Xard

I agree. Only religion that truly makes sense is Buddhism, and even it (like Hinduism) counters one major problem: Number of people are constantly growing. Remembering every people continue to reincarnate again and again until they can break away from cycle of rebirth and be free, total amount of humans should stay same, actually microscopically decrease with every now and then someone becoming Buddha (and thus one of the reincarnating soulss is no more part of the world). And you can't really use decreasing number of animals as counterargument ("souls dwell nowadays more in humans than in animals"), since number of animals in extincting (did I just invent new word? =P ) won't match huge increase in overpopulation of this planet. Also, I'm not even 100 % if souls reborning ( laws of karma being the judge of course) as animals as well as humans is part of Buddhism, or is reincarnating human only thing in Buddhism. I could check this out, but I trust our walking encyclopedia meta or someone else knowing the answer and thus saving my time Otherwise Buddhism is quite as "sensible" religion as it can get, being more like philosophy than religion. Also, newest scientific foundations in fields of cosmology really challenges linear time view common in monoteistic religions, but fits with cyclical time views like in Hinduism, Buddhism etc. (I couldn't make simple Western-Eastern division here, since old greek had cyclical time view, and I bet some indians did too) Idea of "quantum soul" fits even better in Buddhism than let's say, Christianity. Also, by all means energy seems to be something that exists and always has (matter, after all, is energy ). It is said God is omnipresent, omniscience and omnipotence, something just exists and always has. Judging by this, I say it is just as likely for energy to be something that has always existed as some personal God. You could make energy some pantheistic God without consciousness. After all, consciousness is not something absolutely necessarily for God in pantheism. Fits with "did God have choice in creation" (free quoting) by Einstein as well. Subconscious creating yadda yada... That also fits with Buddhism and somewhat with Hinduism too. Greatest "threat" for pantheistic all compassing energy God is possible existence of Dark Energy, but it's existence isn't even sure. Yet. Maybe never be. Maybe there'll be alternate explanation for certain oddities and Dark Energy will be buried in annals of false theories. Who knows.

Oh, okay. In that case, I'll shut up then. Yeah, mostly it's just related to being a try-hard.

Uh, so what's with the Satanic avatar then? If you believe in Satan, that means you believe in God, because without God, Satan can't exist, so you're contradicting yourself, if you do believe in Satan. Pentagram ain't exactly related to satan worshipping nor satanism is worshipping satan

zomg woot wtf Accept is back!

True, but that's sick nonetheless Also, awesome post meta, you made me interested in that book

Hey I do that all the time! Not. Oh, her. I have few hazy memories of her. Just what exactly was she like?

Bloody hell. Deathly Hallows was great book, second or third best Potter. Apart from some numbing and boring middle parts (thanks to whole Potter crazyness editors really don't have power over Rowlings works. In this case they should ) and I was very satisfied with this book. Also, Rowling went homicidical with her characters

Maybe this is why we didn't hear anything about PG in E3... no working engine, no product :sad:

Reading newest Harry Potter. EVERYONE in that frickin' book store was buying Deathly Hallows. Rowling ought to make record again...

What's this Bastilla Skywalker.. thingy

Maybe meta if I have time (hah, more like I'm not too lazy ) and preferably I've better keyboard by then. Typing on laptop sucks. Also, I noticed a lot talking about how small we're on universal scale and how could God perceive everything, and why should our tiny little spot in reality matter anything. Truly, idea that God made whole (possibly multiverse) universe only to delight we, hairless monkeys, is arrogant beyond words. I could quote whole conversation (I guess I'll do that, sooner or later for some obscure reasons ) from Stephen King's first Dark Tower Book, The Gunslinger, where Roland has finally catched up Man in Black in Golgata, and they talk. It's among my favorite parts what I've read, ever. Anyway, here's excerpt from their talk (more like Man In Black's monologue) on Size. "If you fell outward to the limit of the universe, would you find a board fence and signs reading DEAD END? No. You might find something hard and rounded, as the chick must see the egg from the inside. And if you should peck through the shell (or find a door), what great and torrential light might shine through your opening at the end of space? Might you look through and discover our entire universe is but part of one atom on a blade of grass? Might you be forced to think that by burning a twig you incinerate an eternity of eternities? That existence rises not to one infinite but to an infinity of them? "Perhaps you saw what place our universe plays in the scheme of things - as no more than an atom in a blade of grass. Could it be that everything we can perceive, from the microscopic virus to the distant Horsehead Nebula, is contained in one blade of grass that may have existed for only a single season in an alien time-flow? What if that blade should be cut off by a scythe? When it begins to die, would the rot seep into our universe and our own lives, turning everthing yellow and brown and desiccated? Perhaps it's already begun to happen. We say the world has moved on; maybe we really mean that it has begun to dry up. "Think how small such a concept of things make us, gunslinger! If a God watches over it all, does He actually mete out justice for such a race of gnats? Does His eye see the sparrow fall when the sparrow is less than a speck of hydrogen floating disconnected in the depth of space? And if He does see... what must the nature of such a God be? Where does He live? How is it possible to live beyond infinity?

