We have our first gay pro athlete.

NATURAL:
adjective
1. existing in or formed by nature ( opposed to artificial ): a natural bridge.
2. based on the state of things in nature; constituted by nature: Growth is a natural process.
3. of or pertaining to nature or the universe: natural beauty.
4. of, pertaining to, or occupied with the study of natural science: conducting natural experiments.
5. in a state of nature; uncultivated, as land.

Currently, homosexual behavior has been documented in over 450 different animal species worldwide. For instance, observations indicate that Humboldt, King, Gentoo, and Adélie penguins of the same sex engage in “mating rituals like entwining their necks and vocalizing to one another.” In addition, male giraffes have also been observed engaging in homosexual behavior by rubbing their necks against each others’ bodies while ignoring the females. Yet another example is lizards of the genus Teiidae, which can copulate with both male and female mates.

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http://www.yalescientific.org/2012/03/do-animals-exhibit-homosexuality/

The Man Called X said:

Angels aren't supposed to have free will. That was the gift bestowed to man. That was the gift that made angels jealous of man. So here we have one of many contradictions in the Bible that everyone seems to conveniently forget about.

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The gift bestowed to man and not angels is redemption through Christ's sacrifice. Man can repent. Once an angel falls he can't return to his previous state.

shoes22 said:

I think this does bring up a good larger point, though.

What determines one religion as being outlandish and cult-like, while others are more widely accepted? I'd be very interested to hear from the very religious people as to why their religion is correct while others are wrong.

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Personally my definition of religion is "a generally accepted cult"

And typically what makes a religion the correct one is birth, usually there isnt anything more profound than that to explain someones beliefs.

BRInQ said:

The gift bestowed to man and not angels is redemption through Christ's sacrifice. Man can repent. Once an angel falls he can't return to his previous state.

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So if an Angel ever gets suspended for steroid use, he is never allowed back in California?

The Man Called X said:

Angels aren't supposed to have free will. That was the gift bestowed to man. That was the gift that made angels jealous of man. So here we have one of many contradictions in the Bible that everyone seems to conveniently forget about.

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This was also the plot of the movie Dogma.

The Man Called X said:

Angels aren't supposed to have free will. That was the gift bestowed to man. That was the gift that made angels jealous of man. So here we have one of many contradictions in the Bible that everyone seems to conveniently forget about.

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You call it a contradiction. Well show me where the Bible even remotely insinuates that angels dont have free will?

BRInQ said:

The gift bestowed to man and not angels is redemption through Christ's sacrifice. Man can repent. Once an angel falls he can't return to his previous state.

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Angels huh...

shoes22 said:

I think this does bring up a good larger point, though.

What determines one religion as being outlandish and cult-like, while others are more widely accepted? I'd be very interested to hear from the very religious people as to why their religion is correct while others are wrong.

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The short answer is all religions were established to explain what was unexplainable (cosmos, feelings, morals, values, to name a few).

Now? They're mostly biased, hypocritical and downright dangerous.

Damage said:

The short answer is all religions were established to explain what was unexplainable (cosmos, feelings, morals, values, to name a few).

Now? They're mostly biased, hypocritical and downright dangerous.

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I would say that it's the natural fear of death more than anything. Humans began to come up with religions and bury their dead right around the time they became intelligent enough to understand death. That's not a coincidence.

The Man Called X said:

Stupid people believe in God. Plain and simple.

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Einstein, Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, etc. are all stupid? Ok..

There have been quite a few questions for the religious people here, I have some for the atheists:

How do you explain the preciseness of our universe? For example, if the constant of gravitation was off by 1 millionth, the universe fails to exist as it does now. And for that matter, what created the universe in the first place? There are 15 constants, such as the speed of light speed of light, etc. that current theory cannot explain beyond "they just exist". What sets these constants?

Do you believe that humans innately have a sense of right and wrong? If so, where does it come from?

metalman213 said:

Einstein, Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, etc. are all stupid? Ok..

There have been quite a few questions for the religious people here, I have some for the atheists:

How do you explain the preciseness of our universe? For example, if the constant of gravitation was off by 1 millionth, the universe fails to exist as it does now. And for that matter, what created the universe in the first place? There are 15 constants, such as the speed of light speed of light, etc. that current theory cannot explain beyond "they just exist". What sets these constants?

Do you believe that humans innately have a sense of right and wrong? If so, where does it come from?

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Before last year, we couldn't explain what mysterious mass holds all particles together in the universe. That is until they confirmed the presence of the Higgs-Boson. Science just keeps plugging away at all this stuff. And beliefs change as new evidence is discovered.

Who created the universe? Well since I can't answer that one yet, I have a better one for you. Who created God?

As for an innate sense of right and wrong? Of course you're not born with it. You're taught right and wrong. If you were born with it, everyone would have the same innate sense. Since in magic fairyland earth, everyone is descended from 2 people, and wild mutations in the genetic structure are the reason there is so much genetic variation within the population. Shit they had such an innate sense of right and wrong, that they decided not to listen to the word of God, because they knew they were right.

