[Guyzer]

Originally Posted by pyritechips

Thank you! That is my intention. And if I ever see our little one climb aboard a motorcycle I will lick his/her arse!

(Just kidding! )

You meant kick his/her arse right?

[Fidelista]

Originally Posted by pyritechips

I felt the pleasure of many a peg scraping (and bouncing across the road on my arse when I exceeded the laws of physics) and I look forward to the happiness of seeing my wife cradling our little one in her arms!

That is the sensible thing to do . Motor bikes are a risk no matter how careful you are.
Now a dirt bike is another matter , no idiots in cars to take you out .
There are a couple of theories on this subject , one is to take no risks , and the other , live life to fullest , with some care of course .
I always thought life was too precious , and short , not to risk it. A selfish position I suppose.
Congratulations on Fatherhood !!!! You sound like you will be a great Papa ! >f

[pyritechips]

Originally Posted by Guyzer

You meant kick his/her arse right?

Oops! Typo!

Fixing now...

[pyritechips]

Originally Posted by Fidelista

That is the sensible thing to do . Motor bikes are a risk no matter how careful you are.
Now a dirt bike is another matter , no idiots in cars to take you out .
There are a couple of theories on this subject , one is to take no risks , and the other , live life to fullest , with some care of course .
I always thought life was too precious , and short , not to risk it. A selfish position I suppose.
Congratulations on Fatherhood !!!! You sound like you will be a great Papa ! >f

Well, when I was young and single I lived life to the fullest and now it is my duty to make sure my kid can do the same thing. As for being a great papa, I am very flattered but I gues time will tell.

[sy2]

Originally Posted by BanditFlyer

That would disqualify roughly 99.8% of all the self-proclaimed atheists I've ever spoken to. Many of the atheists I've met on internet forums have what can only be termed a faith in science, the intricacies of which they will never know, that tells them what to believe and what to not believe. Such a thing could only be referred to as a superstition.

Well I think that sort of faith is a bit different than religious faith.

I'd liken "scientific" faith to having faith in car engineers - I don't know the ins and outs of the engine, I certainly couldn't reproduce the components or tell you exactly why the car moves forward when I hit the gas, but I have faith that the engineers who constructed the engine knew what they were doing and that it will work.

We all have to have faith like that, because it's simply impossible for any one person to amass enough knowledge to know the inner-workings of everything. What I would say we have faith in is the method of acquiring that knowledge - namely the scientific method, which is much easier to have faith in than a random set of beliefs handed down from on-high and passed on generation to generation over a few millennium.

If most of those people were honest with themselves, they'd call themselves agnostics who lean towards atheism because of some deeply rooted superstitions, rather than calling themselves atheists.

And this is why I like how Richard Dawkins lays out a "scale of belief" of sorts, ranging from 1-7.

1: I believe without a doubt that God exists and I live my life under that assumption.
2: I strongly believe that God exists and, although I don't know for certain, live my life under the assumption that he does.
3: I have my doubts but I think that God existing is a likely proposition, and so I live my life assuming that he does.
4: I think it's equally likely that God does exist and that he doesn't. I may or may not live assuming that he does.

Then you have 5, 6, and 7 which are the opposite counterparts to 1-3. Using this continuum Dawkins says that he, and the vast, vast, majority of atheists would likely fall into 7: "I strongly believe that God does not exist and, although I can't know for certain, I live my life assuming that he doesn't."

Very few people would fall into category 8, although an overwhelming number of believers would fall into 1 - or so Dawkins would guess.

I like this continuum method because it removes the idea that God either exists or he doesn't, and that the odds are 50/50. I'm a firm believer in the idea that although we can't prove or disprove god's existence, we can determine some level of likelihood as to god's existence. For example, can we create a hypothesis about our universe's existence, expansion, etc... without including God in the model, and will that model still function and make accurate predictions about the future?

If so, I'd say that begins to tip the balance in regard to the probability that god exists. Touching the idea this briefly doesn't really do it much justice, but I think you know what I'm saying.

[BanditFlyer]

Originally Posted by pyritechips

I was 20-ish then, ten feet tall and bulletproof.

heh - if I would have been bulletproof, playing with guns and firecrackers woudn't have been so much fun.

I never really understood the whole thing about saying that kids feel like they're immortal. I only enjoyed taking risks because I knew I was taking a real risk. If I would have been immortal, there would have been no risk, and therefore no fun, involved.

