religion in the future

[Caid Ivik]

From cybernetical view you are true. But I don't agree with Meier's Civilisation as a model for mankind.

[ordos45]

yeah, but islam is in so many wars that they loose many of their believers. btw. what is mormonism? never heard about it

maxl why do you think that it is probably islam which is the dominating religion in the future? it is not probable at all, christianity has about twice as much believers as Islam. and the world is getting more and more close to follow the christian values. I think that islam will go away as soon as the muslims realize that war is not the way. that the christian values are the most human ones. it is if we follow the christian values we will get a country with joy and love.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/lds.htm

www.mormon.org/

www.lds.org/

Basically it can be described as a splinter movement of Christianity...in a way. As far as I know, they call themselves Christian, but every major denomination denounces them as a cult. They have added the Book of Mormon to their teachings, in tandem with the Bible.

The Mormons most infamous act is that of door to door missionary work. When a Mormon boy turns 18 he devotes 2 years of his life to going door to door to do missionary work for the LDS Church.

(Sorry for the long wait of a reply)

[Navaros]

ordos45,

the reason Mormons get no respect aside from them harassing people, is because the guy who invented the Mormon cult was a pervert who also invented Polygamy. which means, he thought it was okay to bang as many women as he wanted and have as many wives as he wanted. this is what he thought "God told him". God never said that. he was simply an evil degenerate pervert. any religion made by a guy like that is in fact a cult. there is nothing Christian about Mormons.

[ordos45]

ordos45,

the reason Mormons get no respect aside from them harassing people, is because the guy who invented the Mormon cult was a pervert who also invented Polygamy. which means, he thought it was okay to bang as many women as he wanted and have as many wives as he wanted. this is what he thought "God told him". God never said that. he was simply an evil degenerate pervert. any religion made by a guy like that is in fact a cult. there is nothing Christian about Mormons.

Actually Nav, polygamy was around before him. And they no longer allow polygamy as a practice. It is now looked down upon.

[Navaros]

ordos45,

the reason Mormons get no respect aside from them harassing people, is because the guy who invented the Mormon cult was a pervert who also invented Polygamy. which means, he thought it was okay to bang as many women as he wanted and have as many wives as he wanted. this is what he thought "God told him". God never said that. he was simply an evil degenerate pervert. any religion made by a guy like that is in fact a cult. there is nothing Christian about Mormons.

Actually Nav, polygamy was around before him. And they no longer allow polygamy as a practice. It is now looked down upon.

they just did that to appease the public, not because they wanted to. they still think of the polygamous pervert who founded their cult as a "prophet from God". a prophet would not advocate for and personally commit polygamy and say God told him it was the right thing to do.

the fact that they even have the slightest bit of respect for this guy is disguting. for them to say such a degenerate freak is a "prophet from God" - which they all believe - just goes to show that they are as much a bunch of a perverted, deluded quacks as the guy who invented their cult.

[Acriku]

I have a friend, my latin teacher, who is a mormon, and none of what you said even resembles what he is like. He has one wife, happily married, with 1 son and 1 on the way. Great guy.

[ordos45]

Nav, you don't bother to answer the door and politely shoo them off and throw away their little tracts, do you? I'll give them one thing, they design beautiful churches, and probably in the future it will continue to grow, due to its frequent commercials, committment of members to go door to door, and its family oriented teachings.

[Caid Ivik]

Mormons are a derivate of twisted thoughts of one freemason, who found that organisation as too weak to take control of some people. So he proclaimed himself a prophet and wrote some books. Every book is a nonsense, negatable from first page. Have you ever read Book of Mormon? That's a daring comedy, satirizing Bible. Not heresy, I would say rather thing for laugh over christianity.

Church of the Later Days is a half-masonic, half-neopagan cult. Hostile to else religions, trying to consume souls of its members. Nothing serious. Anyway, Smith's only prophecy for future failed: 140 years after date we still wait for armageddon...

