FWIW, current research into life extension does not really focus on the idea of just keeping decaying people marginally “alive” to great age but rather seeks radical approaches to shutting down cellular aging, removing molecular “junk” and various techniques for rejuvenation. If these people succeed a 150 year old would probably look and feel 30 or so. Stem cell research, theraputic cloning, gene therapy and various types of nano-technology are the relevant things to watch.
Religion provides answers, whether they be right, wrong, or indifferent. I believe the correlation between science and religion is both arise from the objective of answering questions. Science has provided helpful and functionally correct answers to a great deal of questions. Unfortunately, Science has yet to (and may never) provide the answers we most dearly crave.
I’m confident that if science ever proved their wasn’t anything god-like in the universe, that the religious believers would ignore the answer and try to work around it - similar to the creationist arguments that the universe and life is so “unimaginably complex”, that there MUST be “Intelligent Design” behind all of it…
One could prove irrefutedly that there is no God, but this wouldn’t answer why we are here and what purpose we serve. Science would have to answer these questions with certainty before Religion could become obselete. I don’t forsee that kind of scientific progression anywhere on the horizon.
Based on the extremely absurd assumption that science can prove that anything does not exist, much less a metaphysical entity, all that would do is make all religions “neopagan” in essence. Many pagans (and increasingly, even many Christians) don’t believe in god as an entity, and see what we call gods as personifications of emotion and thought.
You need to break out of the concept of religion as soley a monotheistic - westernist - big - guy - with - a - beard - in - the - sky - creationist standpoint.
Even athiests, when alone and in desperate times, can have psuedo-religious feelings, such as “feeling” the presence of their dead father with them, comforting them. I don’t think you’ll ever get rid of that, no matter how much logic you cram down people’s gullets.
Religion continues to exist because parents approve of having their children brainwashed into believing the same things they do. Get upset if they don’t believe actually.
The hijackers hit THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. Think about the name. Doesn’t the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING represent the United States more. This may be a CULTURE WAR. Is American television invading the minds of children all over the world? How many people dislike this but can’t fight the Euro/American concept of FREEDOM OF SPEECH? Some fanatics may take matters into their own hands and religion may only be one factor.
I have a book that says the United States is spreading a Mickey Mouse mentality around the world. I swear Americans seem to be getting dumber since the 60’s.
How many Arabs see the West as wasting oil on nonsense but the money goes to a small percentage of people in the Middle-East? I see it that way and I’m not muslim and don’t plan on doing any terrorist acts.
Is there such a thing as Intellectual Terrorism? If I affect your thinking have I bombed your mind? Can I trigger shock waves of cognitive disonance and cause bleeding from the ears? Ah, delusions.
Dal Timgar
That is absolutely absurd. There are millions of people who were ewither raised atheist and picked up a religion or converted between religions. Religion is not wholly a traditional or cultural thing, though in many cases it is. Religion would exist without a religious upraising, and to suggest it wouldn’t is stupid.
Um, I think they hit the WTC because they see it as a symbol of American dominance of international economics. I don’t see what that has to do with the nature of religion.
Yes, it is called reality television.
“- who - lays - down - rules - and - prohibitions - to- control - your - life - thru - threats - of - Hell”
Don’t forget that. It is another thing westerners expect of a religion and is not an absolute requirement.
Religion has two main sources:
- Some people want to provide answers to everything, even when they must guess. These are the priests.
- Some people want dearly to believe their teachers, even if the teachings don’t match with reality. These are the True Believers.
Once those two get together, you have a religion.
Add the third source to make it spread:
3) Some people aren’t involved with religion or care whether or not it’s true, but want to please other people who do. These are the families dragged along with the first two groups.
Said like a true atheist. Can’t you allow even the slightest bit of room for people who believe in a supernatural force without calling them brainwashed sheep in so many words? Reality is how you define it, and believe it or not, some people are simply religious for their own personal reasons. In fact, the large majority of priests do not believe they have the “answers to everything” and are in a lifelong search to find those answers.
“Because there are priests” is the the answer to “why is there religion,” and “because I don’t believe in it” is not a reason to say it does not exist.
But perhaps we serve no special purpose in the universe? Perhaps we exist as just another form of life, just another cog in the wheel of evolution, nothing more special that any other form of life?
^^^ Correction
. Perhaps we COULD reach concensus on our lack of higher purpose. It would be safe to say this has yet to happen. Do you agree?
I still want to know where you begin assuming that religion has everything to do with mortality and purpose.
When you are able to stop everyone from “feeling” their deceased relatives, having dreams, reaching out in desperation, meditating, seeking morality, even seeking companionship, seeking inspiration, loving vague concepts of emotion or entities, etc etc etc, THEN you will have won your war against religion.
Next time you see someone crying in a cemetary, why don’t you run up to them and yell, “HAH! HE/SHE’S IN OBLIVION! THEY’RE DEAD! GET OVER IT!”
And indeed, this is entirely compatible with a straightforward reading of the creation myths of my religion, which do not specify anything about the origin of humans other than clearly it happened sometime after the universe started.
<roflol> Now that would be a Belushi moment!