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Is the earth approximately 6000 years old? (as opposed to 4.5 billion)
There are two contradictory accounts of the age of earth. One is the scientific account, which claims that the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. The other is a biblical account, which claims that the earth is approximately 6000 years old. The scientific position is that there is overwhelming evidence for their view, while Christian Science points to contradictions and anomalies in that position.
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Packbat
1 day ago
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and
1 day ago
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Benja
1 day ago
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JGWeissman
on 06 Mar 2010
gave their opinion.
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Do miracles happen?
Miracles are events attributed to divine intervention. From a scientific perspective, miracles have no place because they violate the laws of physics and are unreproducible via experiments. As such, scientists tend to attribute miracles to the fallibility of human interpretation of events.
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Benja
2 days ago
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Is there life after death?
One of the major clashes between the scientific world view and religious world views, is that science does not support a belief in life after death. Christianity and Islam regard life as preparation for judgement at death, which will determine one's fate in the afterlife. Judaism regards death as not the end, but is much less focused on the afterlife than life itself. Buddhism and Hinduism believe in continual rebirth until enlightenment is attained.
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JGWeissman
on 06 Mar 2010
gave their opinion.
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Steve
on 01 Dec 2009
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Praveen
on 13 Nov 2009
gave their opinion.
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Do we have an immaterial soul?
The belief in an immaterial soul requires that central aspects of a person, such as consciousness, memories, and personality, are not contingent upon our physical bodies. The concept was first formalized in western philosophy by Rene Descartes in the 17th century, who proposed that our soul interacts with our body via the pineal gland in the brain. That theory has since been rejected by mainstream science.
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JGWeissman
on 06 Mar 2010
gave their opinion.
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Does evolution violate the second law of thermodynamics?
The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy increases over time, or that a closed system moves from an ordered state to a random state. Critics of evolution suggest that life itself is prima facie proof that evolution is flawed, since the opposite appears to be happening - life has evolved from primordial soup to sophisticated creatures like ourselves. Defenders of evolution say that this objection is based on a misunderstanding of entropy.
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JGWeissman
on 06 Mar 2010
gave their opinion.
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Packbat
on 09 Jan 2010
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and
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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ratiocinator
on 09 Dec 2009
gave their opinion.
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Should euthanasia be legal?
Euthanasia is the act of mercifully ending someone's life, such as a terminally ill patient. It can be voluntary (where the patient gives consent) or involuntary (where the patient is unable to communicate). It can also be via action (e.g. a drug overdose) or inaction (cutting off life support). Euthanasia also encompasses assisted suicide, where a physician enables the patient to perform the act.
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Iconoclast
on 27 Nov 2009
gave their opinion.
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Is suicide morally acceptable?
While the underlying reasons for suicide are complex and a matter of ongoing research, its defenders generally regard it as a means to escape suffering or to spare other people of suffering. The morality of the act has been studied by both philosophers and religious scholars.
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Iconoclast
on 27 Nov 2009
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Steve
on 27 Nov 2009
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milkfloatgunner
on 26 Nov 2009
gave their opinion.
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mkearns
on 18 Nov 2009
gave their opinion.
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Must all explanations be compatible with the laws of physics?
The laws of physics are foundational to all of science, describing with mathematics the basic ways in which the physical world behaves. Although physics doesn't provide the simplest explanation for everything - we need fields such as biology to explain emergent phenomena like life - it does require all explanations of the world to be compatible with physics. In contrast, some religious thinkers believe that this compatibility is impossible in explaining humanistic concepts such as free will.
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Benja
2 days ago
added the opinion of:
and
2 days ago
gave their opinion.
and
3 days ago
gave their opinion.
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Packbat
3 days ago
added the opinion of:
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3 days ago
gave their opinion.
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JGWeissman
on 06 Mar 2010
gave their opinion.
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Can science prove or disprove the existence of God?
People who believe in God generally believe that a purely analytical and scientific method of forming knowledge is constrained to a subset of reality that cannot encompass God. Atheists on the other hand, typically say that God is merely one of numerous theories that lack coherence and supporting evidence, and that these shortcomings already constitutes sufficient proof of God's non existence.
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Benja
on 21 Dec 2009
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and
3 days ago
gave their opinion.
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Packbat
on 09 Jan 2010
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3 days ago
gave their opinion.
and
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Matarael
on 09 Jan 2010
gave their opinion.
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Must God exist to explain how the universe began?
This philosophical question is a form of the Cosmological Argument or First Cause Argument. The question is whether it makes sense that the universe "came into existence from nothing". Modern physics suggests that the notion of time, and hence cause and effect, break down at the time of the big bang, rendering the intuitive demand for a "first cause" meaningless.
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JGWeissman
on 08 Mar 2010
gave their opinion.
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Is the world explainable without God?
Many religious thinkers do not find a purely scientific account of the universe plausible. Areas where the scientific explanation is questioned include the universe's origin, life on earth, human consciousness, and human morality.
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JGWeissman
on 08 Mar 2010
gave their opinion.
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Should Intelligent Design be taught in science class?
Intelligent Design is the theory that God created complex life, as an alternative to the theory of evolution. Critics of teaching it in school claim that Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory, but a religious one.
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Benja
on 20 Feb 2010
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Is revenge OK?
Revenge is similar to justice, except that the intent is personal rather than impartial, and is often in excess of fair retaliation.
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Benja
on 20 Dec 2009
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