"Jesus Camp"

[BlueLancer]

When you grow older, you start gathering information and eventually, sooner or later, you'll find out "toothfairy" was your mom and "santa" was your grandfather. As you grow mentally, you'll probably start wondering the same about God, and I think it's necessary. To blindly believe in God is like blindly believing in santa, just because you were told he exists, instead of doing your own research and making your own conclusions you did even as a child.

 

 

 

A good point, but the same is true for anything, including science. Think of how many people believe that humans evolved without knowing for themselves how we know it happens. I grew up being told that we were made out of atoms - and I believed it despite never having learned for myself, at least how we know that.

 

 

 

To blindly believe in any scientific theory without doing your own research and making your own conclusions is like blindly believing in Santa. Do you agree?

 

 

 

Yeah, and I don't even believe in human evolution as I were taught in school. I did my own research and it's a pile of dung that "humans evolved from apes". Maybe ape-like species, but the amount of misinformation is huge. That's the #1 thing that slaps me in the head when people speak about evolution.

 

 

 

And yes, it's dumb to believe in a theory if you don't even know what it is. Though, a child believing he is made out of atoms has more rational beliefs than say, a child whose parents in a remote village taught him that "our holy book says all humans were made of clay so that's what you're made of".

 

 

 

Why? Because, eventually when the atom child has enough intelligence, he will see his theory is true because he couldn't exist without consisting of atoms like everything in the universe. The other kid will be frustrated just like with santa claus when he finds out he was lied to once again.

[Guest GhostRanger]

Though, a child believing he is made out of atoms has more rational beliefs than say, a child whose parents in a remote village taught him that "our holy book says all humans were made of clay so that's what you're made of".

 

 

 

Why? Because, eventually when the atom child has enough intelligence, he will see his theory is true because he couldn't exist without consisting of atoms like everything in the universe. The other kid will be frustrated just like with santa claus when he finds out he was lied to once again.

 

 

 

I would argue that it can't be more "rational" until the child has physical evidence for his belief in being physically made up of atoms. If I grew up in Democritus' day, and he told me we were all made up of little small things that he called "atmous," is it rational that I believe that? Afterall, it's a true belief - we are made up of little tiny things. But I don't have any physical evidence for believing that. It just happens I'm right.

 

 

 

Or let's say someone draws a right triangle for me. He labels the two sides that aren't the hypotenuse 3 and 4. He asks me what the length of of the side is, and my dad previously told me it was 5 so I say 5. I'm right, but that doesn't make my belief rational - I have no idea how to find the length of the hypotenuse. My dad could have been wrong. He could have been taught wrong, he could have not been taught at all and just made something up, or he could have lied and deceived me. No matter what the scenerio, whether you are ultimately right or wrong, just believing someone else's words is never more rational than another instance of doing that.

 

 

 

By the way, I chuckled a little when I read "atom child." :P

[Astralinre]

I'm with Ghost on this one, suprise, surpise.

 

 

 

Most of what we "know" we accept on authority. A child believes in Santa Claus because she trusts her parents. A Christian believes in God because she trusts the Bible. A student believes in atoms or World War I because she trusts her teachers and textbooks. None of them know these things from experience; they blindly accept them from sources they trust.

[malo2]

Yeah, I saw that on the news two days ago, sad brainwashed kids...