To Hell With Charlie Kirk

[Dutch Uncle]

25% is a significant number for an absurd belief. But, do the other 75% believe in virgin birth, the Trinity, resurrection and eternal life? Equally as absurd.

58% probably can’t even define what “inspired word of god” means. Can you?

Your hatred of Christians tells me you've had some sort of traumatic experience with them. It's 25% of 68%....and that number is going down although I doubt it will ever reach zero.

High minded. Writings that appeal to one's better nature.

How Religious Are Americans?

Most Americans have a religious preference -- predominantly a Christian one -- but less than half say religion is "very important" to them.

news.gallup.com

According to an average of all 2023 Gallup polling, about three in four Americans said they identify with a specific religious faith. By far the largest proportion, 68%, identify with a Christian religion, including 33% who are Protestant, 22% Catholic and 13% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a "Christian."

Seven percent identify with a non-Christian religion, including 2% who are Jewish, 1% Muslim and 1% Buddhist, among others.

Twenty-two percent of Americans said they have no religious preference, and 3% did not answer the question.

 

[domer76]

Nothing logical about those who declare they know what happens after death.

I never said I did. Just that there is no evidence of it. Not to mention the theological hoops Christians have to jump through for their salvation. All concocted by Paul, apparently. Or at least, promoted by him.

 

[domer76]

That's why I'm blessed to not be you...

Back at ya’. I have no desire to live on half a brain.

 

[domer76]

Your hatred of Christians tells me you've had some sort of traumatic experience with them. It's 25% of 68%....and that number is going down although I doubt it will ever reach zero.

High minded. Writings that appeal to one's better nature.

How Religious Are Americans?

Most Americans have a religious preference -- predominantly a Christian one -- but less than half say religion is "very important" to them.

news.gallup.com

According to an average of all 2023 Gallup polling, about three in four Americans said they identify with a specific religious faith. By far the largest proportion, 68%, identify with a Christian religion, including 33% who are Protestant, 22% Catholic and 13% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a "Christian."

Seven percent identify with a non-Christian religion, including 2% who are Jewish, 1% Muslim and 1% Buddhist, among others.

Twenty-two percent of Americans said they have no religious preference, and 3% did not answer the question.

Let’s try again, Jethro. No hate. Merely observations on people who blindly accept the supernatural without proof. It shows how powerful early indoctrination is. All those stats apply equally, or more so, in Muslim countries, which means those beliefs are more a function of where you were born versus the actual truth.

Born in rural Utah? Probably Mormon.
Born in Italy? Catholic.
Born in Saudi Arabia? Muslim

Catch the drift, Rufus? Your religion is a matter of coincidence, not logic.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

I never said I did. Just that there is no evidence of it. Not to mention the theological hoops Christians have to jump through for their salvation. All concocted by Paul, apparently. Or at least, promoted by him.

Ummm...seems you did when you declared life after death to be absurd. Your beliefs are strong that way.

25% is a significant number for an absurd belief. But, do the other 75% believe in virgin birth, the Trinity, resurrection and eternal life? Equally as absurd.

58% probably can’t even define what “inspired word of god” means. Can you?

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Let’s try again, Jethro. No hate. Merely observations on people who blindly accept the supernatural without proof. It shows how powerful early indoctrination is. All those stats apply equally, or more so, in Muslim countries, which means those beliefs are more a function of where you were born versus the actual truth.

Born in rural Utah? Probably Mormon.
Born in Italy? Catholic.
Born in Saudi Arabia? Muslim

Catch the drift, Rufus? Your religion is a matter of coincidence, not logic.

Jethro? Rufus? Your hatred and anger are clear to see, domer76.

What is my religion? Please tell me. I'm truly curious.

 

[domer76]

Ummm...seems you did when you declared life after death to be absurd. Your beliefs are strong that way.

Yep. When the brain and body die and we immediately begin decomposition, pretty fucking weird to call anything after that “life”.

When one of all the multiple billions of people returns, I’ll change my mind. In the entire history of mankind, it’s never happened, so I doubt I’ll be changing my mind anytime soon?

Hey, while we’re at it? Do Christians believe there is life after death for animals? Why or why not?

 

[Cypress]

We know all about death.
Vanilla v chocolate is a choice made from experience.

