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Correlation does not imply causation. Totalitarian and fascist regimes have the proclivity to institute strict gun control laws. Gun control laws do not necessarily lead to nor are they solely the characteristics of totalitarian and fascist regimes. There are various states around the world...

Well...I think there won't be any kind of consensus between the two groups arguing here given that you're both adopting the two competing views when it comes to resolving the "paradox of free will." One side is saying free will gives us the ability to go against God's plan while the other says...

Einstein usually thought in images and diagrams, and generally resorted to language as a secondary step to communicate his ideas on paper to others (In a letter he wrote to a friend, he describes his difficulty to put his ideas in written language on paper. So instead, he also drew a diagram for...

I think I've posted in this topic before, but perspectives change over time. It really depends on what you mean by God. If you mean a God as given by any of the religions that exist today or has in the past, then the definitive answer for me is no. But if you mean God in the abstract sense...

Shadow. The nature/virtue embodied by most other characters can be analogized to other characters in the entire FF series. Things like honor, justice, love, etc... are always recurring themes. But Shadow's entire story and eventual redemption is pretty unique. I don't think you can point to...

It really depends on people rather than the subject matter. Naturally there are areas (e.g., religion) that have greater conflict than others, but in the end it's the question of whether people with differing views can live among each other. And due to the nature of some subjects, there will...

Religion's been able to accommodate for scientific discoveries like dinosaurs and evolution. I'm sure if we discover aliens, they'll be able to do another sleight of hand to explain it away. So to put it shortly, I don't think religion feels threatened by aliens. Modern religious interpretations...

…you don't seem to be reading anything I'm writing…so I'm just going to keep this one short. a) The Bill of Rights originally only limited the federal government. Only after the "incorporation doctrine" (that's an actual legal term), did the Bill of Rights apply to the States as well. The 2nd...

You may need to touch up a bit on how the US Constitution works and its relation to State sovereignty. The Bill of Rights was originally a restriction ONLY on the Federal Government, not the States. This was changed when the Supreme Court decided to interpret the 14th Amendment as incorporating...

No need to start insulting people… Actually Phoenix, your view on the framer's purpose is only partially correct. I don't believe (contrary to the majority view of the Supreme Court, but in line with the dissenting view) that the 2nd amendment was ever envisioned as an "individual" right. If...

Well... 1) "For me," I don't really care much about gun rights. Personally, I feel that the "right to bear arms" is an oudated provision that is no longer essential towards a properly working democracy. If the Second Amendment wasn't in existence today, I wouldn't be offended if Congress...

1) I believe in a subjective measure of morality. In other words, morality is defined by the individual. I do not follow the belief that there is One Moral Truth. If you analyze anyone's stance in morality down to its foundation, there is a personal and normative judgment. Most secular...

I don't know about scapegoat. But I see that heaven, hell, the greatness of God, etc… are just outdated attempts at justifying ethical conduct. So instead of a scapegoat, I think it would be more accurate to term it as a justification and rationale towards defining "right" conduct. (Now there...

1) 2% blows. That's worse than a US T-bill. Also since inflation is around 2% (avg), you're just leaving your cash in a static position. So you're basically putting your cash in a box where it will lose no value and opt to take it out when you're like 65. That's not a really good investment...

Whoa, this thread sure has progressed a bit since I last checked. Well, I'll give a response from a philosophical perspective, since that's where OP is coming from with "reality" and "infinite." You don't seem to be talking about the version used in mathematics or science. In other words...

From a scientific point of view "the universe came from nothing" is a controversial statement itself. "Nothing" can mean quite a number of different things depending on how you define the concept. Like I said before, you're probably refering to "absolute nothing" where nothing exists (including...

Oh I see...I thought this would be a scientific discussion about the creation and origin of the universe. Guess I misread the intention of the OP a bit, no need for complex mathematics or physics regarding his actual argument. So OP is really just supporting a species of the first cause...

Well I said I didn't know enough for an intelligble discussion, but I do know enough to realize that your use of the term "universe" is a bit too flexible to really understand what you're talking about (also what does "reality being infinite" even mean? This can mean quite a number of things...

Well this is assuming you believe that the universe came from nothing (and I'm assuming you mean absolute nothing where there is nothing at all, no time, no matter, no energy, nothing...something that is very difficult to perceive to be honest). Actually this was the prevalent belief by many...

No. I live my life under the assumption that there is no God. That this is the only life we have. That an individual should relish his current life and live the most of it instead of focusing on some after-life that "might" (and probably doesn't) exist. That the best love isn't for God but for...