So you're chastising science for changing with the times and technologies while religion has remained stagnant for thousand's of years?
I still go with science everytime
Not at all. I chastise people who think science has all the answers. Science continually throws out yesterday's truths as wrong. Facts don't change, maybe that's why the truth doesn't feel the need "for changing with the times and technologies". Facts and truths hold true regardless of technology or the times.
“One good thing about music,
when it hits you, you feel to pain.
So brutalize me with music.”
~ Bob Marley
Atheism, it's like an infinite orgasm for the brain.
What if you can prove God doesn't exist?
If there is only 1 true God,
and there are 10,000 Gods - then doesn't that make every one false?
That's logical.
Humans have 10,000 or more versions of God. Ask any Christian - almost every persons conception/definition/obligation/humanization of God is different. And there can't be 10,000 or more different versions of the "One true object."
Why?
Because we invented every last one. EVERY LAST ONE. So they all truly exist, as objects - as concepts. And they're all so far off from the nearest human conception of "truth," because every "1 true God," as they are - they are intolerant of every other "1 true God," absolutely and unequivocally. There can't be one if there are many. There can't be 10,000 fish if there is only 1.
... nibble a little, will you:
Now it is such a bizarrely improbably coincidence that anything so mindbogglingly useful [the Babel fish] could have evolved by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God.
The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
-- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book one of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series), p. 50
If we say God doesn't exist - then what can he/she/it do to prove it does exist? Nothing, nothing so far. So... maybe God has yet to evolve. But I doubt his/hers/its followers would have any of that.
Saying, "Try atheism." Like saying, "Try air." It's nice, isn't it? Well.... with no God to tell you otherwise - you're left to figure that one out either on your own or with the comforts of your human colleagues, it's up to you. This question is for you - are you currently able to give atheism a try? If not, too bad, it seems you're being oppresed. How are you ever going to learn if you're not allowed to accept other beliefs than the ones some drusty ancient doctrine has leaked out to you?
Agnosticism is better IMO.
It doesn't matter if god exists. With 10,000 different gods, regardless of what you do, you will be accepted by one of them. If there is no gods, then I guess you are dead. Not much else to say about being dead. Kind of a peaceful idea really. I mean who would want to spend eternity doing anything? What kind of a heaven could keep us entertained for eternity?
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
It doesn't matter if god exists. With 10,000 different gods, regardless of what you do, you will be accepted by one of them. If there is no gods, then I guess you are dead. Not much else to say about being dead. Kind of a peaceful idea really. I mean who would want to spend eternity doing anything? What kind of a heaven could keep us entertained for eternity?
Every cell in your body spends all eternity consantly changing physical realities and becoming various stages of infinite entities or energy patterns, therefore "heaven" can be seen as a never ending perpetual journey is never once seen from the same perspective, or notion of perspective thereof.
Just illuminating some conceptual ideas, and how they could play into the spirituality realm.
Not at all. I chastise people who think science has all the answers. Science continually throws out yesterday's truths as wrong. Facts don't change, maybe that's why the truth doesn't feel the need "for changing with the times and technologies". Facts and truths hold true regardless of technology or the times.
Of course science hasn't all the answers. Its calling is to constantly question everything, including the very laws and theories that allow it to question. Scientific advancements are not continually "thrown out", but the trend is for expansion of previous advances. Observations become increasingly more precise and accurate as we develop improved measuring methods. But that doesn't change what was observed previously. Science is under no obligation to provide your truths. These truths you speak of will never be known because they are beyond that capacity for human understanding. There are light spectrums we cannot see, frequencys we cannot hear. And an infinity of things we cannot think.
Every cell in your body spends all eternity consantly changing physical realities and becoming various stages of infinite entities or energy patterns, therefore "heaven" can be seen as a never ending perpetual journey is never once seen from the same perspective, or notion of perspective thereof.
Just illuminating some conceptual ideas, and how they could play into the spirituality realm.
That's cool as long as I don't have to be there consiously to experience it. Sounds pretty boring.
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
That's cool as long as I don't have to be there consiously to experience it. Sounds pretty boring.
