I wonder... the place where most are being built now is China. They have their own concerns of course, but is -13- one of them?
Intrepid wrote:Many buildings go from floor 12 to floor 14.
Some house numbers do that too.
One couple went to court to force the council to change their house number after catalogueing an exrtaordinary run of misfortune in court. They won too.
Casino Joe wrote:Intrepid wrote:Many buildings go from floor 12 to floor 14.
Some house numbers do that too.
One couple went to court to force the council to change their house number after catalogueing an exrtaordinary run of misfortune in court. They won too.
Which raises the really sad argument: Why would ANYONE have to go to COURT before they can change their housenumber. Why make so much legal difficulties out of it?
ossobuco wrote:I wonder... the place where most are being built now is China. They have their own concerns of course, but is -13- one of them?
In China, I believe that the equivalent of our number 13 is number 4. Some buildings do not have a floor numbered 4.
Intrepid wrote:Setanta wrote:To put it in other terms, all religion is superstition, but not all superstition is religion.
To put it in still other terms, superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy.
This is an hilariously idiotic statement. Astronomy has good physical evidence. Care to trot out the solid evidence for your god superstition?
Setanta wrote:Intrepid wrote:Setanta wrote:To put it in other terms, all religion is superstition, but not all superstition is religion.
To put it in still other terms, superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy.
This is an hilariously idiotic statement. Astronomy has good physical evidence. Care to trot out the solid evidence for your god superstition?
Strange that I should just make a response. Your response is that my response is idiotic. Of course, I did not respond as such because that was not my thought. It seems to be your stock in trade.
You first..... with your solid evidence.
OK--superstition is a belief unsupported by evidence:
Answers-dot-com wrote:su·per·sti·tion (sū'pər-stĭsh'ən) n.
1. An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.
2.
1. A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance.
2. A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such ignorance or irrationality.
3. Idolatry.
To take a page from the Big Bird, demonstrate in a forensically valid manner that religion is distinguishable from superstition.
The ball's in your court--show how religion has any more valid foundation than any other form of superstition.
najmelliw wrote:Which raises the really sad argument: Why would ANYONE have to go to COURT before they can change their housenumber. Why make so much legal difficulties out of it?
It was a council house and any change to the numbering of the address has to be approved by them. In this case they declined to agree to the change so they were taken to court and lost.
I suppose their argumant would be if we allowed everybody to change their house number whenever they wanted to then chaos would ensue...I'm just surmising what might have been their objection, I don't know.
Bloody hell, intrepid!
That's a big one...
Yes, that is quite a large response which avoids addressing whether or not there is a distinction between superstition and religion, something which i suspect Intrepid is not capable of addressing. I further suspect that it is a copy and paste job, for which the member in question hadn't sufficient honesty to provide an attribution.
Setanta wrote:Yes, that is quite a large response which avoids addressing whether or not there is a distinction between superstition and religion, something which i suspect Intrepid is not capable of addressing. I further suspect that it is a copy and paste job, for which the member in question hadn't sufficient honesty to provide an attribution.
Oops. Here it is
source
You responded to this....
To put it in still other terms, superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy.
Intrepid wrote: Setanta wrote:To put it in other terms, all religion is superstition, but not all superstition is religion.
To put it in still other terms, superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy.
Not at all; superstition is to religion what stars are to both astrology and astronomy.
Sidebar:
timber On Astrology
I work in construction and see many many highrises as they are being built. Some have a 13th floor, some don't. But more commonly around here is an absence of 4th, 14th, and 24th floors. The buildings that are missing the 4 set always have a 13th.
I suppose it depends which pool of superstition you are drawing from
As per the original question, I think you can hold superstitions without necessitating a deity. Why would a deity be required?
But it is illogical, surely?
I'm not saying I have definite views on it... I am willing to listen to others opinions.
I always assumed atheism to be a question of logic, but then is it more illogical to be atheist as one can never prove or disprove the existence of God?
To be an atheist means you do not believe in a higher being/deity and humans are in charge of their own destiny...
To be superstitious seems (to me) to suggest that there are unseen forces at work???
If they are unseen - what are they? Surely supernatural?
You are assuming superstitious people are thinking. I don't mean that as snottily as it sounds. I think many superstitions are part of cultural mores handed down over centuries, one learns them as part of the fabric of life.
You could say that about religion too, but I won't, dimly as I think of religion, as many people who are religious are so with thought.
Tradition <nodding to Osso's last post>
People who are suggestive can be made superstitious by others. When I was about ten, my Mom told me that if your left palm itches, you are sure to find money. About an hour later, my left palm itched, and within five minutes I found a dollar bill on the ground. Because I have a skeptic's mind, I never believed the itch and the bill were actually related, but did indulge in some wishfull thinking, for a time. Many people would have believed their entire life that the itching palm caused me to find money, because they cannot recognize the nature of coincidence.
I don't mean to imply this is the sole reason folks get superstitious, but it is one thing to consider.
