Will God help Madeline McCann?

[Dave the OAP]

We could turn into trees when we die.
We could fly through time to another galaxy.
We could come back as someone's pet labrador.

All equally as believable as meeting a god, going to heaven, going to hell or hanging around in purgatory.

Man created god because our ignorant ancestors needed something to explain the many wonders that science has since begun to unravel. The powerful among them endorsed and encouraged this belief as a way to keep control of their people.

I personally have no idea how television works. Therefore I could believe it was a god what done it. I am however smart enough to know that there are other people who do understand the workings of television.

Just because you don't understand something there's no need to take the easy route of believing there's a god. Science will reveal everything given time. I may not understand most of it, but one thing I am sure of is that there is no almighty being hanging around somewhere expecting us to pray to it.

Fair enough. I dont agree with that, but in the overall scheme of things it matters not one jot.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

We could turn into trees when we die.
We could fly through time to another galaxy.
We could come back as someone's pet labrador.

All equally as believable as meeting a god, going to heaven, going to hell or hanging around in purgatory.

Man created god because our ignorant ancestors needed something to explain the many wonders that science has since begun to unravel. The powerful among them endorsed and encouraged this belief as a way to keep control of their people.

I personally have no idea how television works. Therefore I could believe it was a god what done it. I am however smart enough to know that there are other people who do understand the workings of television.

Just because you don't understand something there's no need to take the easy route of believing there's a god. Science will reveal everything given time. I may not understand most of it, but one thing I am sure of is that there is no almighty being hanging around somewhere expecting us to pray to it.

Just for the record - science is made up by man, so there is no reason to ridiclule religous believers, if you believe in the the religion that is science - FACT

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Fair enough. I dont agree with that, but in the overall scheme of things it matters not one jot.

I agree with Dave on this one. No one knows for sure, but I believe we're here for a purpose, and I'm proud to be Christian. Doesn't stop me from drinks, drugs & pre-marital sex which are man-made "evils" and nowt to do to with what I believe.

But Madeline's parents said they wouldn't leave Portugal until their child was found... until a Catholic celebrity came knocking of course

 

[goldstone]

Just for the record - science is made up by man, so there is no reason to ridiclule religous believers, if you believe in the the religion that is science - FACT

Science is not "made up" by anyone. Science is about facts. Unlike religion.

 

[readingstockport]

Just for the record - science is made up by man, so there is no reason to ridiclule religous believers, if you believe in the the religion that is science - FACT

This kind of argument really annoys me as a scientist. The fundamental basis of science is that a theory is advanced and experiments are then performed which either validate that theory in which case it becomes accepted, invalidates it in which case it is discarded and either another theory is advanced or the original theory is refined, or the experiements fail to be conclusive either way in which case the theory remains just that.
Theory.

For something to become accepted science it has to be based on repeatable, verifible experimentation and data.

Not on some book which was invented and written some 200 years after the events it purports to describe about a man about whom the most prominent roman historian in the palestine at the time has nothing to say AT ALL, despite this man supposedly being such a danger to the roman empire they apparently saw fit to crucify him.

Religion is NOT AND NEVER WILL BE SCIENCE. It is faith based on no verifiable evidence whatsoever. If people chose to believe in it that is their choice but please do not try to pretend it is any way scientific.

<and relax>

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

Science is not "made up" by anyone. Science is about facts. Unlike religion.

prove it

 

[Lokki 7]

Science is not "made up" by anyone. Science is about facts.

That's not actually true. Science is mans attempt to explain his surroundings via thought and observation. Many scientific "facts" have been proven wrong. Scientists argue amongst themselves non-stop about what is fact and what is not. It could be easily argued that we will never have the true picture of the universe, and that only god does. Of course this also means that we will naver have a true idea of what god is either.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

Religion is NOT AND NEVER WILL BE SCIENCE. It is faith based on no verifiable evidence whatsoever.


apart from the dead sea scrolls... ??

 

[Lokki 7]

apart from the dead sea scrolls... ??

And L. Ron Hubbard.

 

[readingstockport]

Writings which have been scribbled down by man. Not verifiable, how can you prove in anyway they are accurate just because someone wrote down some scrolls which purport to verify another book written down by man.

People are now writing books about Harry Potter, and I don't mean JK Rowling, if someone finds them in 1000 years will that make the Harry Potter books fact?

Religion is not science and never will be just as science is not and never will be religion.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

And L. Ron Hubbard.

To be fair, he was only repeating what his 'Old Mother' told him

 

[Pavilionaire]

Going back to the original question of this thread, surely it cannot be much longer before The Great One intervenes, after all doesn't Bono's tour end soon?

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

Writings which have been scribbled down by man. Not verifiable, how can you prove in anyway they are accurate just because someone wrote down some scrolls which purport to verify another book written down by man.

People are now writing books about Harry Potter, and I don't mean JK Rowling, if someone finds them in 1000 years will that make the Harry Potter books fact?

