Religion forum

[Stargazer]

Horrible idea. Tell Uncle Al why Catholics and Protestants kill each other in Northern Ireland despite worshipping the same god, three gods, whatever. How can anybody espouse that stuff and keep a straight face while doing it?

Religion has not had a good impact on our societies. At best it's been useless and laughable, at worst it's been oppression, murder, torture, indoctrination of fairytales, antiscience... But it has had an impact. This could go into some History forum.

 

Let's have a forum devoted to elves, too, and journeyman intergalactic proctologists who have a fondess for abducting rural bumpkins, and ethnic histories, and Wymyns' issues, and the supernatural, and...

If someone is making the claim that god, elves or the supernatural really exist, it should go into Strange claims forum. Discussing the existence of mythical entities doesn't seem like something that fits into any of the science fora, so if we're here to discuss whether or not the sun is a goddess being chased across the heavens by a wolf, or if we would want to discuss the properties of the Invisible Pink Unicorn (how can she be pink and invisible?) then we need a Religion forum.

[infamous]

For the benefit of folks like Uncel Al, who seem constitutionally unable to separate religion from politics, I suggest we NOT have a form on politics.

 

I also think it might be safe to stay several hundred feet from Uncle Al, in the event of unexpected lightening strikes.

 

Good one Bio; If you'll examine Uncle Al's avatar, it appears as though he's already been struck.

[BEAKER]

We will never find the perfect balance. But this is an attempt to meeet the wishes of our members and find out what kind of solutions we can work out.

I for one appreciate the consideration; even if I am one of the ones you are trying to re-route.:hyper: personally I am thankful (ie. happy; excited; glad; etc) to have a place like this to go and learn more than I do about all the varrious issues that are intertwined with our exsistance on this planet, and the implications of current scientific theory as it affects worldwide thought. I want to say thank you Tormod, and everybody concerned for making this such a hospitible place. Nothing's perfect - but this is a great forum.

By the way, - Have you seen my coffee mug?:(

[McGyver]

We have a lot of discussion about religious topics which fall outside of the science domain. Yet it is obvious that a lot of our members want to discuss religion in various contexts.

 

The moderators propose that we start a "Religion forum" for discussions about creationism, Intelligent Design and other related topics.

 

This forum will not be placed in the "Science Forums" category, but under "Other forums".

 

Let us know what you think.

Right on, Tormod! Any such discussion reference to "religion" must be more narrowly defined as either "Creationism," "Intelligent Design," or another specifically named "science" discussion. In view of our 21st Century wisdom of life, the word "Religion" today seems more likely to define an organization, rather than a particular study. I would agree that we now have some provocative evidence on the existance of a spiritual dimension, but it is unclear what role this dimension or rhealm might play in the overall existance of life. How many of you have experienced, or observed, and can CONFIRM such "occurances" as inexplainable through known science?

[Smokinjoe9]

Is there a religious forum yet?? Well, i guess I could look for it :(

[tarak]

I think there is no need for any religious forum.There are two things here.One is theology and related analysis & assessment of the genesis,evolution and functioning of different religions,beliefs and their larger role in the society,cultural influences,etc...which directly come under social sciences,philosophy and humanities.The other part is our frequent emotional discussion/opinions on existence of god and trying to prove to the world on the validity of our opinions.

[paultrr]

Good one Bio; If you'll examine Uncle Al's avatar, it appears as though he's already been struck.

 

He's not that bad guys. He's just into the retro hair look.

[niviene]

I would like to see a Religion forum for a few reasons....

 

As a religious fence rider, I want to know about the "science" of religion as well as the classic "science" that I've been taught. There seem to be some people in "religious science" that are very well educated here and I would like to see that in an area where it is known that it is being discussed with regards or with relevance to religion.

 

I know what it is like to have religious "fanatics" or "absolutists" jump in to a scientific discussion and refute everything or begin interjecting religious elements to it - it can feel frustrating and annoying. If a religious forum existed, you could simply say, "move this idea to the religious forum..." etc. Rather than starting an evolutionary vs creationism debate in response to a lightbulb....

 

I would also like to see a History thread, as not only do I love history, but I think that History is a major contribution and factor of science and religion. It would be nice to have a history thread to ask about historical issues as a sub-category of humanities, at least, even though it's not "science", I feel that it is "social science" and is very central to the development of many of the scientific things we talk about here.

 

This is my humble opinion. :hihi:

[niviene]

Horrible idea. Tell Uncle Al why Catholics and Protestants kill each other in Northern Ireland despite worshipping the same god, three gods, whatever. How can anybody espouse that stuff and keep a straight face while doing it?

 

Let's have a forum devoted to elves, too, and journeyman intergalactic proctologists who have a fondess for abducting rural bumpkins, and ethnic histories, and Wymyns' issues, and the supernatural, and...

 

Hey, I know what you're saying - people get hot over this stuff. But I think t his place has demonstrated the ability to have great discussions about things while keeping open minds (minus a few exceptions) - I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them, and there are plenty around here who would make a great moderator for the place to keep things under control. On top of that, there would be a dedicated place to talk about Religion, so that it wouldn't be all interspersed with other threads.

[BEAKER]

there would be a dedicated place to talk about Religion, so that it wouldn't be all interspersed with other threads.

I think this is a great ideal; I have my doubts whether or not it would ever be totally observed because as we all know, "religion" eventually creeps into almost every subject here (speaking as one who often does the creeping) - but of course I'm not the only one, and personally I believe it is inevitable. I hope we can have this space for the benifit of focused direction toward the goal of "sepparation of church and science", since this seems to be what Tormod and others want; but It will no doubt only ebb the tide.

[niviene]

I think this is a great ideal; I have my doubts whether or not it would ever be totally observed because as we all know, "religion" eventually creeps into almost every subject here (speaking as one who often does the creeping) - but of course I'm not the only one, and personally I believe it is inevitable. I hope we can have this space for the benifit of focused direction toward the goal of "sepparation of church and science", since this seems to be what Tormod and others want; but It will no doubt only ebb the tide.

 

Well, it does seem like every topic in here ultimately leads into a religious argument.. hehe. I just think it would be cool to have a place to talk about it without worrying about making others roll their eyes, or getting the proverbial, "stay on topic!" notice. ;)

[BEAKER]

Well, it does seem like every topic in here ultimately leads into a religious argument.. hehe. I just think it would be cool to have a place to talk about it without worrying about making others roll their eyes, or getting the proverbial, "stay on topic!" notice. ;)

You're so good at not beating around the bush.;)

[lindagarrette]

A religion forum should not include any science topics.:friday:

[BEAKER]

A religion forum should not include any science topics.:friday:

Says you!:eek:

[Kukucan]

How about a religious forum on another website?

 

This is a science forum after all. Isn't it? :note:

[Tormod]

How about a religious forum on another website?

 

This is a science forum after all. Isn't it? :note:

 

There are religious forums on other websites. We are talking about whether we need it here, which seems to be the sentiment.

[Biochemist]

There are religious forums on other websites. We are talking about whether we need it here, which seems to be the sentiment.

You know, T, I keep thinking this over, and it is not clear to my why we sould not just assume that discussions of religion are just a subset of philosphy here. It seems to me that a significant fraciton of folks on this site are either atheistic or agnostic, so from the perspective of the majority, religion looks liks philosophy. Further, almost all of the religion discussions that are related to science issues usually contain a mix of philosophical views and spiritual views. I would be OK with just including religion under philosophy, although I voted in favor of a separate forum.