Yeah imagine having to experience being a sun for some solar system like ours where you sit there watching these "flies" buzz around your head for 5 billion years until you eventually explode! haha
I think alot of dissatisfied, unhappy people have confused dislike/distrust/disgust with organised religion, with belief in god. The two dont go hand in hand.
I know. Nor can anyone prove the opposite. Which begs the question...why do people believe in either?
Easy. Nothingness is the natural state. If there is nothing there, nothing exists.
So. A road. A car travels along that road. The car exists.
So. The universe. Big place, i know. Somebody says, God exists. I ask, show me.
I can't, they say.
The only argument these 'believers' come up with, is "oh, you can't prove God doesn't exist."
It's banal, at best. It is also detached from reality.
In court, the onus on accusers is to prove their accusations against the accused. The natural state is innocence, is clean, is free from crime, until itr is proven otherwise.
If god exists, all i ask is, show me.
If you ask, "prove he doesn't exist," I say he doesn't, look, at point to thin air.
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects
are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider
god-fearing and pious: Aristotle
Easy. Nothingness is the natural state. If there is nothing there, nothing exists.
"There"???
So. A road. A car travels along that road. The car exists.
Sure.
So. The universe. Big place, i know. Somebody says, God exists. I ask, show me.
I can't, they say.
The only argument these 'believers' come up with, is "oh, you can't prove God doesn't exist."
It's banal, at best. It is also detached from reality.
In court, the onus on accusers is to prove their accusations against the accused. The natural state is innocence, is clean, is free from crime, until itr is proven otherwise.
Ok.
If god exists, all i ask is, show me.
I would never say god exists.
If you ask, "prove he doesn't exist," I say he doesn't, look, at point to thin air.
I know where fish are, I take that person to fish, I show them fish.
Next?
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects
are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider
god-fearing and pious: Aristotle
Easy. Nothingness is the natural state. If there is nothing there, nothing exists.
So. A road. A car travels along that road. The car exists.
So. The universe. Big place, i know. Somebody says, God exists. I ask, show me.
I can't, they say.
The only argument these 'believers' come up with, is "oh, you can't prove God doesn't exist."
It's banal, at best. It is also detached from reality.
In court, the onus on accusers is to prove their accusations against the accused. The natural state is innocence, is clean, is free from crime, until itr is proven otherwise.
If god exists, all i ask is, show me.
If you ask, "prove he doesn't exist," I say he doesn't, look, at point to thin air.
its akin to me saying "green dwarves were making me burn down churches and forcing me to eat anvils....."
people would juts simply say that i was "imagining" these green dwarves... same thing with religion/god/etc... i've been asked numerous times on here to "prove god doesnt exist"... i ask those believers to prove that the "green dwarves" dont exist... they cant!! just as i cant prove they are real...
yet my visions and beliefs are the cause of my incarceration into a mental hospital whilst the other set of visions and beliefs are accepted
we cant prove god exists just as people cant prove my insane green dwarves exist... its all a state of mind and its all about the belief that that person has... science, history, earthquakes, etc... all point to god not existing, yet nothing even remotely concrete points to god actually existing...
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
I know where fish are, I take that person to fish, I show them fish.
Next?
You said "If you ask, 'prove he doesn't exist,' I say he doesn't, look, at point to thin air."
If I ask "prove fish don't exist", you could do the same thing and be equally wrong. Just because there are no fish in the "thin air" does not mean there are no fish.
You cannot disprove God because you cannot "point" to everything. There is no inherent guarantee that what you perceive is the sum total of reality.
The same goes for anyone who claims there is a God.
Both athiesm and Catholicism are excercises in faith. But like all faithful believers, I'm sure you'll defend your faith as the Truth until you die.
its akin to me saying "green dwarves were making me burn down churches and forcing me to eat anvils....."
people would juts simply say that i was "imagining" these green dwarves... same thing with religion/god/etc... i've been asked numerous times on here to "prove god doesnt exist"... i ask those believers to prove that the "green dwarves" dont exist... they cant!! just as i cant prove they are real...
yet my visions and beliefs are the cause of my incarceration into a mental hospital whilst the other set of visions and beliefs are accepted
we cant prove god exists just as people cant prove my insane green dwarves exist... its all a state of mind and its all about the belief that that person has...
