# Religion vs. Non Religion: Take 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 10, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000 "2014-02-10T20:11:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jmliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jmliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmliny)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/1 "2014-02-10T20:11:46Z")
My last thread was closed because I didn’t give enough detail. Indestructibility vs. Destructibility I think religious people think they’re indestructible, whereas non religious people think they are destructible. Thank You For Your Time ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/2 "2014-02-10T20:16:35Z")
Thanks for all the details. And you’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/3 "2014-02-10T20:18:58Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > My last thread was closed because I didn’t give enough detail. > > Indestructibility vs. Destructibility > > I think religious people think they’re indestructible, whereas non religious people think they are destructible. > > Thank You For Your Time You are wrong. Thank you for your thread. To elaborate-Please give us the reasoning behind your declaration, so that we may have something of substance to debate. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/4 "2014-02-10T20:21:59Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > Indestructibility vs. Destructibility > > I think religious people think they’re indestructible, whereas non religious people think they are destructible. I suppose that’s _generally_ true, with the caveats that religious people typically believe that it’s only their soul or essence that’s indestructable or real, and that not all religious people believe in a soul. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/5 "2014-02-10T20:28:26Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > I suppose that’s _generally_ true, with the caveats that religious people typically believe that it’s only their soul or essence that’s indestructable or real, and that not all religious people believe in a soul. I’m a Jew who doesn’t happen to believe there’s an afterlife waiting for me; with any luck, an atheist will soon pop in to mention he believes the exact opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/6 "2014-02-10T20:39:43Z")
Do you (the OP) honestly believe that this thread opener shows that you have conquered your lack of detail problem? I’m pretty sure you are wrong, but we’ll see. I’m a religious person, specifically a Christian. You will find, if you look, that there is an amazing array of beliefs among Christians about what we are and how durable the various parts of us may be. As for me, I am really certain that my body is easily destructible. I believe without evidence that some aspect of me might last forever in some sort of communion with the god I believe in without evidence. I go to church with people who believe that their actual bodies will be resurrected at some point. Most of them believe that all humans have an indestructible soul. Is that the belief you are getting at? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/7 "2014-02-10T21:00:41Z")
I’m religious - if I’m indestructible, why does my back hurt? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/8 "2014-02-10T21:01:00Z")
I am non-religious and I believe that I will live on after I die by using my indomitable strength of will to impose my consciousness onto my son and taking over his body. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/9 "2014-02-10T21:40:09Z")
My consciousness will live on when my engrams get copied into a computer. “Brynet” will then trigger World War III. You’ve been warned. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/10 "2014-02-10T22:48:17Z")
If this is an improvement in detail over the last thread, I’m loathe to wonder how little detail was in the last one. Perhaps “Religion vs. Non-religion: Discuss.” Still, as others have supposed, I’d guess the point here is an assertion that religious fundamentally believe that some or all of their being is immortal whereas the non-religious believe that no part of their being is immortal. If this is the case, as someone upthread pointed out, not all religious beliefs hold that there is an afterlife or any sense of immortality. Similarly, not all religious beliefs hold that there is a deity or other form of greater consciousness. Nor do all religous beliefs even assert that there is anything similar to a soul or soul, as most major religions do. For that matter, I’ve also known plenty of self-professed non-religious people and atheists who believe in some sort of those things or at least things that are similar. So, unless you’re going for something else, I really don’t understand what sort of distinction destructibility brings. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/11 "2014-02-10T22:51:21Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > If this is an improvement in detail over the last thread, I’m loathe to wonder how little detail was in the last one. Perhaps “Religion vs. Non-religion: Discuss.” [Not even that.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=715025) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/12 "2014-02-10T23:09:25Z")
Yeah, this OP likes starting threads with a title and a vague comment, followed by silence. jmliny \, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/13 "2014-02-10T23:11:13Z")
So, if a religious person dies, does that falsify “he was indestructible” or “he was religious?” Also: there is a variety of Christian – annihilationists – who hold that, at the Final Judgement, God will destroy the souls of the wicked. This view doesn’t hold that the sinful writhe in hell: they are done away with entirely. So, there is a religious view that does not hold to indestructibility. ---
**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/14 "2014-02-10T23:17:21Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > So, if a religious person dies, does that falsify “he was indestructible” or “he was religious?” Why do you assume that death is destruction? Whatever happened to ashes, dust, and the conservation of mass? ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/15 "2014-02-11T15:10:01Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I’m religious - if I’m indestructible, why does my back hurt? > > Regards, > Shodan You’re indestructible, not undamageable. Regards, Astérix ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/16 "2014-02-11T15:26:27Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > My last thread was closed because I didn’t give enough detail. > > Indestructibility vs. Destructibility > > I think religious people think they’re indestructible, whereas non religious people think they are destructible. > > Thank You For Your Time OK. For the sake of argument, I will agree that you are correct. So what? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/17 "2014-02-11T15:54:41Z")
Just so everyone knows, the OP has two (2) total posts on this MB. One was the OP of the thread that was closed, and the other is this OP. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/18 "2014-02-11T16:10:44Z")
OP is warming up for his epic 3rd post: Religion can’t prove there’s a god. What’s up with that?! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/19 "2014-02-11T17:01:39Z")
Nah, I predict “Proving religion vs. not disproving atheism. Discuss!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000/20 "2014-02-11T17:22:09Z")
“Some religions frown on eating bacon – and so do some atheists, like vegetarians. But some religions are cool with it. And so are some atheists. So, yeah.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-vs-non-religion-take-2/681000.md?page=2)