[SurlyPIG]

And I agree with Ace about the future. Seeing how we are living in a decadent (i.e. stagnating) civilization, it is only natural for atheism and deism to take the lead. This has already happened several times before. And none of those civilizations survived.

Decadent? Hell no. Atheism and deism are progressing proportionally with progress in all other areas. Think about it; the most backward, war-torn, opressed countries in the world are all religious, and nearly all punish blasphemy.

Science is progress. 60% of scientists are atheists.

Current progression is order. Remember those prison statistics? The number of atheists in there was miniscule. I don't think there was even a single deist in prison among the hundreds of thousands surveyed.

Because, as much as you hate to admit it, my atheist friends, religion motivates people like no other force in the world. Religion causes restlessness and change (hence all the religious wars). Atheism causes stagnation. You cannot deny the fact that our civilization faces complete stagnation precisely because people have nothing to motivate them any more. And stagnation is death...

I won't argue that religion causes relentlessness, but does it cause change? That's a laughable notion. It's very purpose is stagnation; to bring the world back to a state it was in thousands of years ago. Devotion to ancient worship, ancient texts and ancient ways is anything but progress. The increase in atheism in scientists has come along with exponentially accelerating jumps in science, technology, and medicine. Looks like progress to me.

You know, even Darwin was a good little Christian. He held back his discoveries for two decades because he knew they were blasphemous, but today, they are irrefutable by any scientist. Doesn't sound like religion helped that progression...

[Edric O]

Decadent? Hell no. Atheism and deism are progressing proportionally with progress in all other areas. Think about it; the most backward, war-torn, opressed countries in the world are all religious, and nearly all punish blasphemy.

Science is progress. 60% of scientists are atheists.

Current progression is order. Remember those prison statistics? The number of atheists in there was miniscule. I don't think there was even a single deist in prison among the hundreds of thousands surveyed.

Whether or not atheism has anything to do with it, our society IS stagnating. Science alone is not progress. As Albert Einstein once said, science is a means, not an end in itself. Science is the means by which progress is achieved, but it does not represent progress in itself.

We are making spectacular scientific progress, but none of it is being put to good use. We are only improving the things that we already have instead of creating new ones. We have given up space exploration. We are apathetic. And I think atheism is one of the main reasons for this global apathy.

I won't argue that religion causes relentlessness, but does it cause change? That's a laughable notion. It's very purpose is stagnation; to bring the world back to a state it was in thousands of years ago. Devotion to ancient worship, ancient texts and ancient ways is anything but progress.

Stop right there. You're not looking at the religious phenomenon as a whole. You are only looking at a handful of ancient, well-established religions. Like ANYTHING that is ancient and well-established, they have become conservative. But I'm talking about the religious phenomenon in general, and new religions in particular.

New religions are always great instruments of change. Just look at the first 300 years of Christianity, or the first 300 years of Islam. They were extremely different, but they had one thing in common: they shook the world with a wave of change.

[Acriku]

We have given up space exploration. We are apathetic. And I think atheism is one of the main reasons for this global apathy.

What the heck are you babbling on about now? Please explain how atheism is one of the main reasons for this "global apathy" that I'm not sure even exists. And if you think we've given up on space exploration than you're dead wrong, as NASA is coordinating more missions as we speak. They set up a department solely to make sure everything is safe and working, also.

[SurlyPIG]

New religions aren't progressive they're insane! :D In order to convert people they have to throw out compltely ridiculous and almost always crazy ideas eg Scientology, Raelianism etc. And what do we have when they're in place? We have ideas not driven by people or progress, but by these religions. Just a different, newer stagnation.

[Caid Ivik]

Technocracy can be considered as religion itself. Communism was hit by it mostly. First great electrification project, than Dneprogress power plant, ANT-20 Maxim Gorkij plane, Sputnik satelite, Vostok rocket, Saljut station, MiG-25 hypersonic plane, Kuznecov carrier, Tajfun submarine, Kirov battlecruiser, Mir station and finally, Cernobyl power plant. All were sorrounded by big propaganda, and here we see: "I will give you this, just worship me..."