So we finally agree that "logic" is not the final arbiter of all knowledge -- something the Buddhists and Taoists have known for two thousand years.

There is no evidence of life after death. Of the multiple billions of people who have died before us, not one has returned to tell us about it.

Two billion people on this planet believe that a historical Jesus Christ died and returned from death, based on the ubiquitous witness and testimonial evidence.

Even the reputable atheist and agnostic New Testament scholars concede that the apostles genuinely believed they saw Jesus after the crucifixion, aka it was not a later lie they concocted over bottles of wine.

The only question is whether the apostles were mass hallucinating, dreaming, etc., or whether a miracle happened.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Yep. When the brain and body die and we immediately begin decomposition, pretty fucking weird to call anything after that “life”.

When one of all the multiple billions of people returns, I’ll change my mind. In the entire history of mankind, it’s never happened, so I doubt I’ll be changing my mind anytime soon?

Hey, while we’re at it? Do Christians believe there is life after death for animals? Why or why not?

So murdering you wouldn't be immoral? Only problematic if caught by the police? I can see the appeal to such beliefs by atheists.

It's like time; it appears to only move in one direction.

IDK. Ask one. Some religions believe all living things have a spirit. I agree with them. When you can create life, let me know. Like your refusal to answer the question about my religion, I won't hold my breath waiting for an answer.

 

[domer76]

So we finally agree that "logic" is not the final arbiter of all knowledge -- something the Buddhists and Taoists have known for two thousand years.

Two billion people on this planet believe that a historical Jesus Christ died and returned from death, based on the ubiquitous witness and testimonial evidence.

Even the reputable atheist and agnostic New Testament scholars concede that the apostles genuinely believed they saw Jesus after the crucifixion, aka it was not a later lie they concocted over bottles of wine.

The only question is whether the apostles were mass hallucinating, dreaming, etc., or whether a miracle happened.

Non-answer. There have been multiple billions of people on this planet since our species arrived. Not one has returned to tell us about any eternal life.

There is no “ubiquitous” witness testimony about any resurrection. There were a very few “witnesses” and their stories contradict each other. Based on witness testimony, I’m sure you believe in the Mormon gold tablets.

I don’t doubt for a moment the apostles thought they saw something.

 

[domer76]

So murdering you wouldn't be immoral? Only problematic if caught by the police? I can see the appeal to such beliefs by atheists.

It's like time; it appears to only move in one direction.

IDK. Ask one. Some religions believe all living things have a spirit. I agree with them. When you can create life, let me know. Like your refusal to answer the question about my religion, I won't hold my breath waiting for an answer.

“ So murdering you wouldn't be immoral?” What the fuck does that have to do with the topic? Have you started drinking already?

I have created life. I have 2 kids. If not for me, they have no life.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

For those interested, from Google AI:

Q: how far are we from creating life?

A: Progress has been made toward creating synthetic life in the lab, but the complete creation of life "from scratch" remains a distant and formidable challenge
. The field of synthetic biology has been successful in building and re-engineering organisms, but fundamental hurdles remain.

Key milestones achieved

• First self-replicating synthetic cell (2010): The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) created a functional, self-replicating bacterium (JCVI-syn1.0). This was not created from raw chemicals but was a "synthetic genome transplant" into a recipient bacterial cell. Scientists removed the existing DNA from a simple bacteria (a mycoplasma) and replaced it with a synthetic genome designed on a computer.
• Minimal genome created (2016): Expanding on the 2010 work, researchers at JCVI developed JCVI-syn3.0, a "minimal synthetic cell" with the smallest genome of any known self-replicating organism. The 473 genes are considered the essential set for life.
• Expansion of the genetic code (2025): Scientists have successfully engineered a semi-synthetic organism that can stably replicate with an expanded, six-letter genetic alphabet (adding two synthetic bases). This expands the potential for creating organisms with new capabilities.
• Synthetic cells that mimic living ones (2024): Researchers have created artificial cells from programmable peptide-DNA technology that can perform complex biological functions, such as communicating with one another and changing shape in response to their environment.

