Thread: Heroes For Gods?

Here's the one thing I think about this whole discussion.....

We need to stop judging people by any group that they belong to....period. Be it Atheist, religious, hobby or what ever else.

An atheist is perfectly capable of (in my eyes) obtaining a large degree of heaven. However there are plenty atheist that are right b@s$ar&s. Same way around with some "religious" people.

We don't go around telling people that people who drive a ford are all evil because they believe that fords are the ONE car do we?

We need to stop labeling people and judge them individually. You can look at a movement and say: I agree/disagree with certain of their principles.

However that doesn't make everyone in the movement evil.

Are there evil straight shavers? I bet there are. Does that make all straight shavers evil? Offcourse not.

Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

Here's the one thing I think about this whole discussion...
...We need to stop judging people by any group that they belong to....period. Be it Atheist, religious, hobby or what ever else...

Alex, you are very close to (what I believe is) the actual issue. It is not that we (human beings) judge others by any group to which they do belong. The main criteria we use to critique are actually memberships in our clubs to which others do not belong.

Brad

People probably do both. I see what you mean Brad.

Originally Posted by icedog

Alex, you are very close to (what I believe is) the actual issue. It is not that we (human beings) judge others by any group to which they do belong. The main criteria we use to critique are actually memberships in our clubs to which others do not belong.

Brad

I think this actually does sum up the whole thing.

Originally Posted by xman

Even good people can be made to do bad things if the conditions are right.

The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment

Religion is conditioning. This is another example of why we must teach our children to think critically at an early age. So that they may sooner identify and reject immoral notions even when they are given by authority.

So, when teaching includes language such as:



You would fully support that?

Look it doesn't tell the children what to think, but asks them to critically consider the information they are presented.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

So, when teaching includes language such as:



You would fully support that?

Look it doesn't tell the children what to think, but asks them to critically consider the information they are presented.

I don't disagree with that text. Maybe mine is a simple point of view ... but consider the source .... If evolution is truly the origin of the species why don't we see examples that are in the midst of it ? I know it takes millions of years but it has been millions of years. Finding a piece of jawbone in Africa and doing a computer model of what the rest of the thing looked like doesn't prove much to me. OTOH, I tend to think that there is something to it but is it a done deal ?

Originally Posted by Seraphim

So, when teaching includes language such as:



You would fully support that?

Look it doesn't tell the children what to think, but asks them to critically consider the information they are presented.

That's not critical thinking, it's dishonest, a lie. Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution explains how it happens and says nothing about the origins of life at all. It is a robust, extremely well tested scientific theory with extremely reliable predictions and observations. I would support a question like, "Given these facts can we conclude that evolution is a reliable scientific theory"?

Originally Posted by xman

That's not critical thinking, it's dishonest a lie. Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution explains how it happens. It is a robust, extremely well tested scientific theory with extremely reliable predictions and observations. I would support a question like, "Given these facts can we conclude that evolution is a reliable scientific theory"?

Aha.

Truth by blatant assertion then.

I see one must exercise caution as to what one applies critical thinking too...tricky business this.....

Originally Posted by Seraphim

Aha.

Truth by blatant assertion then.

I see one must exercise caution as to what one applies critical thinking too...tricky business this.....

Given that textbook statement you could also ask, "What does evolution imply about the origins of life"? "What does evolution claim about the origins of life"? "How do we know evolution is factual or not"? Answering these questions requires data and would be a good exercise in critical thinking indeed. It has been for me.

Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

People probably do both. I see what you mean Brad.

Mankind has a tendency to be extremely prejudicial. We are generally fearful of anything unknown. We require familiarity. People spend billions of dollars every year going on the same holiday as they did last year. time shar vacation homes always sell fast. People like what they know.That is why I say that we judge others by what those others are not. I think humans are very lazy. I don't like clubs but let's just say I am a Lion. I can walk into a big gathering and without any trouble at all, I can sort half the room for fellow Lions. I am not however sorting for other Lions. It is much quicker to sort, discarding those non-Lions. We always check for what things are not.

Try an experiment when you are out in public. When you see someone near you look at his watch, ask him immediately what time it is. He will not be able to tell you without looking at his watch again. The reason is simple. When he looked at his watch the first time, he wasn't looking to see what time it was. He was looking to see what time it was not. We are almost always on some schedule. When we are engaged in non-essential activities we are concerned with the start time of the next essential event. It is much easier to perform what can be called a "binary inspection" or simply a "pass/fail check". When we have a time of concern, an appointment or similar, we look at the watch checking for that time. It is a yes or no question, a 1 or a zero.