i think humanity is superior to other life on earth, and honestly, i strongly appose animal charities and the likes, because there is so much suffering of people in the world still that could better use the money. alongside that, things like vegan diets are more expensive, and the extra money you make could be spent on fair trade products or the likes, helping make a difference in a btter place again.

To all the people out there that believe in any religion, I have a question. How do you know? How can you be sure your religion is exactly right? or even remotely right? It is a question that has baffled me.


You see, the only thing I see religion has as a sort of "proof" is a book/script. To be honest, anyone can write a book. Harry Potter is a book and it isn't real. Even some non-fiction books are riddled with lies and/or opinions. Things like the Big Bang theory have facts that support them. I am wondereing if relgion has any facts? If someone would kindly point them out, for any religion, I think I could take religion a lot more seriously.

I see what you're saying Zombie.. but this kind of pissed me off. It just kind of offends me that you boast about how Arabic is the very best, and I'm not saying it's not, but the world is full of all different cultures, languages, texts, and traditions. And every culture thinks differently of all the others, and most likely think they're the best. To say that the structure of the Quran is "god-like", and that they sent it to the arabs just because they were the smartest so that they could appreciate it makes me mad. It's just very snobby to me, for a religion to boast THAT MUCH over itself.

Being an atheist, I should be able to give you a just answer. You see, sometimes it is weird knowing that once you die that is the end. But that allows you to live your life to the fullest. To not leave anything unsaid or undone. We do not think about things like ?If I do that, will I go to hell?"

So yes, it would be comforting to believe that when you die you go forth into heaven. But it is also nice not worrying about how what you do now affects the afterlife because you belive there is none.

In Halifax, the banners on the city bus said "Stop worrying, there is no God anyway." I may believe that is true, but I do not think it is fair to post that on a bus. Just like I wouldn't like it if there was a religious sign on the bus.

What Zombie says is true. Atheist make the most out of this life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpkhDAfVA5U (saved or decieved- tackles the fake christians. If you are disgusted by hypocracy watch)

So at Thanksgiving, I was bored and at my grandparents house. There was the interesting book on the coffee table called "HEAVEN" I pick it up and look at it for a second and think "what the hell, could be interesting", and it really was. I was just flipping around through it to different sections and this one section talked about what heavens like and how to get into it. It peaked my interest so I read the whole section and it went a little something like this..

It said that we are all born as sinners, and that if we want the Lord to forgive us of our sins we have to accept him. There was a section about Infants that said something along the lines of "sadly, infants are too young and ignorant to understand God. God has a set of rules and cannot bend them, therefore it is only that he must send them to hell. Although they won't experience the suffering that adults feel when they go to hell, they won't receive the blessing of the Lords Kingdom" something like that, but it was weird. It really made me think, whenever babies die we're always saying "they're in a better place now" when really... they aren't. It was weird. But the book was really fascinating, I don't want to get to into it, but I find that though everything about Christianity won't always appeal to me, it's not all bad. You don't have to be some foot washer just to fulfill your life as a good christian person. All you have to do is believe in God, and believe that he is your god. So the book says, I just found that very interesting and really changed my perspective. Really, hearing what everyone has to say has really changed my whole perspective on ANY religion since I first started this.

Eragon presented himself to Oromis and said, "Master, it struck me last night that neither you nor the hundreds of elven scrolls I've read have mentioned your religion. What do elves believe?"

A long sigh was Oromis's first answer. Then: "We believe that the world behaves according to certain inviolable rules and that, by persistent effort, we can discover those rules and use them to predict events when circumstances repeat."

Eragon blinked. That did not tell him what he wanted to know. "But who, or what, do you worship?"

"Nothing."

"You worship the concept of nothing?"

"No, Eragon. We do not worship at all."

The thought was so alien, it took Eragon several moments to grasp what Oromis meant. The villagers of Carvahall lacked a single overriding doctrine, but they did share a collection of superstitions and rituals, most of which concerned warding off bad luck. During the course of his training, it had dawned upon Eragon that many of the phenomena that the villagers attributed to supernatural sources were in fact natural processes, such as when he learned in his meditations that maggots hatched from fly eggs, instead of spontaneously arising from the dirt, as he had thought before. Nor did it make sense for him to put out an offering of food to keep sprites from turning the milk sour when he knew that sour milk was actually caused by a proliferation of tiny organisms in the liquid. Still, Eragon remained convinced that otherworldly forces influenced the world in mysterious ways, a belief that his exposure to the dwarves' religion had bolstered. He said, "Where do you think the world came from, then, if it wasn't created by the gods?"

"Which gods, Eragon?"

"Your gods, the dwarf gods, our gods . . . someone must have created it."

Oromis raised an eyebrow. "I would not necessarily agree with you. But, be that as it may, I cannot prove that gods do not exist. Nor can I prove that the world and everything in it was not created by an entity or entities in the distant past. But I can tell you that in the millennia we elves have studied nature, we have never witnessed an instance where the rules that govern the world have been broken. That is, we have never seen a miracle. Many events have defied our ability to explain, but we are convinced that we failed because we are still woefully ignorant about the universe and not because a deity altered the workings of nature."

"A god wouldn't have to alter nature to accomplish his will," asserted Eragon. "He could do it within the system that already exists. . . . He could use magic to affect events."

Oromis smiled. "Very true. But ask yourself this, Eragon: if gods exist, have they been good custodians of Alagaesia? Death, sickness, poverty, tyranny, and countless other miseries stalk the land. If this is the handiwork of divine beings, then they are to be rebelled against and overthrown, not given obeisance, obedience, and reverence."

"The dwarves believe--"

"Exactly! The dwarves believe. When it comes to certain matters, they rely upon faith rather than reason. They have even been known to ignore proven facts that contradict their dogma."

"Like what?" demanded Eragon.

"Dwarf priests use coral as proof that stone is alive and can grow, which also corroborates their story that Helzvog formed the race of dwarves out of granite. But we elves know that coral is actually an exoskeleton secreted by miniscule animals that live inside the coral. Any magician can sense the animals if he opens his mind. We explained this to the dwarves, but they refused to listen, saying that the life we felt resides in every kind of stone, although their priests are the only ones who are supposed to be able to detect the life in landlocked stones."

For a long time, Eragon stared out the window, turning Oromis's words over in his mind. "You don't believe in an afterlife, then."

"From what Glaedr said, you already knew that."

"And you don't put stock in gods."

"We only give credence to that which we can prove exists. Since we cannot find evidence that gods, miracles, and other supernatural things are real, we do not trouble ourselves about them. If that were to change, if Helzvog were to reveal himself to us, then we would accept the new information and revise our position."

"It seems a cold world without something . . . more."

"On the contrary," said Oromis, "it is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do, instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment. I won't tell you what to believe, Eragon. It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else's notions thrust upon you. You asked after our religion, and I have answered you true. Make of it what you will."