Tres Juicy

Like I said, it's a noble aim - "does my faith stand up to scrutiny?" But the answer will always be yes, because what you believe in is intangible, all-powerful/all-knowing and omnipotent/omnipresent. Add to that the fact that the belief system itself has become sacred, it's frowned upon to tell someone that their belief is ridiculous even if it is. Give those properties to Moontanman's dragon and it becomes just as plausible as your god

A noble aim, but as a theist surely you know that any athiest argument can be countered with "god did it" or "he moves in mysterious ways" or something similar Why not? This seems like your opinion rather than an objective argument It certainly doesn't make it any more feasible, just because science doesn't have the answer is no excuse to bail out and believe in magic I wouldn't call the scriptures "data" - stories, memes, opinion, hyperbole but not data

I'll second that, show me god and I'll show you a pious dude Until then, I'll maintain my perfectly valid skepticism It's one thing to be open minded but that seems in a lot of cases to lead to empty headed

It becomes difficult to have a conversation about god, if you can't use the bible (or other "holy" books) as a reference. You (Athena) seem at times to be talking about your own personal god, of which we can have no prior knowledge.

vasectomies and sex for all!

Religious belief has caused more war than any other singe cause Look at the crusades, a bunch of christians, believing that they were fully justified by god, marched into eastern europe to kill anyone who would not convert to christianity

Thats not what I meant - The Jews were persecuted (at least in part) beacuse of their religion, you said: Which is not true

What else is there?

Not at all, you're more than welcome to interject. I am not saying that at all, I am merely asking if this could be the case and if language shapes our thought processes in some way

What about the Jews?

Probably the most obvious example: http://en.wikipedia....en_Commandments Not only that, the bible contains lists of things you can and cannot eat... It's full of restrictions, I really don't know how you can say that

I think you'll find that your argument falls down when you realize that the witch hunts were driven by religious beliefs and part of the reason the Jews were persecuted was because of their religion. Belief in god did not help these people did it? What you've described here is science, not religion

"an inexpensive (under £100, ($~170)) way to keep liquid nitrogen above the superconductor" What do you mean here? Do you want to float it above?

I'm sure there are one or two nice ones.... http://www.scienceforums.net/user/62153-tres-juicy/

In a way yes, but it would be more sensible in my opinion to have confidence in technology or the craftsmanship of the boat or the knowledge that allowed us to create a compass than a belief that as long as I'm pious/virtuous I'll be fine. Are you suggesting that a pious person wouldn't need a sturdy boat, a compass and a decent knowledge of the sea in order to sail successfully? How does my argument depend on superstition? You asked for an instance where god has harmed us, I said earthquakes. After all, isn't belief in god just the ultimate superstition?

There's an idea for a patent I suggested putting small amounts of platic explosive into moblile phones and having a number you could dial to detonate them as an anti-theft device....

While I agree with both posts above, my OP relates to higher thought rather than basic problem solving (as described)

Regardless of what I'm sailing in, I'd rather go with a firm belief that I am capable of sailing well enough due to my experience and knowledge, rather than trust it to the unknown Well, if you believe in god there are loads of examples Earthquakes for one...

This is why I'm glad there are experts here who can point out the error of my ways

Well, how would we get past the crystal dome?!

Thats what I read

And you chose to share this publicly?

Is this a hint? I'm sure there are some lovely single sccientists here

I think you might be underestimating people here

So, are you floating around in your house right now? Also, gravity is not a theory - it's an observed force of nature Tides are reliant on gravity, there is motion due to convection but this does not affect the tidal action very much As you have already discovered, your information about tides was completely wrong so I think your question has been answered. Edit: Also, if the heat from the sun were constant, how would you explain winter?