My evolving list of topics/questions on religion.

Hard questions.  Hard answers.  Understanding what one believes is not always as easy as just showing up to church on Sunday.  

1. So, you believe in Christianity.  Why?  Why not Islam?
2. Why is Jesus any better to believe in than Mohammad?
3. Religion has spread throughout history through violence.  The reason the west is Christian and the east is Hindu/Buddhist has to do with Constantine institutionalizing religion and the Catholic church enforcing religion during the middle ages. 
4. The appeal to natural law is an appeal to the baser instinct.  Our feeling toward a perceived evil act is simply a biological response given our instinct to survive.  We want to live, so we create laws to ensure that this 'evil' is controlled.
5. People are good by nature.  People are indoctrinated, like those who believe in the Nazis, and as a result, do bad things.
6. What is truth?
7. How is believing in God any different than believing in pink elephants?
8. The Mayans believed in a number of odd rituals.  Modern society no longer believes in the Mayan gods.  Why?  Because we have new information.  Religion changes as new information is present.  Fast forward 100 years and maybe we'll all believe differently.  Were the Mayans wrong for believing what they believed?  How are you confident that your religion will be any different than the Mayan religion over time?

Iran Nuclear Deal 2015, "End of the World"

Would this treaty be considered if oil was at $140 and not $40 a barrel?  I would doubt it.  The best way to keep Iran on the ropes is to keep drilling for oil and becoming energy independent.

The USA has also been to war for over a decade, spending north of 4 Trillion dollars on quagmires in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Perhaps a different approach is needed and a more thoughtful, deliberate, approach will do some good.

Failure to clinch nuclear deal will not be ‘end of world’: Larijani

EHRAN - Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the country’s legislature is not pessimistic about the prospect of the nuclear talks, and thinks that if the other party does not raise “excessive demands”, reaching a nuclear deal would be possible.

However, a failure by Tehran and the world powers to reaching a final nuclear deal “would never mean the end of world”, Larijani told a press conference on Monday.

“We are now living without such a comprehensive deal and if an agreement is not reached, we will go after other solutions.”

Larijani, a former chief nuclear negotiator, also said the parliament “will supervise the negotiations’ dynamism with a supportive approach.”

Iran nuclear deal would be no threat to neighbors
Larijani also said any possible nuclear agreement between Tehran and the 5+1 group would not be a threat to the Arab countries at all.

“Our nuclear topic is different from our relations with regional countries,” Larijani said.

He reiterated Tehran’s position that that Iran’s capabilities will always be “at the service of regional countries”.

Iran aiding Iraq in war on terrorism with full respect for Baghdad’s sovereignty
Elsewhere in his remarks, Larijani said Tehran will continue giving military advice to Iraqis in their fight against terrorist groups, while showing full respect to the Iraqi sovereignty.

“We are assisting Iraq because it is our friend and neighbor which today has been held captive by a terrorist group; of course the Iraqi people are brave and the advances that they have made in fight against the terrorists have been the result of their own efforts and our support.”

He added, “Iran doesn’t have hegemonic plans or intentions for any country and has shown this approach ever since the revolution as fight against hegemony is a pillar of the Islamic Revolution.”

Iran has been helping the Palestinians in their fight against the Zionist regime upon their demand, helping them to defend their country and stand against their enemies, Larijani pointed out.