Heaven is a Fairy Story

[milttam]

i believe religion was just made to keep people in line. to prevent them from doing crime and stuff. think about it, the 10 commandments... thou shall not kill thou shall not steal , honor your parents or whatever. and if you don't obey them u burn in hell for eternity!!!!

 

[Will E Worm]

Here's an idea for Hawking. If God/Heaven doesn't exist, let him prove it! He's a scientist, do the work and prove to the masses that they're wrong. If he doesn't want to even try, then take his voice-box and tell him to shut the fuck up!

The burden of proof is on his shoulders.

i believe religion was just made to keep people in line. to prevent them from doing crime and stuff. think about it, the 10 commandments... thou shall not kill thou shall not steal , honor your parents or whatever. and if you don't obey them u burn in hell for eternity!!!!

 

[Icewater Jones]

I'm not sure if science can prove something doesn't exist. What frame of reference would you use? What's the litmus you measure the argument against?

If it exists, it can be proven. If it doesn't exist, it can't be proven.

...but the other end is that anything currently existent is proof that God does exist, as nothing on Earth has been put here that at some point wasn't non-existent. That's what he is having trouble making concrete. Creationists believe that God put all that you see here for man to use, learn from, and study. Hawking believes in cosmic occurences, but has never gone past the fact that his theories are based on existent properties.

In short, the only real way to disprove Gods existence in this form is to come up with something derived from previously non-existent properties, which is an impossibilty through his theories.

 

[milttam]

The burden of proof is on his shoulders.

don't see whats so face palm about that logic. everyone is so scared to death of going to hell that they live a good life. if that was indeed one of the main reasons to make religion then it was a great idea. sure ppl still commit crimes but i bet you if religion didn't exist crime would be much much more frequent.

 

[Connor Macleod]

I'm not sure if science can prove something doesn't exist. What frame of reference would you use? What's the litmus you measure the argument against?

If it exists, it can be proven. If it doesn't exist, it can't be proven.

My point is this: He stated that Heaven/God don't exist, so how does he know that to be a fact. If he does know that to be a fact, he has to have proof. Without proof, and him being a scientist, making such a statement makes him look like an idiot.

 

[bustybbwlover]

If he's so smart how come he can't think his way outta' that wheelchair???

maybe cuz he's a theoretical physicist not a medical researcher? also since no one can know what comes after death anyone talking about what heaven has to offer is just talking out their ass

 

[LukeEl]

Well according to the band Warrant heaven really isn't too far away. You pickin up what I'm puttin down?

 

[KillTheIndustry]

The only intelligent thing to say about religion, God, heaven, etc. is "I don't know."

No one can prove the creator of existence is there if he chooses not to reveal himself, except to a chosen few, and no one can prove an invisible being doesn't exist because we can't see Him.

Especially with all we don't know about the universe. What we do know is primarily based on theory.

 

[Atar554]

As for Hawking's statement, I've always felt that everyone is entitled to an opinion, but that doesn't necessarily give you the right to express that opinion. He may know a lot about physics, but he doesn't know what awaits after death, so making this declaration just makes him look foolish. It reminds me of Carl Sagan once saying that aliens have never visited Earth, because we are too primitive. Whether they have or not, I don't know, but that one statement made me lose respect for him, and I never thought another of our great thinkers could say something so utterly stupid, but Hawking has proved me wrong.

If a scientist who spends their time essentially trying to learn everything they can about the world isn't allowed to pass judgement on what there might be in the world beyond what anyone knows...

Then why are religious leaders allowed to go into detailed and elaborate specifics? That's a double standard.

As far as Carl Sagan and aliens. There's no hard evidence that aliens ever visited and realistically we are to primitive to worry about.

If I had just built a ship that could travel through time perhaps or at least cover vast stretches of space rapidly. I wouldn't bust my ass and burn my resources to get to Manhattan. Just to see a bunch of loud mouth bipeds using fossil fuels and killing each other.

I'd want to find like minded races that were on par with me or more advanced.

That doesn't negate absolutely any interest any aliens might have in Earth. Though the way I see it is like when humans find microbial life remnants on say Mars or proof that liquid water was there.

It's a great scientific find....and we likely never try to go back for more. In fact the biggest push for going to Mars at this point would be 1 just doing it and 2 colonization at some point. If there was bacteria there still alive...I honestly don't think that would spur us any faster to get people there or send any more landers than we already do.

 

[STDiva]

Prove this!!! Prove that!!!! You can't prove that!!! Neither can you!!!

 

[Trident1]

:1orglaugh

Well to be intellectually honest, none of us KNOW what lies beyond, including Mr. Hawking. :2 cents:

But, but, but, he's a genius.

 

[Connor Macleod]

The only intelligent thing to say about religion, God, heaven, etc. is "I don't know."

That's probably the best way to put it.

But, but, but, he's a genius.

If that is the only reason to believe whatever spills out of his mouth, then everyone would have to agree with whatever crap I decided to say. Technically, a genius is defined as someone with an IQ of 150 or higher and mine is 170. That doesn't mean that he or I have all the answers, because I sure as hell don't! Besides, IQ tests are not a true measure of intelligence and here's proof, one question that was on just one IQ test that I took years ago:

If all tics equal tocs, and all tocs equal tacs, do all tacs equal tics?

See what I mean...

If a scientist who spends their time essentially trying to learn everything they can about the world isn't allowed to pass judgement on what there might be in the world beyond what anyone knows... Then why are religious leaders allowed to go into detailed and elaborate specifics? That's a double standard.

Preachers, clergy, etc., do the same thing. They even do it more often, but it just doesn't get reported unless they build up a large following like those idiots, Al Sharpton, Jimmy Swaggart, and so on..., - or - you have one that says something so totally outlandish like the world is going to end on May 21st.

As far as Carl Sagan and aliens. There's no hard evidence that aliens ever visited and realistically we are to primitive to worry about.

If I had just built a ship that could travel through time perhaps or at least cover vast stretches of space rapidly. I wouldn't bust my ass and burn my resources to get to Manhattan. Just to see a bunch of loud mouth bipeds using fossil fuels and killing each other.

I'd want to find like minded races that were on par with me or more advanced.

That doesn't negate absolutely any interest any aliens might have in Earth. Though the way I see it is like when humans find microbial life remnants on say Mars or proof that liquid water was there.

It's a great scientific find....and we likely never try to go back for more. In fact the biggest push for going to Mars at this point would be 1 just doing it and 2 colonization at some point. If there was bacteria there still alive...I honestly don't think that would spur us any faster to get people there or send any more landers than we already do.

Ask yourself this question; why have we advanced from stone tools to cell phones, computers, etc.? It can be summed up in one word, curiosity. Humans have an insatiable desire to learn. It is only reasonable to assume that if there is an alien species out there that has advanced to the point of interstellar travel, they too must also have the same desire to learn. Now, ask this, if the government announced that we had developed interstellar travel and discovered an alien species that was say, extremely primitive, do you think our scientists would want to go and study them? Obviously, yes, just as an alien species would want to study us.

Also, I don't think Mars would be an ideal planet to colonize as it's atmosphere cannot support human life. Even if we managed to terraform an atmosphere, the planet would still be useless as it's magnetic field is far too weak.