Fresh Problem with the Ark

wow.you never cease to amaze me.first of all, it's called a metaphor. it doesn't mean he believes demons literally exist. second, pagan and athiest are mutually exclusive terms. you cannot be both. third, carl sagan was a DEIST:

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The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity.

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oh dear. where to begin. an astute observation. the demon to which he is refering is ignorance and people who hoodwink other people into believing stuff that just isn't true. he's implying that science is to these people what the excorcist was to the devil. spinnoza's god. the god of naturalism, the laws of the universe. that's what deism is, it's not about god in the same sense you probably believe.and actually, the god of the bible CREATED demons. deism is not a religion in any sense of the word. deists do not usually believe the bible to be something god has revealed anymore than you may believe quran is. or the book of mormon. or the bhagavad-gita.although, i was tempted to put in a joke about his bible being sir isaac newton's "principia" uh, last i checked, you were the one making up stuff. other events in the "flood year" of 190 days, like comets and smashing into the earth and whatnot? my bible sure doesn't say that. nor does my bible say anything god about being sneaky, and miraculously sorting all the fossils and strata to make it look like something happened that didn't.the main tenet of deism that god's revelation is existance. they don't even believe in god in the same sense you do. they believe in a more unified, fundamental force that has nothing to do with everyday life, but rather produces natural laws to govern them.how do your check you philosophy? on the bible? how do you check your bible? or, more importantly, do you? you can't just believe any old thing someone hands you says "god said this!" is actually the word of god. what about, say, the qabala, the quran, and the book of mormon? those are all the same god, even. they all say they're the word of god. how do you know which ones are right? are they all right? or just the old and new testaments? why both? why not the apocrypha? why not the books in the hebrew tanakh that don't appear in the english old testament?tell me, is there a test to determine what is and what is not god's revealed word? possibly. i don't know sagan's specific beliefs, and deism is a wide range of personal beliefs (no organization, so it varies from person to person). but sagan tended to be very anti-religious. the book's about ufo's and pseudoscience and stuff. i dunno how it got brought up. does it even talk about religion?This message has been edited by Arachnophilia, 07-05-2004 04:37 AM

i've been a christian for about 8 years.

because that's the point of the book. it's about things not scientifically sound. seriously, it's a metaphor. really.(and uhh, the exorcist is based on a true story, whether or not you believe in the devil) it was a side note. you said the god of the bible believed in demons. that's a silly phrasing. the god of the bible created demons. you have no sense of humor, do you? who said i respected or even believed in demons? most deists do not believe that a god in any form interferes with everyday life, no. no. contrary to popular belief, religious beliefs mean didly-squat as far as credibility goes. it's not my fault that a lot of so-called christians are liars and charlatans. carl sagan gets his credibility from his degrees, education, career, and publish works. actually, no, i didn't bring it up. and he wasn't a pagan. what on earth are you talking about?are we randomly playing the "pin the blame on the jesus-killers" game again? i have news for you, without someone doing it, there'd be no savior, now, would there?also, for the record, jesus was killed by the romans.This message has been edited by Arachnophilia, 07-05-2004 06:35 AM

i suggest you give it a few years. actually, 4 years. in those four years, go to college. think about things a little. read some different opinions on readings and interpretations of the bible.i know you're so old and wise and god talks to you personally and tells you everything you'll ever need to know... but uhh, go learn some things. having been an militant athiest most of my life, this is the first bit i always tried to break down. athiest is NOT a belief -- it is a LACK of belief. and often times, athiests tend to be more intellectually, socially, philosophically, and even more religiously advanced than fundamental christians.i had a friend who was always mad because she thought i treated her like a child religiously. a year later, she was telling me how she was starting to look at all the other members of her church as children.but then, hey, out of the mouths of children, right?

being a christian you mean?christian means follower of christ. i try to follow his teachings, and even go a step further, and believe in him! that makes me a christian.just because i don't agree with you that the bible is 100% the inerrant, inspired, and infallible word of god doesn't mean i'm a heathen and going to hell.

sounds like them creationists have wackier ideas of what evolution is capable of than those evolutionists i keep hearing about.

you're right. it is absurd.it's absurd exactly because anyone can go down a computer factory, and meet the people who make them. it's hardly a miracle, and men can be shown to exist pretty reasonably. computers are still made through natural processes, just by some "intelligent designer."god.... is a little tricker to prove. it's a little harder to go down to the flood factory, and talk to the deity responsible.a computer actually is a creation, yes. if you want to believe nature is, well that's fine too, actually. the problem is when you expect nature to operate outside of the laws created for it. naturalism is a property of god's creation. it's absurd to say he'd mess with that, just to throw everybody off.