johnm214 said:

Which I didn't think I did, did I?


There can be no data whatsoever on the presence or absence of god under the standard definition of an all powerful being, so i don't see how i could have done it- his very nature means there is no way we can ever be informed as to his presence or absence, given the fact that he doesn't answer our attempts at communication.

What I said was that any conviction is uncertain, all measurements and consequent conclusions are imprecise, and that I can't imagine a bright line between this spectrum of uncertainty that would logically leave one class of people with a belief and another with a verified conviction.

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zouden said:

You're joking right?

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The dark ages were very much a Christian thing. Think about Charlemagne, or King Richard and the Crusades.

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The dark ages weren't initiated by Christianity, but the lack of technological development in that time can certainly be attributed to it.

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zouden said:

The Byzantines didn't achieve a great deal. Prosperous, yes, and they created plenty of interesting architecture (and Justinian's legal system), but the pre-Christian Romans built roads, aqueducts and sanitation. They were way ahead of dark-ages Europe. During that time all the technological advances were coming from the Arabs (like algebra) and the Chinese (like gunpowder and paper). I don't think it's a coincidence that the progress of science was slowed in Europe at the same time as religion and superstition took hold, and I don't think it's a coincidence that the pace of advancement increased at the same time as Christianity started losing its grip on Europe (Renaissance/Enlightenment). The point of that graph still holds true.

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Silversoul said:

You are aware that the Romans copied most of their innovations from other civilizations too, right?  And how is Christianity any more superstitious than the Roman religion?

Incidentally, do you know where classical learning was preserved during the Dark Ages?  The monasteries.

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Ferris said:

Silversoul said:

You are aware that the Romans copied most of their innovations from other civilizations too, right?  And how is Christianity any more superstitious than the Roman religion?

Incidentally, do you know where classical learning was preserved during the Dark Ages?  The monasteries.

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Ya, because the Romans had masssssive libraries.  The dark age Europeans' only books were in monasteries where they sat useless in between the book burnings.

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Silversoul said:

Ya, because the Romans had masssssive libraries.  The dark age Europeans' only books were in monasteries where they sat useless in between the book burnings.

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Ferris said:

All libraries were burnt to the ground in the 4th century, and all "non-Christian" books were burned under Theodosius II.

If you want to read about some real fun, look up a cool philosopher/mathematician chick names Hypatia.

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Ferris said:

It's not a bad euphemism for scraping the skin off a chick with shells, dragging her through the the street by chariot, and hacking all her limbs off before burning her with her books.

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Silversoul said:

Ferris said:

It's not a bad euphemism for scraping the skin off a chick with shells, dragging her through the the street by chariot, and hacking all her limbs off before burning her with her books.

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Brutal, certainly.  But you know that the pagan Romans committed similar atrocities against Christians, right?

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Mostly other religious fanatics

Find some similar acts committed by scientists or philosophers or other scholars if you want to meet quid pro quo

Ferris said:

Silversoul said:

Ferris said:

It's not a bad euphemism for scraping the skin off a chick with shells, dragging her through the the street by chariot, and hacking all her limbs off before burning her with her books.

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Brutal, certainly.  But you know that the pagan Romans committed similar atrocities against Christians, right?

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Mostly other religious fanatics

Find some similar acts committed by scientists or philosophers or other scholars if you want to meet quid pro quo

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