Religion.

[Molly-sama]

I'm pretty sure there are actually plenty of resources for us to survive with increased population...if humans weren't so damned wasteful.

Also, 4/5 children is a large family?
HahahahaIamnotmockingyouIjustcomefromafamilywithtenchildrenandbeforeyouasknowereprotestantnotcatholichahahaha.

Regardless, the original point of the anti birth control stance is valid, but isn't that still true of catholicism?

ha, the Catholic kid in my high school (seriously, I think he was the only one) was the one that told me about the ways around contraception (I asked him how he was an only child with that logic).

I know 4-5 isn't necessarily large, but that's just how we were arguing the point. XD 3 is still kind of a lot without money (though 1 probably would be, too XD).

[SuperBiasedMan]

I know 4-5 isn't necessarily large, but that's just how we were arguing the point. XD 3 is still kind of a lot without money (though 1 probably would be, too XD).

It really depends on the rate the children are coming along.
My family isn't rich by any standards but we still get along fine with all ten of us.
At the same time I can imagine how some people could struggle with even one or two

[XIII o'clock]

Not only that, but of all the billions of people on the planet, why assume your religion is the correct religion?

This.

This, a thousand times over.

One of the major contributions to my "converting" to Agnosticism was that my best friend is Buddhist, and one day I basically went, "What exactly makes my family's theory about everything so much better than hers?"

[Apostatus]

Personally I'm free from sky-daddys. Okay, from my nick and comic that may have been obvious

[Christh^^]

I guess I could be refered to as an apatheist, though I don't believe in any divine entity.

[Afrohawkman]

I think personally the entire religion and beliefs thing all depends on what you get out of it and what makes you happy. Whatever religion you believe in, if you like that, agree with it, and find it to have a positive impact on your life, then all the power to you. If being atheist makes you happy and finding your own answers in life is what you want to do, then please, go ahead. If you just don't care, then as long as something makes you happy and makes you feel like you have a purpose, then there's nothing wrong with that.

I just feel like it's not really necessary to be right. There are so many answers in this world, so many different perspectives, pieces of evidence, books, and the like, that being "right" is probably an impossibility. But I don't think a person's beliefs should be something that should tear people apart. Everyone has their own ideas; they shouldn't have to be called wrong just because they believe them. I know there are people who constantly say that they're right and I wish those people wouldn't impose the belief part but rather what they get out of it. Not every belief is for everyone because they don't want the same things.

By the end of the day, the one question everyone should ask themselves is, "Do I feel satisfied with my belief?" If the answer is yes, then who cares whether someone else tells you you're "wrong"? If the answer is no, then maybe you should start looking for something that better satisfies you.

[UrbanMysticDee]

I would argue that since fertility rate around the world is in decline it would be more beneficial to humanity to have more children to avoid depopulation. Of course, if you want us to go extinct then by all means stop having children, but if you're the kind of person who likes people having children is important.

But...every source I've been to claims our population is growing. If what you say is true, I have some serious researching to do.

If you have the resources, what's wrong with having as many kids as you want?

The thing is, nobody actually nows what the carrying capacity for the human race is on Earth. It could be 10 billion, or it could be one trillion. Either way, If our population just continued to grow forever and ever, either we would need to colonize in outer space, or a world war would break out.

Second video, Demographic Winter.

European Depopulation - the population of Europe will decline by 100 million over the next 40 years and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it.

The Myth of Overpopulation - Japan will cease to exist in any recognizable form in 50 years, Russia's population will be cut in half in that same time, China has six men for every woman because of vigorous state mandated abortions and infanticide.

Religion and Depopulation - provides four links to secular and religious scholars who claim secular society is going extinct because nonreligious people don't breed fast enough.

I invite you to draw your own conclusions. This is the research I have gathered in the past few years.

There is also significant evidence that homeschooled children are more intelligent, have better psychological health, and are more socially well adjusted than public schooled children. Families that tend to homeschool their children tend to have more children and are often better off financially as well.

The problem, as I see it, is poverty, not overpopulation of (shudders) climate change (they can't call it "global warming" anymore because the earth has cooled since 1998). Poor people have to destroy the earth's resources because they can't afford the more expensive, more efficient, less destructive practices wealthy countries can afford. Western agriculture can support more than twice the population as the slash and burn practices that are destroying the world's forests, but poor countries can't develop these agricultural practices because they are indebted to wealthy countries (IMF and World Bank make countries perpetual slaves), and because super rich eco nazis like Al Gore don't want the poor countries to use their vast supplies of fossil fuels to industrialize and bring their populations out of poverty.

[Sorrows Neptune]

Second video, Demographic Winter.

European Depopulation - the population of Europe will decline by 100 million over the next 40 years and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it.

The Myth of Overpopulation - Japan will cease to exist in any recognizable form in 50 years, Russia's population will be cut in half in that same time, China has six men for every woman because of vigorous state mandated abortions and infanticide.

