Sporge27 said:
Mino said:
Quoting limited to 4 levels deep
Let me put it another way. Neither of you will change your view, as both are extremely stubborn and rooted in what you believe, and nothing is gained from arguing it. All it does is cause frustration and possibly torment for at least one side and that is just stupid.
It is a personal belief, no matter what you believe and can we please just respect beliefs. Not respecting beliefs causes wars, both actual and just stupid flame wars, and I just don't want to hear it.
And really we have no way of telling whether there is an all powerful being or not, for if there was such a being who did not want to be seen or known to be pulling the strings of the world and expects people to take a leap of faith, then there is no way to show he exists because he is all powerful and can use his limitless power to shroud his actions making it appear that he isn't even there. In this scenario we really can't tell one way or another.
I'm not sure if you realize this, but as you're telling other people not to discuss their beliefs, you keep on stating your own beliefs. The belief that the existence of God is outside the realm of proof is called agnosticism. Please don't try and use your authority to end argument even as you take part in it.
The idea that no one will change their view about these sorts of things is demonstrably false. I'm an example of someone who has changed his views on this question. As for the alleged stubbornness, that's your opinion. You can't actually say for certain that no one's beliefs will be swayed. And again, you are entirely wrong by saying that nothing can be gained from arguing. Do yourself a favor and throw away the negative connotation that word has, you don't need it. A belief that you can't defend is not one worth holding, and arguing it can either strengthen your conviction or afford a new, enlightened belief.
I also object to your conflation of "flame wars" and actual religious wars. Religious wars are not started over not respecting beliefs, but by the beliefs in the religions themselves. And not all internet arguments are "flame wars", which is a fact that the administration of this board has conveniently never bothered to understand. This argument originally started when a certain member posted a picture of that pathetic husk of a woman Megan Fox, claiming she "turns gays straight", implying in that comment that gays needed to be turned straight, and that they can be. That is a belief, and I freely admit I do not respect it.