Democracy or Space?

To which Freeman Dyson added "and for bad people to do good things, it also takes religon."

If you were genetically inclined to murder, would that make it right? If you were genetically inclined to rape, would that make it right? There are such people, you know.



Without God, the whole notion of "good and evil" doesn't exist. That's what I'm trying to get across. Without God, morality is subjective. After all, why shouldn't you commit murder, if you want to? And in this case, what makes a free country better than a dictatorship? Who's to say that one is better than the other?

WTF does this thread have to do with space/rockets/science?

The whole premise that it is based on (Democracy or cheap space travel) is nonsense, it's demonstrably a false dichotomy, a logical fallacy. I realise that it was asked as a hypothetical question but it's gone off on a theological tangent, and this sort of nonsense is becoming more and more common here, to the detriment of the site as a whole.

There used to be interesting discussions here, involving some knowledgeable people about the technology behind rocket science. Sadly, I think those days are gone, and soon I'll be gone with them. This site is turning into a trolling ground for preachers trying to discredit atheists/atheism.

We were all born atheists, the majority of us went through a traditional form of childhood brainwashing, some of us recovered from the damage that does to people, and we're not suddenly going to start robbing, raping and murdering. Deal with it.

I for one, don't think this thread belongs here at all, and I would appreciate if it could get a visa to emigrate to a theology website.

johno

OK, I think that the topic of morality has been discussed out. If it comes up again, I'll just refer to this thread.

Huh? You saying that people have an instinctive disbelief in God?

Back on topic, and leave all the god stuff to yourself, this is NOT the forum to post such things.

@SuperShuki, you should know better, I warned you last time. If you post one more time "god", "religion", etc you'll never post again on this website. It seems your last 7 day ban wasn't effective to let you realize this is not welcome on this website.

Next comment about religion etc gets deleted, so don't bother posting it.

@johno, next time you see religion on this forum before I do, send me a private message (or use the report button), so we can get rid of it.

Sigurd

ps: Sorry for the late response, but this site isn't my main job, so I can't keep up with every topic all the time.

Sure thing.

johno

*this is not a religious or anti religious post*

I don't think the subject of religion should be totally outlawed here, though bickering back and forth about it is pretty pointless. But the reason I think it can be a valuable topic is because to those who are very religious act and experience through a religious filter (this is not an attack - I just mean that religion informs their thoughts and actions in every part of their life).

It could very well be that sometime in the next 200 years a religious group forms that believes God is somewhere in the cosmos and that we just need to get out there to find it. Maybe they're the first ones to achieve FTL travel. Religion has motivated some pretty awe-inspiring (good and bad) things in the past.

@vecima, Thanks for your input, however it's too difficult to avoid religious (or anti religious) posts to become destructive to the topic and forum. So therefor, we'll not allow it on this forum.

Back on topic please.

I just read a Starcraft novel where they found an ancient Xel'naga structure.. Perhaps space travel will provide the ultimate answer to religion once and for all.

One could hope..

Anyway, space travel is the ***, and even though democracy sucks a bit, it has enabled and still enables research, exploration, freedom, and technological progress. Although each in limited amounts. I vote for democracy + space travel.

I don't consider democracy a threat to space travel, but space travel could become a threat to democracy. Because we are humans. Still I welcome it. If fear of the unknown was allowed to halt progress, we would still live outside (not even daring to enter caves) and eat all our food raw. We would also inhabit at most a single continent.