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Does God exist? (5 Viewers)

do you believe in god?


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x.christina

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On Sunday my Priest appeared with a broken finger. At least he was joking about it during the service lol but he needed help with everything.

Some kid shouted out during the homily "MUM WHEN'S THE EASTER BUNNY COMING!"

:haha:
 

thedeepkick

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ok here's a story for you.

Im 17, and in august last year, i was diagnosed with cancer. stage 4 Ewings sarcoma to be precise. and for those of you wondering, there is no stage 5.

Since then, ive been kicked to shit by chemotherapy every 3 weeks. All things considered, it's gone pretty well and i go in for my last round of chemo in 11 days. but to get here has been the most painful experience i think i'll ever go through in my life. you cant possibly imagine what it's like to have my dose of chemo running through you. It's, for lack of a better word, hell.

I personally think the church is an ancient form of slavery that those in power used to control people back in the dark ages. but thats just my opinion. and im entitled to my opinion.

anyway, my point with cancer is, cancer research was stopped long ago by church lobby groups opposing stem cell research and the use of genetic medicines and such. now, these medicines could potentially saved me around 10 months of intensive chemotherapy.
the first genitic treatment for cancer (rexin - g) is only just coming through to clinical trials now, with some fantastic results i might add. but its way WAY overdue.
think of the lives this research could save, and the quality and longevity of life it could grant to those in need of it.
but the religious fundamentalists have delayed it all in the courts for years and years. regardless of EACH INDIVIDUALS god-given right to turn around and say FUCK YOU GOD. i choose life. if the researchers wanted to look into genetic medicine, they should have been able to long ago.

ok thats my point.

other than that, im fine with religious people. im friends with a lot of them, and i agree with the general morals of treat thy neighbor like you yourself would like to be treated, and i think it creates a great sense of community for those who really need it. but condemning people to pain suffering and death because of your own beliefs?

have fun arguing kiddys, im goin to sleep
 

iNerd

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So the Stations of the Cross today, right? At the 12th Station, where the Cross was fixed, we were saying our prayers and whatnot, when this stray dog presented itself. It was filthy and a little mad, but it did something interesting; it made its way through the crowd and up the little mound where the cross was, and lay at its base in silence and reverence. It stayed in this place for maybe 10 mins, until the thing was over.

Later our Priest claimed this as a miracle and referred to some medieval tale of a half-starved mule when, upon release to a field, instead lay down before the Church altar for some time. He also evoked the same stillness and respect that the barn animals showed during the birth of Christ

It was plain to anyone that what the dog did was highly unusual, but would you call it a miracle?

dog backwards
= god
so something going there?
 

KFunk

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FUCK YOU GOD. i choose life.
The devil is going to hate me for pointing this out but, to be fair, god is choosing life too when it comes to certain forms of cell research.

The main difference - apart from the way in which one judges what counts as an instance of human life - is that you are espousing a more utilitarian agenda (i.e. 'look at the quantity of lives we could save, and at how much we could extend their lives') whereas the stance of god is classically Kantian. The Kantian position holds that no person should be used as a means to an end - that is, used as a way to achieve ones goals - even if, as in this case, your ends include other people.

Culture wars ensue.
 

moll.

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The devil is going to hate me for pointing this out but, to be fair, god is choosing life too when it comes to certain forms of cell research.

The main difference - apart from the way in which one judges what counts as an instance of human life - is that you are espousing a more utilitarian agenda (i.e. 'look at the quantity of lives we could save, and at how much we could extend their lives') whereas the stance of god is classically Kantian. The Kantian position holds that no person should be used as a means to an end - that is, used as a way to achieve ones goals - even if, as in this case, your ends include other people.

Culture wars ensue.
Aren't all the embryos they use just going to get destroyed anyway?
 

moll.

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So the argument you outlined above kind of falls short for those embryos designated for destruction, yes? Although, I suppose it's not like they go around the lab with a permanent marker and right "to be destroyed" on the tubes where they're kept, and it would be more of a spontaneous process.
 

KFunk

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So the argument you outlined above kind of falls short for those embryos designated for destruction, yes?
Not really. Regardless of whether a given embryo is tagged for destruction or not, to end its 'life' for the purpose of medical research is to use it as a means to an end.
 

thedeepkick

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your missing the point though, embryos dont have a consciousness!! killing an embryo is like killing a plant. and with that considered, the ends most definatly justifys the means. in my opinion anyway.
 

KFunk

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your missing the point though, embryos dont have a consciousness!! killing an embryo is like killing a plant. and with that considered, the ends most definatly justifys the means. in my opinion anyway.
I wouldn't quite say that I missed it, I simply put the consideration aside (by ignoring issues related to "the way in which one judges what counts as an instance of human life"). I was simply defending a judaeo-christian style ethics from straw man caricatures. Assuming such a religious perspective includes working with the premise that embryos are a form of human life. I don't deny that one can argue against this premise.

Also, note the important distinction between 'life' and 'consciousness'. I agree that whether a being is conscious could be what is most important, morally (at least on certain views - e.g. a hedonistic utilitarianism). However, one must keep in mind the problems thus created for people who are temporarily unconscious, such as those who are knocked out or who have fallen into a coma.
 

moll.

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your missing the point though, embryos dont have a consciousness!! killing an embryo is like killing a plant. and with that considered, the ends most definatly justifys the means. in my opinion anyway.
Precisely.
 

Kwayera

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Also, note the important distinction between 'life' and 'consciousness'. I agree that whether a being is conscious could be what is most important, morally (at least on certain views - e.g. a hedonistic utilitarianism). However, one must keep in mind the problems thus created for people who are temporarily unconscious, such as those who are knocked out or who have fallen into a coma.
I don't know - I'd argue that there's a distinction between temporarily losing consciousness and not having the ability to be conscious at all.
 

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