I suggest you pick up a biology book some time in the near future. I don’t want to be the one that killed your stork or Santa.

“MAGIC DOES EXIST. FUCK U THINK VOODOO IZ? & I KNOW PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE WORK WITH WITCHCRAFT & OTHER MAGICS.”

Vodou is a religious practice that started in western Africa. You should go there some time. It’s a real eye opener. It is still practiced in some regions where the people are poor and have no education. You wouldn’t believe the number of people that die every year because they think they’ve been healed from Aids, malaria, tuberculosis or whatever ailment they had by some voodoo priest who dances around them singing to himself them while holding the chopped off limbs of a chicken and a stick that he claims has magical powers.

This takes us to your last statement.

You quoted me as saying “I’ve never really had a problem distinguishing bullshit from fact” and then you followed up with:
“IF THAT WERE THA CASE..U WOULDN’T BE A TRANSGRESSOR MY DUDE..”

“Transgression” is to go beyond limits set or prescribed by “divine” law. I do not believe in gods, therefore the word “divine” has no meaning in my vocabulary. I do not believe in sins, because I do not believe in the priests and gods that uphold such concepts.

Just because you missed the last part of every Scooby Doo episode you ever watched, does not mean any of the above actually exist. It is simply all fiction.

Jason: Scientifically speaking… how was the human race created?

I’m agnostic to the extent that there is no scientific belief that supports or explains how the human race was created, so therein my only alternate explaination is a supreme being. Unless your ultimate wisdom, TCorp, can elaborately define human existance and it’s becomings, I don’t see how you could be athiest and discard those who do believe in a religion and religious figures.

Fact to the masses… most people who claim to be “athiest” were raised under a religion they didn’t like, and instead of finding a religion that suited their enviornment, personality, etc, they denounced all religions to become “athiest”, in which they themselves cannot go into any detail why they are athiest other than “i don’t believe in god”.

TCorp: Jason, there’s plenty of scientific evidence on the origin of species on this planet. You just need to think outside-the-church to see it. Science is all about finding out things…unlike religion that likes to keep things spooky and magical…

The human race was never “created”, but it is rather the result of a biochemical process that continues on today.On this planet, all animals live by instinctual and (bio)logical laws like “select a healthy mate that you like based on physical characteristics,” or “try not to get killed” or “if you’re too slow, you get eaten by the predator that’s following you” etc..etc…

The results of these laws are that the offspring of those that survive are healthy and strong enough to survive their own environment. This is called natural selection.

Another set of laws that apply are those of genetic mutation. The reason why there is no cure for the common cold is that the virus that causes it keeps mutating (evolving) and thus by reason of natural selection quickly evolves immunity to antibiotics (only those mutations that are not effect by antibiotics survive, thus the species as a whole evolves to one that is immune to certain types of antibiotics). positive mutations like immunities are passed on to the next generation of the species while bad mutations that prevent reproduction or cause the death of a virus naturally do not get passed on.

All creates on this planet evolved to be what they are today and to this day continue to do so. Every time a creature procreates, the genes from the male and female of the species meld to one to copy its self into cells through a chemical process. It is during this stage that mutations take place. Yes, the mutations are all random, but because of natural and biological laws only the positive mutations survive.

I’ve tried to explain this in very simple language, but feel free to do some of your own research if you need details. This is a very extensive subject with answers that may seem hard to understand at first (that’s why most people just stick to whatever easy answers their tribal elders tell them - “god said so and so it was”) There’s nothing magical about what we look like or why we’re smarter than all the other species on this planet. It is simply the result of our environment and our genes.

As to why I am an atheist…well I believe in your god(s) as much as you believe in the ancient Greek gods or old Egyptian gods or the Mayan god…Anyone remember Hercules, Neptune, Odin or Thor? do you believe in Thor, god of thunder? no? probably because you know thunder is cause by negative and positively charged electrons flowing through air, and not by some angry thunder god. I don’t believe in gods because I do not need to. I have enough information to make my own judgements on this reality and gods play as much a role as trolls and goblins do. If I want fantasy, I’ll watch Lord of the Rings. People laugh at Star Trek fans that take it too far, not realizing how ridiculous common religions are.

Jason: T-Corp…

So your scientific reasoning for the human race is evolution from primates. But where did those primates come from? Sure maybe Jesus, Virigin Mary, Adam and Eve, etc never existed according to beliefs based upon evolution, but does indepth perceptions of evolution decypher where primates evolved from? I’m sure they fathom an idea that there were prehistoric primates, but the ancestorial path never seems to have a beginning.

