Great Bible verses!

[Stavros]

But what evidence do we have of a soul - that somehow survives our death - none. It is a belief, based on faith only.

And a Happy New Year too.

I agree with most of your post, but if I return to the concept of the soul it is not just about faith, although your point is fair. What is art, however your define it in terms of media -written, visual, musical- an expression of? Isn't it the abstract becoming plastic that gives substance to the soul? What is 'soul music'?

I wish you a soulful new year.

[yodajazz]

More deep stuff - simple machines can be chaotic (e.g., the compound pendulum), in that their state is non-deterministic; though more likely states exist (strange attractors). What really is at issue "Are living organisms merely machines, in the same way my computer is or a steam engine, or a simple thermostat - the last making decisions in accordance with its environment)?" So now we need to define "life" before we can proceed. Tricky one - we can say what attributes a living creature needs to have and the boundaries are always fuzzy. NASA tried to define life - bless them! Edward Trifonov (a biologist at the University of Haifa, Israel) found over 150 definitions. His conclusion was "Life is simply self-reproduction with variations".

Consciousness - generally agreed that consciousness involves some sort of self-awareness. It also involves sensing the environment and reacting to it. More than that, it gets even fuzzier than defining Life.

If we can't agree on definitions, then it becomes impossible to argue meaningfully. But that wont stop us.

We have evidence in terms of our observations of the world that there are non-living things and living things, we also have experience of self-awareness or conscious thought (and we believe that others share this experience.). At present, we can offer solid, widely-agreed definitions, let alone theories. Maybe we have will.

But what evidence do we have of a soul - that somehow survives our death - none. It is a belief, based on faith only.

And a Happy New Year too.

Many things have meaning beyond the literal meaning. I say that, what we do in this life, lives on past our bodies. For example, treating someone kindly, produces an effect in the person, so that that are more like to treat someone else kindly, and the same with negative. But it's not a direct measurable 1 to 1 thing. I would say it's more like a wave. To this extent I would say the Bible's view of life is more accurate than someone, who thinks that they could rob or kill someone, and everything will be ok if they are not caught. Or on a larger scale, someone who thinks the US could support a brutal dictator, and everything will be ok, because he is friendly to the US. Remember the Bible was here thousands of years before sciences such a psychology, sociology, and numerous modern sciences. Once you get past specific rules in the Bible, and other books, you can find principles that are still invaluable. The concept of Forgiveness is a powerful tool to mental health even today. Science today has shown a relationship to long term illnesses and certain persistent mental states. So my point is that the most important thing is not whether your soul lives on past your body, but to understand that what you do in this life, lives on in the consciousness of future society, even though your name may be forgotten.

[Stavros]

The concept of Forgiveness is a powerful tool to mental health even today. Science today has shown a relationship to long term illnesses and certain persistent mental states. So my point is that the most important thing is not whether your soul lives on past your body, but to understand that what you do in this life, lives on in the consciousness of future society, even though your name may be forgotten.

Beautifully put; concise, clear and compelling.

[trish]

Many things have meaning beyond the literal meaning. I say that, what we do in this life, lives on past our bodies. For example, treating someone kindly, produces an effect in the person, so that that are more like to treat someone else kindly, and the same with negative. But it's not a direct measurable 1 to 1 thing. I would say it's more like a wave. To this extent I would say the Bible's view of life is more accurate than someone, who thinks that they could rob or kill someone, and everything will be ok if they are not caught. Or on a larger scale, someone who thinks the US could support a brutal dictator, and everything will be ok, because he is friendly to the US. Remember the Bible was here thousands of years before sciences such a psychology, sociology, and numerous modern sciences. Once you get past specific rules in the Bible, and other books, you can find principles that are still invaluable.

But only if you cherry pick those rules, for there are examples in the Bible where cruelty is rewarded and destruction is applauded. Why recommend the Bible as the place to go for moral authority when there are so many other more civilized texts? Analogously, one can find snippets of physical intuition in Aristotle, but I wouldn’t put on a list of recommended reading for beginning physics students.

The concept of Forgiveness is a powerful tool to mental health even today. Science today has shown a relationship to long term illnesses and certain persistent mental states. So my point is that the most important thing is not whether your soul lives on past your body, but to understand that what you do in this life, lives on in the consciousness of future society, even though your name may be forgotten.

abc
Nicely done. The soul is irrelevant. The effect of one’s deeds propagate outward through the world and downward through the generations (albeit not necessarily in their consciousness).

[martin48]

"Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."

Psalms 137:9

Nice one!

[Stavros]

8 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

[martin48]

OK - it's mixed in terms of quality

[Ben in LA]

God's Twelve Biggest Dick Moves in the Old Testament. Yet another reason why I hate those jackholes who cherry-pick the Bible to fit their agenda.

http://io9.com/gods-12-biggest-dick-...ent-1522970429

[Dino Velvet]

I saw Book Of Mormon yesterday. Very funny production. You can see how they go after many religions and religion in general. So happy for Elder Buttfuckingnaked finding the Lord but Cunningham shoulda killed him bringing in new religious law also becoming Warlord Cunningham AKA Warlord Cartman.

[yodajazz]

God's Twelve Biggest Dick Moves in the Old Testament. Yet another reason why I hate those jackholes who cherry-pick the Bible to fit their agenda.

http://io9.com/gods-12-biggest-dick-...ent-1522970429

I like reading all the comments on articles like this, too. Basically, those OT stories were about teaching lessons. My favorite comment, ending by saying those were some tough times. Lots of people died by disease, some were killed by animals, etc. They had to deal with the basic question, people are still grappling with: Why do bad things happen to people, especially if 'God' is considered good? One answer is to look at nature, or life itself on planet earth. it's a self perpetuating system, feeding off itself.

But let's look at one story for an example; Job. Job was a good man. But an argument was raised, by Satan in the story, that Job was good only because he was successful. Anyone can love or obey God, when good things are flowing their way. The lesson of the story is that bad things can happen to good people, but they will still have the faith to follow God's laws, not curse God and die, like Satan predicted. God was able to restore good things to Job, because he did not give up. This is still very relevant today. Bad things can happen to the best of us, but the good ones will hold on, and things usually get much better. This is really following "God's laws", more so than believing in the God concept, itself. What good is believing in God, if you end up cursing him and dying when things get tough?