[Edric O]

What the heck are you babbling on about now? Please explain how atheism is one of the main reasons for this "global apathy" that I'm not sure even exists. And if you think we've given up on space exploration than you're dead wrong, as NASA is coordinating more missions as we speak. They set up a department solely to make sure everything is safe and working, also.

Ummmm, Acriku, please pay a little more attention to what I'm actually saying before you become enraged by it...

I said:

"Whether or not atheism has anything to do with it... etc. etc."

Atheism is a cause of apathy in general, not apathy towards space exploration in particular. And I made a point out of the fact that I'm not sure exactly what role atheism plays in all this. The only thing that I DO know is that today's world has both the highest number of atheists and the highest degree of public apathy in known history...

And yes, our society IS stagnating, especially in the field of space exploration. We haven't gone to the Moon in 30 years! 30 years!! For three decades we've been satisfied to barely lift things a few thousand kilometres above the Earth's surface. That's PATHETIC! It's like Columbus discovering America, and then deciding that it isn't really worth it and going back to making short trips to islands just off the coast of Spain.

New religions aren't progressive they're insane! :D In order to convert people they have to throw out compltely ridiculous and almost always crazy ideas eg Scientology, Raelianism etc. And what do we have when they're in place? We have ideas not driven by people or progress, but by these religions. Just a different, newer stagnation.

Yes, Ace, I agree. Today's new religions ARE insane... and that's a big problem. New religions aren't what they used to be...

[Acriku]

What the heck are you babbling on about now? Please explain how atheism is one of the main reasons for this "global apathy" that I'm not sure even exists. And if you think we've given up on space exploration than you're dead wrong, as NASA is coordinating more missions as we speak. They set up a department solely to make sure everything is safe and working, also.

Ummmm, Acriku, please pay a little more attention to what I'm actually saying before you become enraged by it...

I said:

"Whether or not atheism has anything to do with it... etc. etc."

Atheism is a cause of apathy in general, not apathy towards space exploration in particular. And I made a point out of the fact that I'm not sure exactly what role atheism plays in all this. The only thing that I DO know is that today's world has both the highest number of atheists and the highest degree of public apathy in known history...

And yes, our society IS stagnating, especially in the field of space exploration. We haven't gone to the Moon in 30 years! 30 years!! For three decades we've been satisfied to barely lift things a few thousand kilometres above the Earth's surface. That's PATHETIC! It's like Columbus discovering America, and then deciding that it isn't really worth it and going back to making short trips to islands just off the coast of Spain.

You said: "We are apathetic. And I think atheism is one of the main reasons for this global apathy." So a little more attention won't do it. This is what you said, and I responded. And don't give yourself the satisfaction that I am enraged because of what you said, it was just outrageous for you to say that. Are you going to dcoument proven correlations between the growing number of atheists and the growing number of apathetics? Of course not, because you "think" there are when there aren't. In fact, the growing number of atheists most likely correlates with the growing knowledge in science.

And why would we need to go to the moon so soon? If we go to the moon and come back, would you be happy? They are doing research right now on the effects of space on various life forms, and other research, going on the moon doesn't seem to be an imperative right now.

[Edric O]

You said: "We are apathetic. And I think atheism is one of the main reasons for this global apathy." So a little more attention won't do it. This is what you said, and I responded. And don't give yourself the satisfaction that I am enraged because of what you said, it was just outrageous for you to say that. Are you going to dcoument proven correlations between the growing number of atheists and the growing number of apathetics? Of course not, because you "think" there are when there aren't. In fact, the growing number of atheists most likely correlates with the growing knowledge in science.

Hmmm, you say things which seem outrageous to Christians all the time, and that never seems to be a problem...

However, you are right about one thing. There's no way in hell that I can prove any connection between atheism and apathy, beyond my own opinion. And that's why I said that I think atheism is one of the main reasons for this global apathy.