The remaining challenges
Creating life from raw, non-living components (a "bottom-up" approach) presents several complex hurdles:

• Defining and replicating a container: Scientists need to create a stable, synthetic membrane that can reliably encapsulate the necessary chemical components. This "protocell" must be able to protect its contents from the outside environment and divide correctly to reproduce.
• Connecting the components: Unlike the "top-down" approach of re-engineering an existing organism, building a synthetic cell from scratch requires bridging the informational gap between components like the genome, metabolism, and membrane. These systems must be perfectly coordinated to function as a whole.
• Understanding the origin of life: The historical process by which life emerged from non-life took hundreds of millions, if not billions, of years under specific, dynamic, and poorly understood conditions. Laboratory experiments operate under limited time and controlled conditions that cannot replicate this vast, natural timeline.

• Solving the N=1 problem: All known life on Earth shares a single common ancestor. This limits scientific understanding of what life is by providing only one example. Creating a second, truly synthetic instance of life would allow researchers to test the foundational principles of biology.

Where the science is heading
Scientists are now focused on building more complex synthetic cells that can evolve, adapt, and perform specific functions.

• Biocomputers: Living cells are being designed to store and process data, which could transform computing and artificial intelligence.
• Bio-machines: The creation of simple molecular robots and artificial cells that can be programmed to perform tasks points toward advanced bio-machines for medicine and other uses.
• Next-generation therapeutics: Engineered cells could be used to treat or cure diseases directly within a patient.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

“ So murdering you wouldn't be immoral?” What the fuck does that have to do with the topic? Have you started drinking already?

I have created life. I have 2 kids. If not for me, they have no life.

Atheists believe life has no more value than a dead body. Simply the value of the component parts.

No doubt they call you "God".

 

[Cypress]

Non-answer. There have been multiple billions of people on this planet since our species arrived. Not one has returned to tell us about any eternal life.

There is no “ubiquitous” witness testimony about any resurrection. There were a very few “witnesses” and their stories contradict each other. Based on witness testimony, I’m sure you believe in the Mormon gold tablets.

I don’t doubt for a moment the apostles thought they saw something.

There is sufficient written testimonial evidence from the first century that a historical Jesus of Nazareth was executed, and that the apostles genuinely believed they saw him again after the crucifixion. The question is how to explain that.

Two billion people on the planet believe that is enough evidence to believe in life after death. It's not blind faith, it's belief based on the ubiquitous documentary evidence.

You don't have to agree with their conclusion.
But you can't say they are not using evidence and deductive inference. You definitely can't say it's based on blind faith.

 

[gmark77]

Two billion people on the planet believe that is enough evidence to believe in life after death. It's not blind faith, it's belief based on the ubiquitous documentary evidence.

Ubiquitous documentary evidence of life after death?

This is a surprising statement.

 

[Cypress]

I have created life. I have 2 kids. If not for me, they have no life.

That is life coming from life. No one has declared that to be a mystery.

The mystery is how life can come from non-life. We aren't even remotely close to understanding that, even though we have been conducting experiments in laboratory conditions for 80 years.

 

[Cypress]

For those interested, from Google AI:

Q: how far are we from creating life?
A: Progress has been made toward creating synthetic life in the lab, but the complete creation of life "from scratch" remains a distant and formidable challenge

The big three miracles that are tenets in the atheist belief system are that something can come from nothing, that order and organization can randomly come from chaos, and that life can come from non-life.

 

[gmark77]

The big three miracles that are tenets in the atheist belief system are that something can come from nothing, that order and organization can come from chaos, and that life can come from non-life.

Order CAN come from chaos. Look in your freezer. It's happening RIGHT NOW in your ice cube tray.

 

[Cypress]

Ubiquitous documentary evidence of life after death?
This is a surprising statement.

You've never heard of the gospel accounts and the letters of Paul?

The death and alleged resurrection of Jesus is one of the most thoroughly attested events of the first century. We have accounts from Jews (Mark, Matthew, Paul, John) and gentiles (Luke), as well as indirect references to other witnesses.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

That is life coming from life. No one has declared that to be a mystery.

The mystery is how life can come from non-life. We aren't even remotely close to understanding that, even though we have been conducting experiments in laboratory conditions for 80 years.

He thinks he's God for creating life by stretching out his hand over his wife's belly and saying "Let there be life!"
This conversation gets weirder and weirder. LOL

Agreed. As the AI answer pointed out, it seems human beings are a long way from creating life from scratch.