Roger Waters - Watching T.V And she is different from Cro-Magnon man She's different from Anne Boleyn She is different from the Rosenbergs And from the unknown Jew She is different from the unknown Nicaraguan Half superstar half victim She's a victor star conceptually new And she is different from the Dodo And from the Kankanbono She is different from the Aztec And from the Cherokee She's everybody's sister She's symbolic of our failure She's the one in fifty million Who can help us to be free Because she died on T.V. And I grieve for my sister

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King The dance of the puppets The rusted chains of prison moons Are shattered by the sun. I walk a road, horizons change The tournaments begun. The purple piper plays his tune, The choir softly sing; Three lullabies in an ancient tongue, For the court of the crimson king.

It's funny, I and Dawkins seem to share same problems and questions with faith, yet our ways of handling them (and our worldviews) are very different.

That's best advertising campaign EVAR! Yay, off to level 3 <3 edit: completed it. Why they have green blood?

Wow, that's just.. unbeliavable. I wonder if two 8800 GTX's could've done the job...

I agree, I thought the 3rd book was the weak link in the series as well. Finished Shogun; excellent book! As someone else in the thread mentioned, Clavell is a master of the subplot. The twists and turns were fun to read, and I actually read the last 250 or so pages in one night and was pretty much a zombie at work the next day. Now reading The Green Mile, by Stephen King. Tsk tsk. The Wasteland is pure awesomeness. Also, one small shop in easter Finland really screwed up with newest Potter. They sold already few copies, blame of course on screwed up summer workers something similar happened in USA too, heh Some guy took pictures of every page and put it in the internets. I heard Rowling was furious Nonetheless I'm going to pick my copy tomorrow. I'm not Potter fan, but they're good books even with their shortcomings and there isn't anything else interesting me anyway

I'd read most of it by the time I wrote that post. And even if no one had claimed Bible being infallible, at least original post seemed to give great scientifical merit for Bible (Noah's ark being found etc.) On that Nightshade's post... truly humans are playing gods.

Mus? are you playing SS2 with those graphic updates (rebirth or whatever it was) or not? Just curious. Since my comp still is dead I've succumbed into consoles and have been playing 007 From Russia with Love's multiplayer with my friend. Actually great fun, but how can you ever accurately snipe with pad, geez

lol wut

^ That isn't possible for mammals

The Gunner's Dream and The Final Cut are awesome. Pink Floyd - Pigs on the Wing part 2

Barzarel can't you just understand that you CAN NOT USE HISTORY OF ETHICS AND CULTURES OF REAL WORLD AS ARGUMENTS in Star Wars world goddamnitchristsakes!

Ehh? edit: I'm listening Dogs again since I forgot to take off that repeat thingy. Who was born in a house full of pain. Who was trained not to spit in the fan. Who was told what to do by the man. Who was broken by trained personnel. Who was fitted with collar and chain. Who was given a pat on the back. Who was breaking away from the pack. Who was only a stranger at home. Who was ground down in the end. Who was found dead on the phone. Who was dragged down by the stone.

Heh, Gypsy punk Pink Floyd - Sheep I love the part when sheep rebel against rule of the Pigs (Dogs being enforcers of it), overcome it and yet as they are ignorant and simple animals, things won't be better, maybe wore and more anarchic. Easy to draw analogues to communist revolution in Russia. Bleating and babbling I fell on his neck with a scream. Wave upon wave of demented avengers March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream. Have you heard the news? The dogs are dead! You better stay home And do as you're told. Get out of the road if you want to grow old.