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Heaven is a 'fairy story', says Stephen Hawking
Breitbart ^ | 5/16/2011

Posted on 05/16/2011 12:41:52 PM PDT by Former Fetus

British scientist Stephen Hawking has branded heaven a "fairy story" for people afraid of the dark, in his latest dismissal of the concepts underpinning the world's religions.

The author of 1988 international best-seller "A Brief History of Time" said in an interview with The Guardian published on Monday that his views were partly influenced by his battle with motor neurone disease.

"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he told the newspaper.

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Religion; Science
KEYWORDS: atheism; atheists; delusion; hawking; heaven; scientism
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To: bigjoesaddle
WHen he's burning in hell, will he scream in his robotic computer voice?

Such a kind and caring person you are!
What gives you the certitude that Mr. Hawking will "burn in hell"??
Judge, jury, and executioner...all rolled into one, you are!

Religious zealotry has and continues to cause wars.

61 posted on 05/16/2011 1:30:47 PM PDT by Logic n' Reason
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To: bigjoesaddle
WHen he's burning in hell, will he scream in his robotic computer voice?

Such a kind and caring person you are!
What gives you the certitude that Mr. Hawking will "burn in hell"??
Judge, jury, and executioner...all rolled into one, you are!

Religious zealotry has and continues to cause wars.

62 posted on 05/16/2011 1:30:52 PM PDT by Logic n' Reason
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To: I cannot think of a name

Most of those old steam CPU’s were rated for 180 psi. Have you overpressured yours to 220 yet?


63 posted on 05/16/2011 1:31:15 PM PDT by Erasmus (I love "The Raven," but then what do I know? I'm just a poetaster.)
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To: Erasmus
“Most of those old steam CPU’s were rated for 180 psi. Have you overpressured yours to 220 yet?”

No way. It would clearly overwhelm my 1200 Baud modem.

64 posted on 05/16/2011 1:36:07 PM PDT by I cannot think of a name
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To: MsLady
Most of the people I know don’t spend much time trying to prove something we already believe in. And for many of us, we have absolutely no doubts of His existence.

And that is the problem!!!

That which can be asserted without proof, can also be dismissed without proof.

Mr. Hawkings may indeed have beliefs...but he never, ever ceases to try to prove them. As such, he discovers and has discovered many new and extremely interesting truths. He uses his brain to think, to question, to certify, to doubt, to wonder, to prove.

I wonder exactly what a "believer" uses their brain for.

I demand Rapture - NOW!

65 posted on 05/16/2011 1:36:46 PM PDT by Logic n' Reason
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To: bopdowah

So how can anyone expect someone that doesn’t believe, to ever believe? Can people just decide to believe, or does it come from God? If it comes from God, why doesn’t everyone believe the same?


66 posted on 05/16/2011 1:37:16 PM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: massgopguy
Babelfish, of course!!!
67 posted on 05/16/2011 1:38:36 PM PDT by NamVet71MP
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To: thackney

And many apparently don’t.


68 posted on 05/16/2011 1:39:11 PM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: Former Fetus
I've found the problem isn't so much whether I believe in the existence of God, but that he knows about the existence of me.
69 posted on 05/16/2011 1:39:18 PM PDT by throwback ( The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid)
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To: Former Fetus

But didn’t God already know his decision before Hawkings was even born?


70 posted on 05/16/2011 1:41:08 PM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: MsLady

I guess there’s always the rest.


71 posted on 05/16/2011 1:42:17 PM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: Logic n' Reason
I wonder exactly what a "believer" uses their brain for.

i use mine to love the Lord... His word says, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." this is what we teach our sons... so that when they are studying biology, they are loving the Lord with their minds... when they study music, they are loving the Lord with their minds... as they study Euclidean Geometry, they are loving the Lord with their minds... when they study Latin and Greek and read Gilgamesh, they are loving the Lord with all their minds... as they study traditional logic, they are loving the Lord with all of their minds... my scientist Christian husband and i have done what we can do teach them this...

72 posted on 05/16/2011 1:43:25 PM PDT by latina4dubya ( self-proclaimed tequila snob)
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To: stuartcr
So how can anyone expect someone that doesn’t believe, to ever believe? Can people just decide to believe, or does it come from God? If it comes from God, why doesn’t everyone believe the same?

Really good questions and ones that require some consideration.

Someone who doesn't believe in God is likely not to be persuaded by what others hold as Holy Scripture.

May I recommend that you read a book by C.S. Lewis.

It's called Mere Christianity and it spells out in a very simple, logical way Lewis' belief at a base level about not only the existence of God, but in his belief in Jesus as the Son of God.

If these questions about the basis of faith are real, and I believe they are, you might find this book a good insight on how people come to a point of faith from a previous point of atheism, like Lewis did.

73 posted on 05/16/2011 1:44:14 PM PDT by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: Perdogg

People have different faiths primarily due to their parents, when/where in history they were born, what they’ve read, etc. God knows what a persons faith will be at the time of their death, so why does someone’s faith really matter?


74 posted on 05/16/2011 1:45:44 PM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: Former Fetus

Aw, not this Hawking again!


75 posted on 05/16/2011 1:46:29 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
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To: JimRed

Pascal’s wager.


76 posted on 05/16/2011 1:48:43 PM PDT by Scanian
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To: Former Fetus

Heaven is a ‘fairy story’....no no no Stephen, Barney Frank is a fairy story, heaven is real.


77 posted on 05/16/2011 1:50:26 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (Talk to me Hudson!)
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

Thanks, but I prefer to just ask people this way. That way I don’t have to make assumptions from what I may gain through insight. I could easily be incorrect. Besides, most people don’t like someone saying they believe x because someone read something.


78 posted on 05/16/2011 1:52:18 PM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: prisoner6
Prayers up for SH.

Amen.

79 posted on 05/16/2011 1:56:22 PM PDT by Finny ("Raise hell. Vote smart." -- Ted Nugent)
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To: Former Fetus

but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first,” he told the newspaper
..........................................................
First I want to convince myself and everyone else that there is no Heaven, and no God.

What a goal he has in life.


80 posted on 05/16/2011 1:56:26 PM PDT by Venturer
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