Religion and Depopulation - provides four links to secular and religious scholars who claim secular society is going extinct because nonreligious people don't breed fast enough.

I invite you to draw your own conclusions. This is the research I have gathered in the past few years.

There is also significant evidence that homeschooled children are more intelligent, have better psychological health, and are more socially well adjusted than public schooled children. Families that tend to homeschool their children tend to have more children and are often better off financially as well.

The problem, as I see it, is poverty, not overpopulation of (shudders) climate change (they can't call it "global warming" anymore because the earth has cooled since 1998). Poor people have to destroy the earth's resources because they can't afford the more expensive, more efficient, less destructive practices wealthy countries can afford. Western agriculture can support more than twice the population as the slash and burn practices that are destroying the world's forests, but poor countries can't develop these agricultural practices because they are indebted to wealthy countries (IMF and World Bank make countries perpetual slaves), and because super rich eco nazis like Al Gore don't want the poor countries to use their vast supplies of fossil fuels to industrialize and bring their populations out of poverty.

I thought all first world countries were increasing in population, but apparently it's just the U.S. This still doesn't mean the whole world is increasing/decreasing in population, but with this information it shouldn't be too hard for me find out.

I'm actually homeschooled. Better intelligence is definitely due to the way which you learn things when homeschooling, and has nothing to do with your number of siblings. As for those other things, all I can say is it may or may not be due to having more siblings.

A few months ago, I attended a JSA convention, and attended a debate about whether or not a two-child policy in America would a be a good idea. I think you guys have just given much better arguments concerning overpopulation than any of the speakers at the debate. EDIT: Well, than again, UrbanMysticDee is a bit older than the speakers at the debate, who were all teenagers. So I guess it isn't saying much.

[tsubasa-myuu]

Okay, so my family and I consider ourselves Catholic. But, we're not like... crazy. I'm not sure where people get this, I've never seen a Catholic go nuts over their religion. I live in Texas, which is apprently really religious. I dunno if it's because of where i live specifically that i've never acually seen people go crazy over their religion, or what, but yeah.

I have two siblings, I go to public school (one of the hardest public schools in the state though XD) I don't think I fit the whole Catholic stereotype... at all XD

I get called a nun though cause I don't curse or date... but thats from my own opinions and choices, not really cause of religion.

yup that's pretty much it. I pray, i've gone to sunday school, i go to church, we say grace before dinner, we celebrate christmas, I do all that, but i'm not crazy.

[pwii]

People who are vocally Atheist is just as annoying as those who are vocally christian.
And those who try to convert people out of christianity is just as bad as those who try to preach about it.

I agree, however, I don't think being vocal about what you believe is wrong. I believe being annoyingly stupid about it is.

I mean, The Bible says if you don't believe, you go to hell. So not trying to talk to someone about Jesus would be like saying "Heh, heh. You're going to hell, I'm not, but I'm. Not. Telling. You." I agree that there are a lot of stupid Christians, but there's a lot of stupid people period. There's stupid Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, etc.

On Jesus: You can't say he was a great teacher and nothing more. Saying you are God's son makes you insane if you're not right, or you're just lying to try and manipulate people = not just a teacher.

And yes, I'm a creationist. The world was made in 6 days FLAT. There's really a lot of evidence against the theory of evolution, in my opinion. It's pretty much impossible to add information to your DNA sequence to make yourself different. Every mutation ever recorded EVER has resulted in a loss of genetic code, resulting in defects.

I could go on, but the main reason I believe in Creationism is that The Bible says it's crap. If you take Hebrew, you see that every time someone says "The first day", it ALWAYS is talking about a 24-hour period. And honestly, there's no real way to prove evolution scientifically, just support or disprove it.

Religion and I have had a troubled past. :Story:

Yeah, no offense, but your parents are pretty much idiots in that respect. That's just...stupid.

I've been hearing a lot of "Religion is more what you take from it/ Religion is a societal thing". I think that's just rude to religious people. I mean, it's like somone's holding up a sign that says "Run, there's a Lion about to maim you", and you're saying "Ah, what nice shade that sign provides." It's completely ignoring their words and meanings, and just focusing on the general vibe.

A few months ago, I attended a JSA convention...

DUDE! YOU'RE PART OF THE JSA? AWESOME! I prefer The Justice Leage of America myself, but we're like co-workers! Please tell me you think Green Lantern should belong with the GL corps and not our super-teams.


---


Phew, that was long. Now let's all just wait for Stripedwine to see this thread exists and come to kill me...

[blankd]

And honestly, there's no real way to prove evolution scientifically, just support or disprove it.

WHAT?

Here, a Cliff Notes version.

[Only HandDrawing]

I'll call myself a Diest-Jew...if that makes sense to anyone.