This makes much more sense.
science, history, earthquakes, etc... all point to god not existing, yet nothing even remotely concrete points to god actually existing...
How do you think "science, history, and earthquakes" point to God not existing??????
You said "If you ask, 'prove he doesn't exist,' I say he doesn't, look, at point to thin air."
If I ask "prove fish don't exist", you could do the same thing and be equally wrong. Just because there are no fish in the "thin air" does not mean there are no fish.
You cannot disprove God because you cannot "point" to everything. There is no inherent guarantee that what you perceive is the sum total of reality.
I could take you to fish. Or, the other way round, If I point to nothing, and say, look, ffg, fish do not exist, you can say hang on Dan, come with me, and show me fish.
Both athiesm and Catholicism are excercises in faith. But like all faithful believers, I'm sure you'll defend your faith as the Truth until you die.
Why label me an atheist?
I am the normal one, who believes onyl the existence he is living. Why label me? Its like labelling someone who isn't disabled, able-bodied. It takes what is 'abnormal', what is the 'minority' (i.e. the disability, the blind faith in a cartoon character) and transferring that to the majority.
I am me, I am what I do, and I am human.
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects
are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider
god-fearing and pious: Aristotle
i have plenty of self-respect and am also an atheist. it is because of the respect that i have for myself that i choose not to believe in God. my validation comes from within, not from the heavens.
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
How do you think "science, history, and earthquakes" point to God not existing??????
science and its many theories point to a no god state of reasoning for me at least... i.e. evoultion, planet creation, the solar system, etc etc
for instance, if god exists and he created us and he also created the solar system, our Earth etc... then he, god, us ultimately responsible for the demise of his creations, all of us and all life on Earth...
the planet Earth is poorly designed... god is so all-powerful and all so-knowing yet his design of the planet is hugely flawed... earthquakes and tsunamis happen as a result of various plates shifting, you know the reasons why actually, so ultimately gods poor creation of this planet is causing his people to die... its his fault... ergo, god doesnt exist as why would he create a planet that killed his own image... isnt that a bit sadistic...
he also designed a sun, a sun that will eventually die out and will therefore mean that certain types of life, life that he created, will cease to exist... again thats a huge design flaw... and it makes me think that he cant exist,
why isnt he fixing the plates under the earths crust as we speak... he isnt... and this doesnt come under the guise of free will.. god is a poor craftsmen... and bad craftsmen shouldnt blame their tools,
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
I am the normal one, who believes onyl the existence he is living. Why label me? Its like labelling someone who isn't disabled, able-bodied. It takes what is 'abnormal', what is the 'minority' (i.e. the disability, the blind faith in a cartoon character) and transferring that to the majority.
I am me, I am what I do, and I am human.
Dude, I don't need to label you as anything. If you believe there is no God, that's your belief. Personally, I'm not going pretend such a belief isn't on par with someone who believes there is a God.
science and its many theories point to a no god state of reasoning for me at least... i.e. evoultion, planet creation, the solar system, etc etc
for instance, if god exists and he created us and he also created the solar system, our Earth etc... then he, god, us ultimately responsible for the demise of his creations, all of us and all life on Earth...
Ok. Why would God care about that?
the planet Earth is poorly designed... god is so all-powerful and all so-knowing yet his design of the planet is hugely flawed... earthquakes and tsunamis happen as a result of various plates shifting, you know the reasons why actually, so ultimately gods poor creation of this planet is causing his people to die... its his fault... ergo, god doesnt exist as why would he create a planet that killed his own image... isnt that a bit sadistic...
"Hugely flawed"?? Just because things negatively affect humanity does not make them "hugely flawed". It's logically just as easy to say everything is perfect as it is to say that everything is "hugely flawed". Such statements require standards and the standards of men are not necessarily the same as the standards of God.
God may very well be sadistic. So what?
he also designed a sun, a sun that will eventually die out and will therefore mean that certain types of life, life that he created, will cease to exist... again thats a huge design flaw... and it makes me think that he cant exist,
Again, it's not necessarily a "huge design flaw". You're once again assuming that God wants man to live on Earth forever.
why isnt he fixing the plates under the earths crust as we speak... he isnt... and this doesnt come under the guise of free will.. god is a poor craftsmen... and bad craftsmen shouldnt blame their tools,
Perhaps he's no Bob Vila. Perhaps he doesn't care. Perhaps he enjoys reading the poor arguments he creates on message boards. How the fuck do I know?
