Thread: Is it possible for us as men to have a discussion on God

I only used the term "irrational" as that was a direct quote from the movie.

I think that major point is that, these religious people (those in the movie) have rational beliefs in the rest of their lives, thus saying they are "normal" , another term I'm sure I will get i trouble for, but with regards to religion (to use a movie term) they suspend their belief. Some believe these biblical stories without any. In the movie Bill asked,"if as children you were taught the Jack and , Jack the Beanstalk was a biblical tale, would you all be defending it"?

I have many religious friends, of many different faiths, I respect them all, they are people that seem to have a good moral grounding. Some of them attribute their morals to their religion. If thats what it takes then so be it. I have a similar moral outlook, yet personally I believe in my mind what is morally right, I personally don't require a supernatural being to keep me in line.

It's not even that I don't believe, I just don't know, as a person with freewill and thought, I believe it's my duty as a human to question and explore.

I personally can't understand those that don't question or get upset by others that do question their "faith". To me it's like getting upset when someone tells me they think Star Trek is better than Star Wars, when Star Wars is clearly better (which has many religious themes through out).

This the definition of irrational that I used when using that term

Irrational
-not logical or reasonable.

Now youve gone and ****ED ME OFF! EVERYBODY KNOWS that Star Trek is better than that crap Star Wars! Talk about irrational beliefs.... God help you!

Originally Posted by Hutch

I only used the term "irrational" as that was a direct quote from the movie.

I think that major point is that, these religious people (those in the movie) have rational beliefs in the rest of their lives, thus saying they are "normal" , another term I'm sure I will get i trouble for, but with regards to religion (to use a movie term) they suspend their belief. Some believe these biblical stories without any. In the movie Bill asked,"if as children you were taught the Jack and , Jack the Beanstalk was a biblical tale, would you all be defending it"?

I have many religious friends, of many different faiths, I respect them all, they are people that seem to have a good moral grounding. Some of them attribute their morals to their religion. If thats what it takes then so be it. I have a similar moral outlook, yet personally I believe in my mind what is morally right, I personally don't require a supernatural being to keep me in line.

It's not even that I don't believe, I just don't know, as a person with freewill and thought, I believe it's my duty as a human to question and explore.

I personally can't understand those that don't question or get upset by others that do question their "faith". To me it's like getting upset when someone tells me they think Star Trek is better than Star Wars, when Star Wars is clearly better (which has many religious themes through out).

This the definition of irrational that I used when using that term

Irrational
-not logical or reasonable.

Then I think "unrational" would have been a better term for them to have used.

As far as doubt and faith are concerned, I'm with you. One of my theology profs in college actually wrote a book called "Faith to Doubt," which suggested that entertaining doubt could make faith stronger, not weaker.

To each is own.

j

Is "unrational" a word (or a Bushism). I've yet to find it in any dictionary or thesaurus.

Or are we making up a word to assuage a groups delicate sensibilities.

This should send them all into a tither (.Y.)

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Now youve gone and ****ED ME OFF! EVERYBODY KNOWS that Star Trek is better than that crap Star Wars! Talk about irrational beliefs.... God help you!

Come on the Imperial Cruisers would kick the Enterprise's butt. The blasters, and light sabers were way better than those silly phasers. Then there is the Force, say no more and Darth Vader is way cooler than Kling-ons ( named after little piece of toilet paper that stick to your butt after wiping)

Originally Posted by Hutch

Come on the Imperial Cruisers would kick the Enterprise's butt. The blasters, and light sabers were way better than those silly phasers. Then there is the Force, say no more and Darth Vader is way cooler than Kling-ons ( named after little piece of toilet paper that stick to your butt after wiping)

Come on guys! This is a God thread not a sci-fi thread...





...Besides, anyone with a modicum of rational thought knows that Star Trek TNG kicks but on all those pretenders to the throne!

The prefixes "UN" and "IR" (along with "DIS", "IL", "IM" and "IN") just mean "to negate the following word" and, conventionally, are used for specific words at the exclusion of the others (most words that begin with "R" are given "IR" as a prefix; irrelevant, irresponsible, irregular, irrational, etc).

So, "irrational" means whatever the user intends it to mean, context clues must be the clarifying agent, not a new word.

Originally Posted by Nord Jim

Where "irrational" means that someone has taken leave of his or her rationality, the term "unrational" means that something is based not on rational decision, but on intuition, faith, or something other than empirical evidence.

Is unrational a real word? I always thought it was either 'ir' or 'un' but not both.

Originally Posted by Nord Jim

It's a nice term. It describes, for example, why I prefer brunettes to blonds, or why I like stinky cheese more than velveeta. It is also a nice description for the leap of faith necessary to be religious. Yes, it's based on something other than strictly rational thought, but no, it doesn't mean that someone has taken leave of his or her senses.

That is exactly what irrational means. For that specific area of debate (Religion), religious people choose faith over logic and rationality.
That does not mean they are irrational people (which is indeed something else altogether) and I am not judging people's religious beliefs. But that is simply how the word 'irrational' applies to religion.

Originally Posted by JMS

Come on guys! This is a God thread not a sci-fi thread...

For some religions the distinction is pretty vague.

Originally Posted by JMS

...Besides, anyone with a modicum of rational thought knows that Star Trek TNG kicks but on all those pretenders to the throne!

Close, but no cigar. Sure, TNG may have more hot looking women, but SW has Leia. And light sabres

Originally Posted by Hutch

Is "unrational" a word (or a Bushism). I've yet to find it in any dictionary or thesaurus.

Or are we making up a word to assuage a groups delicate sensibilities.

This should send them all into a tither (.Y.)

I believe it's a Jimism. What I meant was nonrational. Sorry. Slipped for a moment. The definition, however, remains the same.

Looked it up at work and promptly mixed it up at home.

j