[trenton_dawn]

And yes, I'm a creationist. The world was made in 6 days FLAT. There's really a lot of evidence against the theory of evolution, in my opinion. It's pretty much impossible to add information to your DNA sequence to make yourself different. Every mutation ever recorded EVER has resulted in a loss of genetic code, resulting in defects.

I could go on, but the main reason I believe in Creationism is that The Bible says it's crap. If you take Hebrew, you see that every time someone says "The first day", it ALWAYS is talking about a 24-hour period. And honestly, there's no real way to prove evolution scientifically, just support or disprove it.

Where are you getting your Hebrew information from? Because that's just not true.

I've been hearing a lot of "Religion is more what you take from it/ Religion is a societal thing". I think that's just rude to religious people. I mean, it's like somone's holding up a sign that says "Run, there's a Lion about to maim you", and you're saying "Ah, what nice shade that sign provides." It's completely ignoring their words and meanings, and just focusing on the general vibe.

I wouldn't call that rude. That's just what they happen to believe. I mean, if you go by that standard, people who believe in religious relativism could find what you're saying to be rude.

[Ddraigeneth]

On Jesus: You can't say he was a great teacher and nothing more. Saying you are God's son makes you insane if you're not right, or you're just lying to try and manipulate people = not just a teacher.

And yes, I'm a creationist. The world was made in 6 days FLAT. There's really a lot of evidence against the theory of evolution, in my opinion. It's pretty much impossible to add information to your DNA sequence to make yourself different. Every mutation ever recorded EVER has resulted in a loss of genetic code, resulting in defects.

Jesus: I just work on the idea that he was a real person who tried to preach kindness and generosity, and his followers attached the divinity of their own accord. Pretty much like Brian.

Genetics: Off the top of my head, Down's Syndrome and Hermaphroditism are both caused by extra chromosomes.


I think I've been pretty clear about my thoughts on religion in these forums. I'm not going to try to actively convert others to Agnosticism/Atheism, because religion is a security blanket. People abuse the hell out of what they think religion is supposed to mean, but it's still comforting to think that there's a happy place you can go to, where all of your friends and family will be with you. People need meaning in their lives, and that can be hard to find.


I do approve of the gradual shift that society seems to be making, away from organised religion. There's a difference between believing that all lives have a spiritual connection, and refusing to take your sick child to the hospital because it's "God's Will." (On that note, isn't the point that God will do as He sees fit? Praying to him for a specific outcome seems a bit fruitless.)

Okay, so my family and I consider ourselves Catholic. But, we're not like... crazy. I'm not sure where people get this, I've never seen a Catholic go nuts over their religion.

Obviously not all Catholics, or even necessarily the majority, are going to be obsessed. Not all Christians are oppressive bigots. But stereotypes will always be based on the most vocal members of a group, no matter who you're talking about.

Actual conversation I had with a Catholic coworker...

Her: I'm so worried about my grandson, his father is a Jehovah's Witness, and he won't let me get him baptised. My daughter said I could take him to the church next time I visit them, as long as her husband never finds out.
Me: I've never really agreed with the concept of Original Sin.
Her: What's that?
Me: ...The whole idea that we're born with sin, because Eve ate the apple...which is why babies need to be baptised...I mean, if a newborn baby died, what have they ever done? Why would God keep him out of Heaven?
Her: Well, you know, it's just in case something happens in the future.


To be honest, the whole idea of Heaven vs. Hell bothers me. There are dozens of religions and religious variants on this planet. From an objective standpoint, it's damn near impossible to pick between some of them. But if you don't follow this exact set of rules during your tiny lifespan, you get to spend the rest of eternity (ie, an amount of time so absurdly long that the human mind can't even begin to break it down) in a burning pit of cobras. Wha? What kind of petty, uptight, sadistic--oh, right, we're created in his image. I suppose it makes sense after all.

[WMCD]

I've been hearing a lot of "Religion is more what you take from it/ Religion is a societal thing". I think that's just rude to religious people. I mean, it's like somone's holding up a sign that says "Run, there's a Lion about to maim you", and you're saying "Ah, what nice shade that sign provides." It's completely ignoring their words and meanings, and just focusing on the general vibe.

Two things:

1. Somebody can cry wolf all they want, but if they cant actually prove that there's a wolf coming and instead ask for the villagers to just trust them, then there are going to be people who trust him and people who don't. Nobody's right or wrong in that respect. And nobody can be certain if there is a wolf.

and

2. If there was only one message being preached then yes, your point would have more weight, but when there are dozens of messages being preached simultaneously, all of them saying "follow my way or you're doomed", how can you take every message at face value? Correct me if I'm wrong about this, but in the Muslims' eyes, all Christians are going to hell. Does that mean that all Christians should convert? Or that all Muslims should convert to Christianity? How can you convince yourself that you're on the right path?