Again I claim no perticular god, but i’m still agnostic, but in the name of science the Big Bang Theory created earth, atmosphere and life. A great center of gravity producing such a pull that all matter in it’s proximity was combined to create, and hold together, a mass of land. Who’s to say that wasn’t god just putting it together?

My personal belief is there is a supreme being that created us. Sure religions just expand or exaggerate how it happened, who did it, and how you should worship (believe) in that being.

Scientology is just as much a religion as christianity, jeudism, hinduism, etc. You have your “beliefs”, which is all religions are, and you worship, or devoutly believe them.

TCorp: Jason, i’m going to answer your post in sections because you seem to be confused…about..well…everything.

“…So your scientific reasoning for the human race is evolution from primates….”

- No, it is not “my” scientific reasoning that humans are higher primates, but it is rather the conclusion of a 120 years of scientific observation and evidence gathering. Evidence in genetics, the fossil record (evidence preserved in rocks) of previous generations of species and anthropological findings. It is what biologists and other scientists do…study to find facts to further the understanding of man kind in its world.

“…But where did those primates come from? Sure maybe Jesus, Virigin Mary, Adam and Eve, etc never existed according to beliefs based upon evolution, but does indepth perceptions of evolution decypher where primates evolved from? I’m sure they fathom an idea that there were prehistoric primates, but the ancestorial path never seems to have a beginning…”

In order to understand the evolutionary path of humans, it’s good to get some perspective on the bio system that resides on this planet. You can compare the entire evolutionary tree of all the creatures on this planet, big and small with the branches of a tree. Right now, you’re looking at a leaf on that tree (humans) and wondering how it got to be where it is without knowing that it is just that: a leaf on a tree. Every creature on this planet has a variation of a molecule in its cell(s) called a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). When studying the evolution of organisms, you’re actually only studying the evolution of the variations of that molecule.

In science, nothing is “fathomed” but hypotheses are brought forth and investigated and when the evidence or calculation reflects or predicts what that hypothesis states, it is accepted as a scientific theory. This goes for all sciences (Biology, astrophysics, mathematics, genetics, etc…)

You have to remember that we live in a world where 500 years ago, people -and some still do- believed that the Earth was flat and was the center of the solar systems and that stars were lights that were lit up by the gods or were gods themselves. (NASA scientists actually had to build rockets, fly into space and take pictures of the Earth to convince church leaders in Rome otherwise.)

Paleontology (the study of the developing history of life on Earth, including ancient plants and animals based on their fossil record) is a relatively new science. We (humans) have only been studying the fossil records of those before us for about 150 years, but even in that short time range we’ve gathered a huge amount evidence for how creatures on Earth evolved. Even if the our picture of the evolutionary tree may not yet be complete, this does not suggest that the beings on this Earth came to be by the snap of a finger of some god.

“…Again I claim no particular god, but I’m still agnostic, but in the name of science the Big Bang Theory created Earth, atmosphere and life…”

- You’re condensing a great number of events and even confusing some sciences with each other. “In the name of science”, the big bang is the name of an event that occurred some 14 billion years ago (give or take a few hundred million). This event was the beginning of existence. Matter, energy, the constants and time its self started there (ergo, there is no “before” the big bang).

“Atmosphere and life” on this planet came much later. Some 4.5 billion years ago, a chemical process began that kicked off evolution here. It probably only took some carbon, methane, oxygen and energy (lightning) to make the first proteins and other complex RNA and DNA sequences. A primordial ooze if you will.

“…A great center of gravity producing such a pull that all matter in it’s proximity was combined to create, and hold together, a mass of land. Who’s to say that wasn’t god just putting it together?…”

Ummm…gravity is a natural phenomena…it’s the bending of space by matter. Matter (ALL matter) bends space. When the space around an object is bent, it causes a spacial distortion; Since the “dent” gravity causes in space has an infinite range, objects with mass attract each other even at far distances. There is no one “great center of gravity”. Gravity is not a god pulling on you down when you fall on your ass…It’s just the gravity caused by the mass of the Earth and your mass being affected by it.

…My personal belief is there is a supreme being that created us. Sure religions just expand or exaggerate how it happened, who did it, and how you should worship (believe) in that being.

Scientology is just as much a religion as christianity, jeudism, hinduism, etc. You have your “beliefs”, which is all religions are, and you worship, or devoutly believe them…”

You can “believe” whatever you want to fantasize about, however, “Scientology” has nothing to do with science. The two should not be confused. “Scientology” is a cult started by Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, a science fiction author in the late 1950’s. Science is a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism.

If I just blew your mind,..well…you kinda had it coming.