Perhaps he's no Bob Vila. Perhaps he doesn't care. Perhaps he enjoys reading the poor arguments he creates on message boards. How the fuck do I know?
you dont know... and niether do I... logical thought prevails and i believe if he were to exist that, yes, he would enjoy reading the arguments on this board
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
why would god not care...?? isnt he supposed to be caring, loving, other buzz words, etc..
Supposedly, yes. He's also supposedly a pretty violent dude.
Here's the thing: there have been no less than a billion proposed Gods in the history of mankind, all of which have unique characteristics depending on the people and societies that spawn those proposals. God might be all of those things. God might be none of those things. God might also be a really bizarre mixture of some of those things.
it makes him less a figure of worship... it makes Satan look like a 40-something cotton wool salesman with a penchant for doing some "bad things"
Hey, some people worship Satan. When it comes to death and destruction, perhaps they're on the wrong team.
if he is so sadistic, then why do humans worship someone who ultimately oversees their demise... how very Koreshian isnt it...
Well, that's more of a psychology question than a God question. But my personal opinion is that people need something to justify the ugliness inside them and God does a good job at that.
i am, yes...
And maybe he does want men to live on Earth forever and he'll save the sun Superman style. But there's an equal possibility that maybe he just doesn't care.
you dont know... and niether do I... logical thought prevails and i believe if he were to exist that, yes, he would enjoy reading the arguments on this board
But there's an equal possibility that maybe he just doesn't care.
yes... that very true... and at least you are saying that. The extremist purveyors of religion on here wouldnt say that... and they feel god is everything that i was suggesting he wasnt earlier... they wouldnt be able to accept that god is pretty much a violent, sadistic, lazy designer of planets with a lust for death... 'their' god is the cuddly PG-rated version that appears in Heston movies... at least you have alternate theories on his rationale, the others appear to be sheep, but all following different shepherds
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
yes... that very true... and at least you are saying that. The extremist purveyors of religion on here wouldnt say that...
Likely not. That said, the extermist purveyors of atheism aren't likely to admit the very real possibility that a God does exist. Both sides are attached to their faith because it fills some ancillary psychological need within them. And ancillary pyschological needs cannot create or erase a God that does not or does actually exist.
and they feel god is everything that i was suggesting he wasnt earlier... they wouldnt be able to accept that god is pretty much a violent, sadistic, lazy designer of planets with a lust for death...
Well, I'm not sure about that. With common Western faith does come a violent God. Furthermore, it also comes with a concept of "divine plan" which typically revolves around some kind of end-of-days scenario. They certainly wouldn't frame God as you do above, but the reality of the situation might mean that the opinion above and their opinion are not all that different.
'their' god is the cuddly PG-rated version that appears in Heston movies... at least you have alternate theories on his rationale, the others appear to be sheep, but all following different shepherds
Heh...that's true.
It's funny though. I've always thought of some environmentalists this way too. They have the cuddly Disney view of nature where anything that is natural is "good" and anything that is man-made is "evil". It sets up a very religious-style dichotomy in an attempt to extract guilt and control behavior. I feel that elements of our society are inching back towards a more tribal system of religion where God is less Hero Man and more mysterious force of nature. Not that I'm saying it's worse or terrible or that actual environmental issues are not of paramount importance, of course. But you saying the above reminded me of that.
Comments
when it hits you, you feel to pain.
So brutalize me with music.”
~ Bob Marley
I always think about this train of thought when read about how societal facts that once made laws have changed over time.
an example of what I mean is stuff like this:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/7474/ohlaws.html
Which is it: is man one of God's blunders, or is God one of man's blunders?
-- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols (1889)
I'd like to raise a praise of, "Prost!" For Nietzsche!
Agnosticism is better IMO.
It doesn't matter if god exists. With 10,000 different gods, regardless of what you do, you will be accepted by one of them. If there is no gods, then I guess you are dead. Not much else to say about being dead. Kind of a peaceful idea really. I mean who would want to spend eternity doing anything? What kind of a heaven could keep us entertained for eternity?