Originally Posted by pyritechips

I am now 53 and a father to be. The most important thing in my life now is to be there for my wife and child - no risk taking. I can't be replaced by a life insurance policy. Every child should have two parents.

Congrats!

I quite agree!

Best of luck to you on your new adventure!

[ckphilli]

Originally Posted by BanditFlyer

Ck, Christianity actually has a really ......... I'm gonna choose my words carefully here ..... Christianity has a really well thought out answer. Not a good answer, mind you, but definitely one that's well thought out. A "Check mate" kind of answer. The answer they use is "You just have to have faith". And that's the whole point - it's a test of faith.

Basically, Christians consider life like a Fraternity hazing. Trial by fire type of thing. You have to have Faith. That's how you know you're a Christian. That's how God knows you're a Christian. It's the ultimate Test.

And that leads to the inevitable question - how do you know you have faith? There's only one way to know - you get put in the crucible, life starts to suck and you ask yourself, "What kind of a God would allow such things to happen? Why would any God-like creature who expects us to believe he is a Just God do this to us? Why would any Just God allow such things to happen to us? If such things happen, doesn't it make sense that God is either Dead, Evil, too weak to deserve the title of "God", or just plain non-existent?"

The answer to all those questions is that we, as mortal humans, aren't allowed to know the answers to those questions because if we did, we wouldn't need Faith, now would we?

So if you wanna pass the test, you have to lean in to the falling sword.

It's basically a check-mate. Very well thought-out. I don't like it, but I can't deny it's power.



....

I still prefer Buddhism's answer - basically - "life sucks"

Bandit, I have to say that that was very eloquent and true. I haven't seen anyone rebuke you, so that means either a) you're right or b) they don't want any of the Ted.

I agree, you must take the faith in all its entirety to be a true believer. But what bothers me is the "we don't have the power to understand" or "we don't need to understand" or "why should we question it?". But I don't have faith, and that's why it bothers me...doesn't hurt folks like LAN, Poochee, Valley, or my Mom....it's just me.

That somewhat fiery post was one of anger from me, but I've gotten past that. Without divulging too much about my personal life let's just say that I've learned to live with the sins of the parents without projecting them on their children. And I'm not talking about my wife or my parents...hmmm

[valis]

hmmm......a messiah who was killed again and rose after three days.....but before jesus?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/wo...=2&oref=slogin

[PEP]

lol maybe it was gods first attempt??

[JStergis]

Originally Posted by valis

hmmm......a messiah who was killed again and rose after three days.....but before jesus?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/wo...=2&oref=slogin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aW2N...eature=related

Can't vouch for accuracy, I haven't researched it yet, but that's very interesting if it's true.

[brillser]

Hi all,
Eh' if, he/she the entity, does exist, and I certainly do not believe that it does, it shows a distinct lack of knowlage concerning paleontology. Which is an odd thing concidering it is all seeing and all knowing. One person who believes in it's existance informed me that the earth is but 10,000 years old.
I finnished my pint/my beer, and left

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology

[Braydenmartindal]

Well I got 1 question Why the hell would somthing that has to do with religious crap be on a tech support website ? and second of all Why do so many americans think as themselves better than every other country in the world when most dont even have a clue about any other country in the world I have met some stupid americans in my life some of which (26 year olds) couldnt even find theyre own country on a friggen map that cleary has UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CANADA and etc .

[good grief]

Originally Posted by brillser

Hi all,
Eh' if, he/she the entity, does exist, and I certainly do not believe that it does, it shows a distinct lack of knowlage concerning paleontology. Which is an odd thing concidering it is all seeing and all knowing. One person who believes in it's existance informed me that the earth is but 10,000 years old.
I finnished my pint/my beer, and left

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology

Your reply would seem to indicate that you believe 'Creationism' is the only religion in the world....

[Bastiat]

Originally Posted by Braydenmartindal

Well I got 1 question Why the hell would somthing that has to do with religious crap be on a tech support website ?

Because we like to see what morons we can attract from other countries. What country you from?

[good grief]

Originally Posted by Braydenmartindal

Well I got 1 question Why the hell would somthing that has to do with religious crap be on a tech support website ? and second of all Why do so many americans think as themselves better than every other country in the world when most dont even have a clue about any other country in the world I have met some stupid americans in my life some of which (26 year olds) couldnt even find theyre own country on a friggen map that cleary has UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CANADA and etc .

Wow. Way to introduce yourself there, Braydenmartindal...