Are you religious?

He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.

I like the way that is put, shame the guy is a nutter. 2 words: Oedipus Complex.

Nihilist. Google Nihilism. Wikipedia.

So... if I went out and murdered someone, would you think that was wrong pirate?

Who needs to search what Nihilism is, I'm pretty sure we've all seen the Big Lebowski.

EDIT: Just a little joke, I know those Nihilists in the movie were incredibly played up and were sort of making fun of the philosophy.

Wrong is subjective and an artificial construct. I would see it as cruel and unnecessary (excusing extreme cases like self defense). I would likely lose all respect for you. If I were there I would fight to the death to stop you. But its your right to act as you want to. As I have the right to try to impose my no murder policy on you should you try.

But no, as I don't believe in right and wrong, I could not call it wrong, Serious.

Tolvo wrote:Who needs to search what Nihilism is, I'm pretty sure we've all seen the Big Lebowski.

EDIT: Just a little joke, I know those Nihilists in the movie were incredibly played up and were sort of making fun of the philosophy.

I haven't seen it, but I know nihilists are widely seen as amoral dill holes. Its a common misconception.

In the film the Nihilists are Nazis, "Vee are Nihilists, we believe in Nozzing." A line from the film.

It's a comedy though so really people shouldn't base beliefs off of it, but I know there's always those people who will base their views of Nihilists off of the that film...Since I know said people.

I DON'T ROLL ON SHABBOS!

That movie makes fun of more than one philosophy, lol. No offence intended to anyone.

Anyways, my religious beliefs are a bit confused right now, at a cross roads, I guess. A lot of kids grow up with a belief in God, it's natural. But, at a certain point, you start to question that belief, and it is at this point that most people (to my knowledge) make a decision on if they will be religious or not. I am at that point.

Well it will be interesting to see which road you follow then Imar. Why exactly have you been questioning your religion, I'm assuming you follow an Abrahamic religion since you capitalized the word god.

Depends. Does such religion have to be a cult or religion that others also share, or can it be individual?

Acidic knows his stuff it sounds like. I think it's safe to say all beliefs are cool Acidic.

I don't know why I've been questioning religion for sure, a number of reasons I guess. One, I have a bunch of atheistic friends. Two, my family is a very science oriented family. When you start to see the world not from "because God made it" but because "big bang, etc." It becomes very hard to not at least question religion. And, it sort of grew in my head. I don't know when exactly I started to question belief, but once I did, I couldn't get it out of my head, for better or for worse.

And yeah, Abrahamic, but I don't want to get into that.

Nihilism isn't the belief in nothing either. Its a practice. In most cases, the goal is to see everything as it actually is, putting aside perspective as best you can. Ironicly this practice includes viewing both other peoples, and your own perspective in the same manner, which can be very disturbing. So its entirely possible that a god exists, but as I have yet to find a practical, measurable application for posessing such a belief, I view the entire concept irrelevant except in how such beliefs influence the actions of others.

Forum it's kind of funny but I could call myself a Nihilist, at times. But more so it all depends on my mood, oddly enough. Sometimes I can do my best to throw all bias out the window, but I'm human. As well sometimes via keeping myself open to more emotional and a bit less rational responses I can understand people a lot better in ways.

I actually found myself questioning evolution when I took biology. Cells are just mindblowingly complex, and 'twas difficult for me to accept that it was all random chance.

Everyone questions things in different ways, and reaches conclusions differently.

Funny enough I actually stopped believing in a god the first time I considered death.

Imar it will be interesting to see how things turn out for you, I'd rather not try to influence you in any direction. I just hope you find a path that suits you.

Forum Pirate wrote:Wrong is subjective and an artificial construct. I would see it as cruel and unnecessary (excusing extreme cases like self defense). I would likely lose all respect for you. If I were there I would fight to the death to stop you. But its your right to act as you want to. As I have the right to try to impose my no murder policy on you should you try.

But no, as I don't believe in right and wrong, I could not call it wrong, Serious.

Also based on my extremely short research, typical nihilism centres around the lack of meaning, purpose and inherent value of life, but this kinda contradicts your stop me from murder policy and that you agree at least with the subjective idea of cruelty.. Does life then have value to you?

Quarik wrote:I actually found myself questioning evolution when I took biology. Cells are just mindblowingly complex, and 'twas difficult for me to accept that it was all random chance.

i see this view a lot and its quite easy to answer actually. Think about how many plamnets there are in the universe. However many there are 1/(chance of cells developing) > 1/(How many planets there are in the universe). Therefore its mathematically certain for cells like ours to have developed. Also accounting for the perfect conditions our planet has to support carbon nased lifeforms incraeses the probability by a lot.

I believe in Determinism, but not as others do. i do not believe that we are controlled by one individual, but as a whole. Such control is not absolute, but it is strong nonetheless. With the aspect of different equations, the determined reaction of different aspects, such as what happens in the present, future, and what happened in the past happen for a reason, and not by some random equation. It is, however chaotic. Chaotic in the sense that it is not disordered or has no order, but rather it is of similar quality of order, except is unpredictable. Such unpredictable means can be predicted by a few who understand such causes of actions, reactions, conditions, and effects of different means, making it their view as ordered, and predictable.