Every cell in your body spends all eternity consantly changing physical realities and becoming various stages of infinite entities or energy patterns, therefore "heaven" can be seen as a never ending perpetual journey is never once seen from the same perspective, or notion of perspective thereof.
Just illuminating some conceptual ideas, and how they could play into the spirituality realm.
Of course science hasn't all the answers. Its calling is to constantly question everything, including the very laws and theories that allow it to question. Scientific advancements are not continually "thrown out", but the trend is for expansion of previous advances. Observations become increasingly more precise and accurate as we develop improved measuring methods. But that doesn't change what was observed previously. Science is under no obligation to provide your truths. These truths you speak of will never be known because they are beyond that capacity for human understanding. There are light spectrums we cannot see, frequencys we cannot hear. And an infinity of things we cannot think.
That's cool as long as I don't have to be there consiously to experience it. Sounds pretty boring.
Yeah imagine having to experience being a sun for some solar system like ours where you sit there watching these "flies" buzz around your head for 5 billion years until you eventually explode! haha
I know. Nor can anyone prove the opposite. Which begs the question...why do people believe in either?
www.myspace.com/jensvad
Easy. Nothingness is the natural state. If there is nothing there, nothing exists.
So. A road. A car travels along that road. The car exists.
So. The universe. Big place, i know. Somebody says, God exists. I ask, show me.
I can't, they say.
The only argument these 'believers' come up with, is "oh, you can't prove God doesn't exist."
It's banal, at best. It is also detached from reality.
In court, the onus on accusers is to prove their accusations against the accused. The natural state is innocence, is clean, is free from crime, until itr is proven otherwise.
If god exists, all i ask is, show me.
If you ask, "prove he doesn't exist," I say he doesn't, look, at point to thin air.
are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider
god-fearing and pious: Aristotle
Viva Zapatista!
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
"There"???
Sure.
Ok.
I would never say god exists.
Based on this logic fish don't exist either.
How so?
I know where fish are, I take that person to fish, I show them fish.
Next?
are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider
god-fearing and pious: Aristotle
Viva Zapatista!
its akin to me saying "green dwarves were making me burn down churches and forcing me to eat anvils....."
people would juts simply say that i was "imagining" these green dwarves... same thing with religion/god/etc... i've been asked numerous times on here to "prove god doesnt exist"... i ask those believers to prove that the "green dwarves" dont exist... they cant!! just as i cant prove they are real...
yet my visions and beliefs are the cause of my incarceration into a mental hospital whilst the other set of visions and beliefs are accepted
we cant prove god exists just as people cant prove my insane green dwarves exist... its all a state of mind and its all about the belief that that person has... science, history, earthquakes, etc... all point to god not existing, yet nothing even remotely concrete points to god actually existing...
You said "If you ask, 'prove he doesn't exist,' I say he doesn't, look, at point to thin air."
If I ask "prove fish don't exist", you could do the same thing and be equally wrong. Just because there are no fish in the "thin air" does not mean there are no fish.
You cannot disprove God because you cannot "point" to everything. There is no inherent guarantee that what you perceive is the sum total of reality.
The same goes for anyone who claims there is a God.
Both athiesm and Catholicism are excercises in faith. But like all faithful believers, I'm sure you'll defend your faith as the Truth until you die.
This makes much more sense.
How do you think "science, history, and earthquakes" point to God not existing??????
Why label me an atheist?
I am the normal one, who believes onyl the existence he is living. Why label me? Its like labelling someone who isn't disabled, able-bodied. It takes what is 'abnormal', what is the 'minority' (i.e. the disability, the blind faith in a cartoon character) and transferring that to the majority.
