Magic vs Religion

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When you think of magic at it's modern level, you're merely thinking of Illusionists. What happened to the paranormal/dungeon&dragons/fantasy magic? Is it all just a fairy tale as it's always been presented? How did the idea of it begin?

Could we ask those same questions with religion?

As a believer in certain areas of Taoism, I've taken into the theological pursuits of aethereal elements and the connection between them. A universal energy that is used to perpetuate life and health.

http://www.vxm.com/21R.43.html

Since it seems that countries like China haven't completely ostracized all of their ancient doctrines, unlike most who have molded theirs towards modernized standards, it's all we seem to have as far as looking past dogmatic events that we must adhere to for survival or acceptance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_Third_Law

Has religion and/or science destroyed what we now think we're impossibly capable of?
 
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i've said for a very long time, that i cannot argue jesus' existance, but i'm 99% sure he's no more special, than being a 0bc david blaine...

but that's slightly besides the point... yeah i would say my scientific knowledge has led to me not believing in "magic", although, i'd love it if it were real...
 
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Some things I just think "that can't happen", but I definitely think there are things humans can do that science can't always explain.
 
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Maybe reality is magic. Maybe everything we describe as science, with electrons and neutrons and various other things, is, in fact, magic with other names and slight differences? D:
 
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'Magic' Can only be experienced in videogames, movies.

Science vs Religion + Magic + Supernatural = Science wins.

Oh and i agree with Lee.
Maybe Jesus was just an ordinary guy, or a loonie. Stories have been passed of him to older generations , more stuff added to it, and so : urban legend.

Would be funny if Jesus actually was just an ordinary guy who believed and told everyone he has "superpowers".

Really, think about it.

Templars and Paladins killing in the name of Jesus for him being a crazy old / young man.
 
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I don't think people in general killed for Jesus, as much as they did for God. I've yet to hear JESUS WILL GIVE ME STRENGTH! in any kind of real battlecry, be it in films or reality.
 
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SCIENCE!


I KEED I KEED! Please please forgeeve!
 
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I'm rooted in both Science and Religeon, and have found a happy medium for both to co-exist.

I think people get god pushed on them too hard, rebel, and then expect more from religeon than it can give. But that's my two cents.

Further, I think magic and the supernatural do exist, but their power is waning over time (the kabbalah gives an excellent reason, as do apocryphal biblical texts).
 
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Maybe reality is magic. Maybe everything we describe as science, with electrons and neutrons and various other things, is, in fact, magic with other names and slight differences? D:
That's something I've wondered for a long while. "Magic" is perceived as these extraordinary things that happen for no logical reason. Or at least there would be no logical reason to someone who lacked the capacity and learning to understand the intricacies of it's functioning. I've wondered sometimes if all along what we consider "technology" is actually what is referred to as "magic", except we've taken the time to understand how it works, and have named it appropriately. Just as how there are no "monsters" anymore, because once we give a creature a proper name and identfy it as a species, it's an animal and no longer a monster.

It's an intruiging thought, and when I think of the Bible when it talks of witches and witchcraft, I wonder.

As to Jesus being an illusionist and such...I'm not going to bother. You know what I'm thinking; you know I heavily disagree. I'm tired of arguing about all this, because neither side has, or ever will have decisive proof either way, so jabbering on about it is going to go nowhere, as it always does whenever we have these stupid religious/scientific arguments. I understand now why they're banned, and personally, I think the mods should start cracking down a little harder.

Think what you want, but just remember nobody has the answer, and everything being said is speculation.
 
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The Bible is possibly responsible for several major setbacks in technology. It's known that many "witches" and "wizards" were into homoeopathy and knowledge of nature. Chemistry would not be out of the question either.

As for the mods cracking down, I think you should be a little quiet about that, as I'm not the only one having discussed that with great passion.
 
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As for the mods cracking down, I think you should be a little quiet about that, as I'm not the only one having discussed that with great passion.
Which is why I'm suggesting they do. Because having participated in half the religious debates on this forum, I've learned the hard way why this forum's normal policy is not to have such discussions at all.
 
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I'm rooted in both Science and Religeon, and have found a happy medium for both to co-exist.

I think people get god pushed on them too hard, rebel, and then expect more from religeon than it can give. But that's my two cents.
That just about sums things up for me. I'm always a little tickled, mind you, when people learn that I'm strongly rooted in the sciences (heck, I just spent the last three and a half years focusing on the life sciences - were it not for the fact that I have no lab and no specialty of sorts, I'd call myself a bona fide scientist), yet also rely on a religious background, as well. Many people who've heard that about me have proceeded to ask me how I'm not torn on some of the more prominent, scientific hot-button issues.

As for the notion of the supernatural, I must admit that I am firmly entrenched enough as a scientist such that my default stance is that the unexplained is not, by necessity, the unexplainable. There are a lot of strange phenomena that occur in other locales and in other forms (be they astronomical, enzymatic, chemical, molecular, electrical... the list goes on), some of which do not have a completely understood purpose or origin. By extension, events of supernatural origin may also take on a similarly "mundane" form that the scientific community just hasn't investigated or considered at this point.

