Is There a God?

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

But why the good ones may become bad ones and viceversa?
And what authority we have to label us as good or bad?
Are we just good or bad? Aren't there any other "nuances"?

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People change for a multitude of reasons. What has that got to do with the supposed existence of a 'soul'?
Good and bad are defined by society. What has that got to do with the supposed existence of a 'soul'?
Of course there are degrees of both. What has that got to do with the supposed existence of a 'soul'?

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Evolution...Once again I see it only on a material level. We're probably the best fed and prosperous generation in history and we enjoy a freedom to travel everywhere around the world.
Otherwise we are the most faint-hearted and dependant on comfort and consumption. We're less autonomous in our judgements, more servile and gregarious.
etc. etc.

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So you don't see any evolution in the fields of scientific knowledge?

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

So you don't see any evolution in the fields of scientific knowledge?

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Science evolved, man didn't.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Science evolved, man didn't.

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I find this a very depressing view — and what does it say about religion that man hasn't apparently evolved? I disagree with your viewpoint. Do you not consider, for example, that the way in which practices such as slavery came to become unacceptable demonstrates that man has in some way evolved? And how can you consider that science, a 'man-made' activity, has evolved while man has not? Surely you cannot separate the two. I would argue that the very fact of man being able to push scientific knowledge forward and being able to understand such complex subjects demonstrates evolution. And in the most basic terms, the human species is well known to have evolved.

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Originally Posted by Hawkmoon

People change for a multitude of reasons. What has that got to do with the supposed existence of a 'soul'?
Good and bad are defined by society. What has that got to do with the supposed existence of a 'soul'?
Of course there are degrees of both. What has that got to do with the supposed existence of a 'soul'?

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Let's simply say that in my opinion the soul is reflected in our behaviour and actions.

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

I find this a very depressing view — and what does it say about religion that man hasn't apparently evolved? I disagree with your viewpoint. Do you not consider, for example, that the way in which practices such as slavery came to become unacceptable demonstrates that man has in some way evolved? And how can you consider that science, a 'man-made' activity, has evolved while man has not? Surely you cannot separate the two. I would argue that the very fact of man being able to push scientific knowledge forward and being able to understand such complex subjects demonstrates evolution. And in the most basic terms, the human species is well known to have evolved.

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You get me wrong. I admit man's life conditions have improved, his life is longer and healthier. But these couldn't make him less selfish, greedy, violent, self-sufficient. Reflection is more and more replaced by barbarian sensibility and instinct of conservation. Maybe slavery was abolished ( ironically, at my work our daily complaint is that we're treated like slaves on plantation ) but I have the feeling that today we are transformed in some organisms convicted to live a mechanical life.
I could continue but I think I've already got another stigma: gadjo is a misanthropist.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

If I translate " free mind " into romanian, I'll get " minte libera ". This syntagm, from the material point of view, could signify a lack of the grey matter. And unfortunately I reckon it already fits most of our young brainwashed generations. :laugh:

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You'll find it hard to believe but these free minded young generations are the future of the country, in any country, not the old brainwashed communists.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Science evolved, man didn't.

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I guess you arrived to this conclusion based on an analysis of yourself.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

You get me wrong. I admit man's life conditions have improved, his life is longer and healthier. But these couldn't make him less selfish, greedy, violent, self-sufficient. Reflection is more and more replaced by barbarian sensibility and instinct of conservation. Maybe slavery was abolished ( ironically, at my work our daily complaint is that we're treated like slaves on plantation ) but I have the feeling that today we are transformed in some organisms convicted to live a mechanical life.
I could continue but I think I've already got another stigma: gadjo is a misanthropist.

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I still see a lot of contradictions here. You criticise the rise of barbarism, yet what we see today are merely different forms of barbarism, not more of it. And what did the early humans have if not conservation instincts? How else would they have survived?

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

You get me wrong. I admit man's life conditions have improved, his life is longer and healthier. But these couldn't make him less selfish, greedy, violent, self-sufficient. Reflection is more and more replaced by barbarian sensibility and instinct of conservation. Maybe slavery was abolished ( ironically, at my work our daily complaint is that we're treated like slaves on plantation ) but I have the feeling that today we are transformed in some organisms convicted to live a mechanical life.
I could continue but I think I've already got another stigma: gadjo is a misanthropist.

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I think that your views are based on the sore reality that is that of the Romanian society of the last 15 - 20 years.
However with time things will change into better and you'll understand our position towards evolution.