"the existence of a god implies that we don't truly own ourselves. I mean, if we were created by an omniscient, omnipotent being, aren't we essentially his property?"
I'm coming into the end of a LONG thread, but I'm not sure where that conclusion came from i.e. I don't think many conventionally religious people would agree with it.
Out of curiosity, are you an atheist?
Little did Benko know that he was NOT coming to the "end of a LONG thread"! His post merely appeared on page 30 that eventually went on to 19 more pages (49 (!) in total).
What is the record in this Forum for the most pages?
Vinny
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
The religion thread is at 365 pages. Gold scream room at 219. Then there are a few in the 50-70 range: Trump as tragicomedy, nowhere to hide, stock scream room, will Trump be re-elected, Youtube Junkie, Proving Morality.
I used to be quite into boxing and kickboxing as a teenager. A large part of why I stopped was because I didn't like the idea of harming someone else, even if it's just part of a sport.
Martial arts training? Sure, I'll still do that. But no real fights for me.
Xan wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:46 pm
The religion thread is at 365 pages. Gold scream room at 219. Then there are a few in the 50-70 range: Trump as tragicomedy, nowhere to hide, stock scream room, will Trump be re-elected, Youtube Junkie, Proving Morality.
Xan wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:46 pm
The religion thread is at 365 pages. Gold scream room at 219. Then there are a few in the 50-70 range: Trump as tragicomedy, nowhere to hide, stock scream room, will Trump be re-elected, Youtube Junkie, Proving Morality.
Decline of violence is here at 49.
Interesting. Appears people are a lot more interested in what happens after death than gold, Trump, stocks, YouTube and morality (unless you are a 'religion is for your best life now' adherent). Most people are smart. Will it be or for you?
DNA has its own language (code), and language requires intelligence. There is no known mechanism by which matter can give birth to information, let alone language. It is unreasonable to believe the world could have happened by chance.
Xan wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2020 7:46 pm
The religion thread is at 365 pages. Gold scream room at 219. Then there are a few in the 50-70 range: Trump as tragicomedy, nowhere to hide, stock scream room, will Trump be re-elected, Youtube Junkie, Proving Morality.
Decline of violence is here at 49.
Interesting. Appears people are a lot more interested in what happens after death than gold, Trump, stocks, YouTube and morality (unless you are a 'religion is for your best life now' adherent). Most people are smart. Will it be or for you?
I would be curious to know what % of the posts in the Religion thread are yours. Is the forum concerned or are you?
According to a quick scan of forum stats, I've posted 1099 times (many/most answering questions or responding to comments of others - feel free to do the exact math if you wish to determine accuracy of my parenthetical statement; I don't have the time nor the will to do so) in the "Figuring Out Religion (FOR)" thread and 3411 times in all forum threads including this post. There are 4370 total posts in the FOR thread and a total of 473,035 views in the FOR thread. I can assure you that not anywhere close to all of those 473,035 views are mine. I report, you decide on the answer to your last question above.
DNA has its own language (code), and language requires intelligence. There is no known mechanism by which matter can give birth to information, let alone language. It is unreasonable to believe the world could have happened by chance.
www.allterraininvesting.com 
or 
for you?
I report, you decide on the answer to your last question above. 