Dear Pope Benedict XVI

Posted by HeroofTime55 on Sept. 17, 2010, 10:13 p.m.

Fuck you.

In a recent speech, you equated atheism with Nazism. I am not a Nazi and the two concepts have nothing to do with each other.

Yes, we live in an age where religion is quickly dying out. In the past, religion served to 'fill in the gaps' of human knowledge. Whenever science has come along to fill those gaps with the truth, those clinging to their religious beliefs stop the progress of science, and for many centuries, religion has held back the human race and our progression forward.

Today we live in an era dominated by science and technology; new discoveries are being made every day, and we know more about the universe and it's workings than anyone in history. This is a scary thing for religion, because it's purpose of 'filling in the gaps' is quickly becoming vestigial. It is, of course, no wonder that a large number of religious bodies are aggressively fighting against this new era of humanity, and it's not surprising to watch them go to such ridiculous extremes as to make comparisons with Hitler and Nazism. Pathetic, really.

But for calling me a Nazi: Fuck you.

Comments

HeroofTime55 14 years, 2 months ago

No, Juju, it can be attacked.

For starters, with thousands of logically conflicting religions, they cannot all be correct.

That said, religion relies upon making claims with zero backing evidence. It is completely unscientific. Unknowns are attributed to religion and people don't search for a scientific explanation because they already 'know' that it was god or whatever. It holds back scientific progress. It's unhealthy for humanity, regardless of any clever little philosophical arguments you make that we "can't rule out" religion, just as we can't rule out an infinite number of alternate 'religions' that nobody has come up with yet.

Castypher 14 years, 2 months ago

Religious arguments are pointless. It's why I don't take on any particular one.

PopeBenedictXVI 14 years, 2 months ago

Dear HeroOfTime55,

Fuck you too.

Love,

Herr Ratzinger

Lapixx 14 years, 2 months ago

Quote:
religion relies upon making claims with zero backing evidence
Just checking, you know that not all religions are about (one or more) Gods right? Religions are also about the purpose of life, for example. Science does not answer such questions simply because it's science. Religion offers a life stance most of the time, science again, does not.

2 different things, not 100% interchangeable.

@BenedictXVI: lol'd hard =D

Scott_AW 14 years, 2 months ago

In reality, science has been just as deceptive as religion. Even though science has good methods, just like religion has good morals, both are subject to manipulation and lies for the benefit of the those how can game the systems to get power and profit.

Remember that a lot of the scientist of yore were religious, and not atheists.

Also there have been scientist who say something is true/false but later get proved wrong or find the universe is more complex then thought.

Think of all the herbal medicines that have come from various religions vs. the manufactured drugs that has come from science. Science has just recently found out that things like shrooms and canabis have health and psychological benefits, while its found that tylenol causes asthma in young kids. Then think of all the horrible birth control pills that caused various deformations and health problems.

Of course there's plenty bad to say about religion, but that's already been said.

sirxemic 14 years, 2 months ago

Well done, Josea, well done.

Cesque 14 years, 2 months ago

But there's a difference between "logic presupposes some unverifiable relationships / science is not always accurate or beneficial" and "screw that, we should all believe some bronze age texts instead."

Quote:
Remember that a lot of the scientist of yore were religious, and not atheists.

Yes, e.g. Srinivasa Ramanujan, a man who introduced two new constants in mathematics, claimed he owed his genius to the goddess guarding his house and the Namagiri of Namakkal. What does that have to do with his achievements? Not much more than the fact that Newton was a Christian, Geber was a Muslim, Einstein was a pantheist, and Dawkins is an atheist.

Quote:
Also there have been scientist who say something is true/false but later get proved wrong or find the universe is more complex then thought.

And that's how science works! My favourite example:

People came up with quantum physics by rejecting the idea that electrons have fixed orbits, which they came up with by rejecting the idea that electrons are embedded into the atom, which they came up with by rejecting the idea that atoms are indivisible, which they came up with by rejecting the idea that matter is not divisible into fundamental parts.

At any of these stages (including the currently accepted one(s)), the theory was, ultimately, wrong. But if it wasn't accepted, it wouldn't lead to further, more accurate theories, and associated technological advancement.

HeroofTime55 14 years, 2 months ago

Cesque for the win. You cannot argue with science, because science is built on arguing and debating things to discover the truth. Science is "The Systematic Quest for Knowledge" and is not a set of beliefs. Science is the catalyst which evolves our knowledge of the universe, whereas religion sits there and resists any change in understanding of the universe with all the power it can muster, usually because some fat old bastard is sitting in a role of power, having convinced millions of people that "god chose him" or some other bullshit.

Lapixx 14 years, 2 months ago

Quote:
Science is the catalyst which evolves our knowledge of the universe, whereas religion sits there and resists any change in understanding of the universe with all the power it can muster
How does science offer any knowledge of the universe? It does not give an answer to the reason we're here, and as far as I know, it isn't even going to look for it. Still, it's good to know that the universe is infinite. Probably.

Leyenda 14 years, 2 months ago

Funny how this whole argument start from misquoting the Pope. He never equated atheism with Nazis. His speech is here Part in question:

…we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity…

<snip>

As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society…

I'm agnostic. I dislike Pope and his church. But we can't have argument if we misrepresent each others views.