Religion is not science and never will be just as science is not and never will be religion.

Many scientists are also scribbling down writings in books as we speak....how can you prove they are the truth? Or will they be proved incorrect in 1000 years time?

Just a matter of choice in what you believe...so in that sense...it's a religion

 

[readingstockport]

Many scientists are also scribbling down writings in books as we speak....how can you prove they are the truth? Or will they be proved incorrect in 1000 years time?

Just a matter of choice in what you believe...so in that sense...it's a religion

No it's not, you're now using the deliberately flawed logic of the kind of people who call themselves creation scientists. The point of science as I said earlier is that something is only a theory until evidence has been adduced to prove or disprove it. Whatever scientists are writing down now remains only a theory until such proof is advanced.
It is emminently possible that the theory of relativity may be disproved in the future but that is because it is still a theory - hence the name. All the SCIENTIFIC evidence points to it being a fairly accurate theory but it is still a theory. Not all predictions based on it have been shown to be true, for example gravity waves are still unseen, but none of it's predictions have beenshown to be false. Unlike religion of any kind where all manner of claims made in it's name have been shown to be false, from the end of the world to the shroud of turin.

There is no verifiable evidence at all that religion has any basis in fact, only in belief therefore it cannot be described in anyway as science. Even the supposedly verifiable evidence such as the turin shroud have been shown to date from times long after the events supposedly took place.

I repeat there is no evidence outside of the bible that the events concerning jesus, noah orany of the others took place. None at all so it cannot be properly described as science.

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

No it's not, you're now using the deliberately flawed logic of the kind of people who call themselves creation scientists. The point of science as I said earlier is that something is only a theory until evidence has been adduced to prove or disprove it. Whatever scientists are writing down now remains only a theory until such proof is advanced.
It is emminently possible that the theory of relativity may be disproved in the future but that is because it is still a theory - hence the name. All the SCIENTIFIC evidence points to it being a fairly accurate theory but it is still a theory. Not all predictions based on it have been shown to be true, for example gravity waves are still unseen, but none of it's predictions have beenshown to be false. Unlike religion of any kind where all manner of claims made in it's name have been shown to be false, from the end of the world to the shroud of turin.

There is no verifiable evidence at all that religion has any basis in fact, only in belief therefore it cannot be described in anyway as science. Even the supposedly verifiable evidence such as the turin shroud have been shown to date from times long after the events supposedly took place.

I repeat there is no evidence outside of the bible that the events concerning jesus, noah orany of the others took place. None at all so it cannot be properly described as science.

Just for the record - when a scientific fact is 'proved' is it no longer a theory and then becomes written in stone, never to be undone or is it something you are told is true until someone, one day, says it was false and then you start all over again ?

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

I repeat there is no evidence outside of the bible that the events concerning jesus, noah orany of the others took place. None at all so it cannot be properly described as science. [/B][/QUOTE]


I never described religion as science....I said science is your own religion..it is what you choose to believe in - it is what your brain tells you is true.

 

[readingstockport]

Just for the record - when a scientific fact is 'proved' is it no longer a theory and then becomes written in stone, never to be undone or is it something you are told is true until someone, one day, says it was false and then you start all over again ?

No science is an irrefutable fact. Anything and everything should only ever be described as the best theory to currently explain the known 'facts'.

That is the difference between science and reglion. Science is willing to be shown to be wrong and to refine it's knowledge base in light of new discoveries. Religion is not willing to do that, it sticks to the blind dogma of some religious tome and asserts the existance of some divine deity without any form of verifiable proof such a being exists.

You may as well believe in the flying spaghetti monster, that is as verifable a deity as any other one is.

http://www.venganza.org/

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

No science is an irrefutable fact. Anything and everything should only ever be described as the best theory to currently explain the known 'facts'.

That is the difference between science and reglion. Science is willing to be shown to be wrong and to refine it's knowledge base in light of new discoveries. Religion is not willing to do that, it sticks to the blind dogma of some religious tome and asserts the existance of some divine deity without any form of verifiable proof such a being exists.

You may as well believe in the flying spaghetti monster, that is as verifable a deity as any other one is.

http://www.venganza.org/

can you give me 'one' irrefutable fact ? and I mean other than Withdean being the worst football ground in the league....

 

[Buzzer]

can you give me 'one' irrefutable fact ?

agree with Rusthall. Bertrand Russell, probably the greatest empiricist ever to have drawn breath was unable to reduce existence down to numbers. His protege Wittgenstein was far more succinct about the whole thing and said that there are some things that can't be proven, debated, refuted or even meaningfully expressed because of our language and culture. He suggested that we pass over these gracefully instead of getting bogged down.

I see God like this. I know he exists but can't explain how, why or where as I believe it is out of my comprehension. I'm okay with that.

 

[Lokki 7]

can you give me 'one' irrefutable fact ?

The the sum of the internal angles of a triangle is ALWAYS 180 degrees.