However, that's a fairly optimistic take on the supernatural; I, for one, like to believe that phenomena can be described, analyzed, and cataloged; however, I am fully able to acknowledge that such a process cannot work for everything.
 
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Some things I just think "that can't happen", but I definitely think there are things humans can do that science can't always explain.
actually i think it's a case of: science can always explain it, but as humans we are still woefully ignorant of the way the universe works, and/or are incapable of understanding the answers at the moment.
 
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Anyone see that episode of Futurama where Bender gets lost in space?

Like our rather green friend, I believe that religion and science co-exist. Religion explained what the lack of science could not. However, religion isn't about what God did (although personally I think him and his Son Jesus did all that), it's about how to be a good person and how to act.
 
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I think he meant "Science explained what religion could not." because that makes sense. Religion explained things in an easy way, preventing further required thought on the subjects in question.
 

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I think he meant "Science explained what religion could not." because that makes sense. Religion explained things in an easy way, preventing further required thought on the subjects in question.
Ah, I see. Thanks for pointing that out.
 
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I'm rooted in both Science and Religeon, and have found a happy medium for both to co-exist.

I think people get god pushed on them too hard, rebel, and then expect more from religion than it can give. But that's my two cents.

Further, I think magic and the supernatural do exist, but their power is waning over time (the kabbalah gives an excellent reason, as do apocryphal biblical texts).
BEHOLD! MINDLESS ME-TOO-ISM!

Yea, this is basically where I'm at too...

There is far too much in the universe that cannot be explained by science, but also far too much that CAN. You can't discount either. Take what you can and boil out what you can into your own truth. Form your own opinion, and even though it may mirror someone else's, that doesn't mean it's wrong. Maybe you both have the right idea.
 
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Destroyed? No. Debunked? Yes.


Care to give any examples?
Back in 1000's, Genesis was how the world was created. Today, where we go when we die.
 
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Okay. Since this is a Religion Vs Magic topic, I am gonna go and not try to do vs between those two, but rather to try explain them in my own way, how I percive the whole thing.

First of all, taken from the first post, when we talk about magick, we talk about paranormal fantasy, paranormal in general, creatures, magic etcetra.

As for religous types of disccussion, we are basicly taken upon one of the most relevent and the top of all faiths, the Legends and Tales of Jesus Christ. And Bible, yes, and Bible.

In my opinion, there are alot of things that christanity, does not explain, neither offer a subject between faithfull followers.
One, maybe the most wonderd between some of christians and non - Jesus followers:"Follow God, do good deeds, follow the ten written commands, and you shall get back to Heaven and rejoice with God" 'nd someting like that (sorry folks, I am not to familiar with the Bible in person).

"You shall get back to God"

People love to respond:"Why the **** are we here anyway, if God's kingdom is so beatifull, why the heck do with need to stay on this planet and listen to the gobberish law and stuff" and you know what I mean.

So I am gonna put just a litle something on the top of that, to make it look more, well, ya know, meaningfull!

Let's say, well, people say, God's paradise is wonderfull, full of Magic,and beatuies, and things like that. And the only thing we had to do to stay in that realm, is to serve God. How did we surve him? By offering him fun and playing with him.
But we chose to be our own masters, so, becuse we we're needed to follow God, and we chose to follow our own wishfull desires, be the masters of ourselves, we ended up here on Earth. Practialy, if you think, here you are the master of your self. Right?

But, since we chose (not get banished) to go from Heaven to planet Earth, we we're still awfully attached to the Heaven, and we rememberd everything about it. The magic, the beatuis, the mind tricks. We knew it all, on Earth.

We knew what we we're suppose to do if we wanted to get back to God's place (I won't be explaining that right now), but some of us persistently willed to stay on this crapy old planet (yes I know, I was stupid, I regret the discission).

To further notice, the longer you stay on Earth, logicly, the more you enjoy being your own master, logicly, you discover more way to be a master of everysthing in your possesion, and LOGICLY, you are departing from the memories you we're so bound to, the memoris of Heaven and God, or explaining it other wise, Magic.

Yes, the more tehnology that we project into our future, the more we dump the paranormal ways. Hmm, how the heck did they built piramids? Hmm, and awfully heavny question....

The science says, we only use 13 percent of our brain. The subcounscius, has barely been touched yet.



Ok, I got bored. Let's talk 'bout something else. Dieing - refered in the last post. Where do people go where they die? Do they even go anywhere? What about Soul? Does it exist? I think it's lame that you die and just - Warning:"Your oparative sistem 'Body', is now shut down. Enjoy the rest of your "life", in the same state as if you would be sleeping. Bye Bye..." I wouldn't stand for that. And think people, think, why the hell, even though you know your going to die, leave your body, reincarnete, die forever, what ever you belives are, why the heck don't we try to follow our dreams as much as we can, and not sit around and get awoken when you are 70 years old, you realize you're telling your grandsons how the **** you threw your life away.

Oh, look at that, it's late, gotta go, Bai Bai!
 

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