I'm not talking about YOUR kind of atheists, Acriku. I'm talking about the average "I'm not religious because it isn't worth the effort" atheists.

As for going to the Moon: You call THIS soon? We should have built permanent settlements there by now! Why? Because space is the future of Mankind. This is bigger than any of us, bigger than 5 thousand years of human history, bigger than communism or capitalism or anything else that Mankind has ever invented or discovered.

WE, Homo Sapiens, are the only hope for terran life to survive after the death of our Sun. We are the only known species which is capable of space travel, and we rule over the only known planet on which life has evolved. We have an immense responsibility on our shoulders.

Didn't you have a quote from Isaac Asimov in your signature once? "Humanity has the stars in its future..."

[Acriku]

Get funding for NASA and they probably will do such a thing.

[Edric O]

Yeah, IF they somehow get all the funds they need to do that...

But it's more likely that we're all gonna grow rocket boosters on our feet than NASA ever getting proper funding....

Please excuse me for bringing politics into this, but I honestly don't believe that a profit-driven capitalist economy can ever get Mankind to the stars, or even the planets in our own Solar System for that matter. There is simply no short-term profit to be made from space exploration, and no one will invest in an enterprise that will only benefit their grandchildren.

[Acriku]

Says you, with communism drivel oozing out of your ears...

[Edric O]

So do you have any good argument against what I said or do you just like to insult me for no reason?

[ordos45]

I think actually (bringing more capitalism into play) that the mega corporations will benefit by sponsoring space travel in the near future (few decades). After all, if they get a monopoly on off world resources and the nonrenewable ones dry up, they can make a substantial profit.

[Acriku]

Well if all you're going to do is say that capitalism can't do this or that because they are too greedy, well that reason won't cut it. I didn't see your argument as complete, so I commented on it. I wasn't insulting you, so don't cry victim.

[Dude_Doc]

Actually, Edric, mankind is doing progress in space. First of all, the first human expedition to Mars is going to take place around 2015-2020.

Second, why is it so important to go to the moon? We haven't the technology to build bases there yet. Nor settlements. And if they could, they'd have to invent artificial gravity, because the atomsphere is quite thin there. Artificial gravity, yes... they are doing research on it as we speak. You see, it is required to have artificial gravity on the way to Mars, or else, the human body would be too weak to even walk on the planet, and returning to Earth with, what strenght they got, is not a good idea. Why people haven't become weak while they're incapsulated months inside space-stations around Earth? Simple, they are in reach of the planet's gravity-pull. And it's protection against deadly radiation, which we are not protected against if we leave Earths magnetic-field.

Not progressive? NASA, besides the Mars mission, is planning to build a group of space-bases, placed in the so called "Lagrange-points" in the space around Earths system.

China, as a country, is advancing in the space area. They, too, are going to send up a pair of cosmonauts, and they even have plans for the moon.

The ISS space station, and many more. We are not advancing in space? No - we are. You just don't notice it.

[Edric O]

Ordos45, most of Earth's non-renewable resources that will run out any time soon are things like oil and coal. They have an organic origin. You won't find them anywhere else in the Solar System.

And besides, the nearest source of raw materials that can be efficiently exploited is the Asteroid Belt. And we'll never get to it without spending a great deal of time perfecting space flight to the Moon and Mars first.

Acriku, you still haven't brought up any logical arguments against what I said. How exactly is capitalism going to allow us to start an enterprise that will be unprofitable for the first 100 years of its existence?

Dude_Doc, I know that we're making some progress. The problem is that this progress is done at a snail's pace.

And there's no such thing as artificial gravity. It's true that according to Einstein's General Relativity, the effects of gravity and acceleration are identical, and therefore we can simulate gravity in a spaceship by making it rotate around an axis. However, this only works for ships, not planetary settlements.

NASA is planning a lot, but I'm waiting to see actual results, not plans.

[Acriku]

Until you make a complete argument as to why a capitalist government can't, I will look forward to see what NASA does.