I do not believe in the birth being when the form of the being comes from the womb of the mother, nor when the fetus is being made. Rather, it is when the essence, in which case is you, awakens, or is born (I do not know which to say, but it is either or). With instinct being still alive, the rest of the essence of the being, the conscious being that is you, is not born. Do you remember anything from the beginning of your birth? Probably not. More so, it is later in life, when a few years happen. it may not be the same as many, as they may be awake when their 2, 4, or even some other age. Nonetheless, the conscious mind, you, is not awake.

Humanity is my only god. Everything they do, I do for them. I do not hate them nor love them; Cherish them nor reject them. They are me, and yet they are not me. However, the views of humanity are not the same as others. people say that what people do that does not follow the norm of what a society does is against human nature, in which is what humanity is... that and the whole. Other ideals comes to mind in which case man can go against human nature. That is, of all things, impossible. Man can not go against human nature, as man was able to choose, and to do, what many sees as it going against humanity itself. Every being, every man, is part of the whole. Every being is different, with variety in play. As well, the ability of choice, in which many different equations within the world, such as other animals, rocks, planets, and other forms, have little to none to do so. Such choices and variations makes it impossible for man to go against human nature, as it is part of their human nature to do what they do, in this case their variety and choice. Humanity does not describe man, but more so man describes humanity.

I can continue on... I have tried to understand man for a while now. It started since I was at a very young age. I guess I never really believed or agreed with all what people say. I make answers that are of logic and rational thinking, in which makes sense with little to no error. I can not say that their is no God, as my God is the whole and human nature itself. I am a realist, as well as a visionary of sorts. I love my world, with all the war, peace, agony, joy, remorse, pain, laughter, cries, and all forms that exist within my world. The chaotic yet orderly world in which is mine to hold... I see little as beautiful, but I can say that the world of man is by far the most. There may be a creature more beautiful in the universe with such complexity and variety, although it may never reach man's greatest tool, in which is their greatest accomplishment and downfall:

Choice.

I find myself much in agreeance with you Acidic, finding your views similar to mine. however i would partially disagree with your identification of mans greatest tool. I feel Hope(which is what allows us to make choices) is a far more powerful tool than choice itself. For without hope you may not choose, thus making a choice that is not of your choosing.

To me yes, to the universe no. Big difference. I value life. But thats my value, but if I die tomorrow, my life will have had only the meaning others assign to it and my previously held values will only matter if the people who remember me chose to believe they do.

The belief is that life has no INHERENT value not that it has no value at all.

I love it. We have forum the nihilist who believes that in the greater scheme of things life has no inherent value, and me, the hardcore humanist who believes in humanity's divinity.

And then me, the man with his cheeks firmly gripping a fence post.

Choice is always made by man. Always. Everytime you walk, everytime you breath, you eat, you talk... everything man does, it is by choice. Even making themselves a slave, following the orders of a tyrant, or even bowing to a artifical god is by choice, even if they do not understand. Man chooses whatever the want, and many do not undertsand its potential. This does sadden me.

Hope is a great aspect of understanding such choice. I am very faithful, even if my faith does not welcome the aspect of a greater being, other than my own man. I alienate them sometimes from myself, but that is for the study required for them. Hope is what man gives us to continue on, when rationality does not help. Such examples of Hope leads to one of the three aspects of the mind, in which is emotion. Such Hope is an emotion, allowing the being to have a positive field to survive from what may destroy them if they did not have it. Hope is another form of courage, to wistand the pain both mentally and physically affected towards them, to be used as a lantern when they can not see in the darkness of reality... as well as the shades when light blinds them as well.

The three aspects of the mind are simple. They ar eof emotion, logic, and instinct. Emotion is the form in which is part of us, which the essence of the being (you) thinks with a connective and disconnective thought. Such thoughts can be both negative and positive, and they are of a personal quality more so than the rest. Logic is the form of rationality, in which case the mind thinks with realism and equative technique, trying to solve problems and to comprehend the unknown with what they know, solving the pieces with thought to make better descisions. Instinct is unique from the two, being that it is not so thoughtful, but more so reactive. Instinct is not either emotion nor logic, but usually is determined by such aspects as well. However, it has been known that instinctive action happens without the thought of rationality or emotion in the beings mind, showing the independence of such a mind set.

It is important to note that many should understand such qualities, and not for one to take control of the rest. More so, it would be best for a balance of the three. Too much emotion will lead to irrational and deadly conditions and effects, and could cause deadly impact towards their own man if the negative aspects of emotion overwhelm them. Logic can destroy the essence from the inside, if rationality and reality does not cooperate with what the being sees or does, destorying them with madness, similar to emotion. Instinct is a quality of thought that may or may not be rational or irrational, and it would lead to a decline of the mental state, in which case the conscious mind would be replace with a mind similar to the creatures that surround us today, removing the aspect of choice we hold dear, as well as other qualities of man that makes us beautiful.

100 posts about religion without devolving into a flame war. Congrats everyone.