The TECK

[Gizensha]

I know a guy with latent chaos magic abilities, who has been known to accidently summon demons to his computer.

He's really nice. And owns a jumbo Chikorita plushie.

Not sure if that's relevent to this thread, however.

[Tom Flapwell]

Here's the problem, Moddex: we're living in different levels of fantasy. You say that anthros are only figments of the imagination; I claim we exist. But all in fun.

[Niko123000]

And then there's me, Who belic\ves that in this day and age, Anthro's don't exist, but in the futre (Possibly the Near future if we can get Bush out of Office) they will exist.

[Moddex]

Exactly, Niko. I believe that we, and only we can make our fantasies reality. Not some unproven entity. I'm not saying I'm an aethist, therefore not spiritual, but I do believe in the Gaia theory. Not the same Gaea from Greek lore, but the more new age belief in Gaia. One thing you must remember, never to blend religion with science, but you can blend spirituality with science.

[Dr. Doog]

what is spirituality if not religion?
('scuse me for trying to start a new conversation)

[Moddex]

That's a very intelligent question, Doog. Spirituality and religion are not the one and same. Religion is a sytem of beliefs to conform to one construct. The perfection and infallability of one supreme or a team of supreme entities. Religion was created to civilize peoples.

Spirituallity requires no particular faction of religion or rules you must follow. You require no god to necessarily believe in, but rather, it's a manner of having faith in something. You can be the most religious person and still be anti-spiritual. They are two separate things. It's also vice verse; you can be the most spiritual, but lack a religion entirely. Spirituality, in the end equals faith. Religion is just the guidelines you fill in the blanks with.

[Dr. Doog]

but a lot of it is just up to interpretation, and one could argue that that is being religious in your own personal religion, since you're making your own rules and setting your own guidelines of belief. For instance, my mom believes that there is stuff out there that we can't control but she doesn't necessarily believe in a god. When I hear her explain it all out, to me it's obviously a form of atheism but she's not calling it that because from her time atheism wasn't exactly something pleasant to be. So, while I call her beliefs atheistic you might probably call them spiritual instead. (I don't really remember her belief that well, but I've heard her talk of it several occasions when my sister and I talk about our own beliefs and it is the type of thing that people would call spirituality)


Edit: I like it when I can talk about religion to people without getting angry and trying to force them to say stuff

[Moddex]

That's the thing, I have no particular religion myself. I don't follow one faction of belief. I am only spiritual. I believe there isn't necessarily an almighty one that manages the universe, that requires perfection and nothing in any plain of existence is perfect. Perfection requires preception. Perception requires beliefs, beliefs require influence, and influence requires man. Think about that one for a minute. Run that through and concider the thought.

[Loeln]

If ya read through it, you'll find it's all about magic. >^.^< It's my theory on it. It completely explains it in a scientific method. None of that fantasy stuff to make up things. All real scientific terms put together to help explain magic.

No, none of that fantasy stuff to make up things. Scientific stuff to make up things. Welcome to world of Technobabble, or, as it's known in Star Trek, Treknobabble.

Oh, wait. You mean this as a system someone could use in a fantasy/sci-fi story and aren't applying it to this reality. Whew.

[Gizensha]

If ya read through it, you'll find it's all about magic. >^.^< It's my theory on it. It completely explains it in a scientific method. None of that fantasy stuff to make up things. All real scientific terms put together to help explain magic.

No, none of that fantasy stuff to make up things. Scientific stuff to make up things. Welcome to world of Technobabble, often used in Star Trek as Treknobabble.

Not that Star Trek's technoblabble is actually scientific.

Case in point - The Voyager episode with the Black Hole. Was that one called Event Horizon?

Isn't Science fantasy that pretends to be soft-core science fiction 'fun', folks.

[Loeln]

Not that Star Trek's technoblabble is actually scientific.

Exactly.

[Moddex]

The thing about my system of Kataga is that it's theoretical. Nothing can prove Kataga's existence just yet. Not with our close-minded scientific community that also happens to be even more under enclosure by governmental and international constraints...

[Loeln]

The thing about my system of Kataga is that it's theoretical. Nothing can prove Kataga's existence just yet. Not with our close-minded scientific community that also happens to be even more under enclosure by governmental and international constraints...

Just because it can't be disproven doesn't mean it is proven. When trying to be scientific, it is generally not recommended of one to use religion's defense to validate their ideas.

[Tom Flapwell]

Might I mention that religion is not so easily defined. Most Buddhism does not require a belief in a god or gods. Taoism started as a mere philosophy, and Confucianism still straddles the boundary. There have been debates on whether transcendental meditation and even vegetarianism count as religions. And of course, Judaism doubles as something of an ethnicity now.

[Dr. Doog]

except those things aren't religions (well judaism is, and maybe vegetarianism), going on prior knowledge and what you just said. I only know about buddhism, which wasn't intended to be and still isn't a religion. It's about connectivity with the universe for the enlightenment of the whole. It's not neccessarily to become one with god, although you certainly could depending on your religious beliefs. Kind of like the Linux kernel, you just have that foundation and then adjust it to fit your life.

I have a book called Atheism: The Case Against God and in the beginning it has the difference between atheism and agnosticism. That is, Atheism is a lack of religion and agnosticism is the belief that you do not or cannot know god or know of god. That being said, both an atheist and a theist can be agnostic. In the same way, you can't just take everything spiritual and slap a religion label on it.