I am me, I am what I do, and I am human.
are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider
god-fearing and pious: Aristotle
Viva Zapatista!
i have plenty of self-respect and am also an atheist. it is because of the respect that i have for myself that i choose not to believe in God. my validation comes from within, not from the heavens.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
science and its many theories point to a no god state of reasoning for me at least... i.e. evoultion, planet creation, the solar system, etc etc
for instance, if god exists and he created us and he also created the solar system, our Earth etc... then he, god, us ultimately responsible for the demise of his creations, all of us and all life on Earth...
the planet Earth is poorly designed... god is so all-powerful and all so-knowing yet his design of the planet is hugely flawed... earthquakes and tsunamis happen as a result of various plates shifting, you know the reasons why actually, so ultimately gods poor creation of this planet is causing his people to die... its his fault... ergo, god doesnt exist as why would he create a planet that killed his own image... isnt that a bit sadistic...
he also designed a sun, a sun that will eventually die out and will therefore mean that certain types of life, life that he created, will cease to exist... again thats a huge design flaw... and it makes me think that he cant exist,
why isnt he fixing the plates under the earths crust as we speak... he isnt... and this doesnt come under the guise of free will.. god is a poor craftsmen... and bad craftsmen shouldnt blame their tools,
Dude, I don't need to label you as anything. If you believe there is no God, that's your belief. Personally, I'm not going pretend such a belief isn't on par with someone who believes there is a God.
Ok. Why would God care about that?
"Hugely flawed"?? Just because things negatively affect humanity does not make them "hugely flawed". It's logically just as easy to say everything is perfect as it is to say that everything is "hugely flawed". Such statements require standards and the standards of men are not necessarily the same as the standards of God.
God may very well be sadistic. So what?
Again, it's not necessarily a "huge design flaw". You're once again assuming that God wants man to live on Earth forever.
Perhaps he's no Bob Vila. Perhaps he doesn't care. Perhaps he enjoys reading the poor arguments he creates on message boards. How the fuck do I know?
Now this is a religion I can get on board with.
why would god not care...?? isnt he supposed to be caring, loving, other buzz words, etc..
it makes him less a figure of worship... it makes Satan look like a 40-something cotton wool salesman with a penchant for doing some "bad things"
if he is so sadistic, then why do humans worship someone who ultimately oversees their demise... how very Koreshian isnt it...
i am, yes...
you dont know... and niether do I... logical thought prevails and i believe if he were to exist that, yes, he would enjoy reading the arguments on this board
Supposedly, yes. He's also supposedly a pretty violent dude.
Here's the thing: there have been no less than a billion proposed Gods in the history of mankind, all of which have unique characteristics depending on the people and societies that spawn those proposals. God might be all of those things. God might be none of those things. God might also be a really bizarre mixture of some of those things.
Hey, some people worship Satan. When it comes to death and destruction, perhaps they're on the wrong team.
Well, that's more of a psychology question than a God question. But my personal opinion is that people need something to justify the ugliness inside them and God does a good job at that.
And maybe he does want men to live on Earth forever and he'll save the sun Superman style. But there's an equal possibility that maybe he just doesn't care.
yes... that very true... and at least you are saying that. The extremist purveyors of religion on here wouldnt say that... and they feel god is everything that i was suggesting he wasnt earlier... they wouldnt be able to accept that god is pretty much a violent, sadistic, lazy designer of planets with a lust for death... 'their' god is the cuddly PG-rated version that appears in Heston movies... at least you have alternate theories on his rationale, the others appear to be sheep, but all following different shepherds
Likely not. That said, the extermist purveyors of atheism aren't likely to admit the very real possibility that a God does exist. Both sides are attached to their faith because it fills some ancillary psychological need within them. And ancillary pyschological needs cannot create or erase a God that does not or does actually exist.
Well, I'm not sure about that. With common Western faith does come a violent God. Furthermore, it also comes with a concept of "divine plan" which typically revolves around some kind of end-of-days scenario. They certainly wouldn't frame God as you do above, but the reality of the situation might mean that the opinion above and their opinion are not all that different.
Heh...that's true.
It's funny though. I've always thought of some environmentalists this way too. They have the cuddly Disney view of nature where anything that is natural is "good" and anything that is man-made is "evil". It sets up a very religious-style dichotomy in an attempt to extract guilt and control behavior. I feel that elements of our society are inching back towards a more tribal system of religion where God is less Hero Man and more mysterious force of nature. Not that I'm saying it's worse or terrible or that actual environmental issues are not of paramount importance, of course. But you saying the above reminded me of that.