Ancient alien theory makes more sense and can be backed by more evidence than a collection of writings from countless authors, translated countless times, and changed to meet the needs of the ruling class at the time.

And to be quite honest with you, the whole idea of a religion based around a book that is later declared NULL AND VOID to be replaced by a much happier version is just frankly absurd. God is so amazing, he made these set of rules that lasted for hundreds of years then decided to take it all back and change shit up. GOD IS INFALLIBLE! He never makes mistakes.... except..

metalman213 said:

Einstein, Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, etc. are all stupid? Ok..

There have been quite a few questions for the religious people here, I have some for the atheists:

How do you explain the preciseness of our universe? For example, if the constant of gravitation was off by 1 millionth, the universe fails to exist as it does now. And for that matter, what created the universe in the first place? There are 15 constants, such as the speed of light speed of light, etc. that current theory cannot explain beyond "they just exist". What sets these constants?

Do you believe that humans innately have a sense of right and wrong? If so, where does it come from?

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First of all, Einstein was a well known agnostic for the same reason I'm an agnostic: as stupid as it is to say I'm 100% certain there is a god, it would be equally as stupid as to say I'm 100% certain there isn't a god. Because he was a critical thinker, he never assumed anything and always needed 100% certainty to prove any theory/hypothesis to be true. So there's that.

As far as Newton, Copernicus, & Galileo are concerned, again, it goes back to my original statement that all religions were formed to explain what was unexplainable. At the time, there really wasn't a separation between science and religion I'm confident in saying that if Newton, Copernicus, & Galileo knew then what we know now they wouldn't consider themselves religious.

Twain said it best (speaking of man):

One of his principle religions is called the Christian. A sketch of it will interest you. It sets forth in detail in a book containing two million words, called the Old and New Testaments. Also it has another name – The Word of God. For the Christian thinks every word of it was dictated by God. It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.’

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The Man Called X said:

Before last year, we couldn't explain what mysterious mass holds all particles together in the universe. That is until they confirmed the presence of the Higgs-Boson. Science just keeps plugging away at all this stuff. And beliefs change as new evidence is discovered.

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So I take it you don't have an explanation as of right now?

Who created the universe? Well since I can't answer that one yet, I have a better one for you. Who created God?

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He's always existed or is a being that is not limited to the universal laws/dimensions we are. You can make the argument that the matter before the big bang just existed, but the degree of error is so incredibly small. You can believe what you want, but I'll take probability. Some being that created the universe and set constants v.s. an incredibly small chance that matter, which just existed, expanded in the exact manner to produce conditions capable of supporting human life.

As for an innate sense of right and wrong? Of course you're not born with it. You're taught right and wrong. If you were born with it, everyone would have the same innate sense. Since in magic fairyland earth, everyone is descended from 2 people, and wild mutations in the genetic structure are the reason there is so much genetic variation within the population. Shit they had such an innate sense of right and wrong, that they decided not to listen to the word of God, because they knew they were right.

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I never brought Adam and Eve or Christianity into this. I was going to get into the moral law argument, but I think it would be fruitless.

Ancient alien theory makes more sense and can be backed by more evidence than a collection of writings from countless authors, translated countless times, and changed to meet the needs of the ruling class at the time.

And to be quite honest with you, the whole idea of a religion based around a book that is later declared NULL AND VOID to be replaced by a much happier version is just frankly absurd. God is so amazing, he made these set of rules that lasted for hundreds of years then decided to take it all back and change shit up. GOD IS INFALLIBLE! He never makes mistakes.... except..

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I never brought Christianity into this. I'm just curious how atheists answer certain questions that do not make logical sense to me.

metalman213 said:

So I take it you don't have an explanation as of right now?

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I'm sorry, but not having an answer to every question isn't evidence that a magical space wizard exists and created everything. It simply means that there are things we haven't figured out yet. Hell, it wasn't that long ago we thought the world was flat, or relied on fire for our source of light. Eventually we'll have answers to all your questions, provided we don't blow ourselves up beforehand.

Damage said:

First of all, Einstein was a well known agnostic for the same reason I'm an agnostic: as stupid as it is to say I'm 100% certain there is a god, it would be equally as stupid as to say I'm 100% certain there isn't a god. Because he was a critical thinker, he never assumed anything and always needed 100% certainty to prove any theory/hypothesis to be true. So there's that.

As far as Newton, Copernicus, & Galileo are concerned, again, it goes back to my original statement that all religions were formed to explain what was unexplainable. At the time, there really wasn't a separation between science and religion I'm confident in saying that if Newton, Copernicus, & Galileo knew then what we know now they wouldn't consider themselves religious.

Twain said it best (speaking of man):

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Einstein was a deist, he believed in a creator not a personal god.

I can give a couple more who come to mind:
Francis Collins (Christian, modern, human genome project), C.S. Lewis (Christian, modern, Oxford), and Arno Penzias (Jewish, nobel prize winner for providing evidence for big bang theory)

Interestingly enough, Penzias said "The best data we have [concerning the Big Bang] are exactly what I would have predicted, had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the bible as a whole."