britishbulldog

iTrader: (1)

Without trying to offend you, could you provide one simple reason why you believe in god?

StickyMicky

I also believe in this.

I had a cracking discussion with the "ball and chain`s" uncle once at a family meal, we were talking about religion and all that nonsense, he/they believe in some kind of afterlife, so i casually explained that if such a thing as heaven exists, it is going to be a total nightmare when you walk through the big gates and see all the dinosaurs.

Which confused them a little, should have have seen the confused look on everybody's faces.

stef_2010

iTrader: (3)

Many years ago when scientists were trying to discover how the moon was formed it was belived that thousands of different events caused it to be formed and orbit earth. Someone came up with the theory that it was one single event that caused the moon to be where it is today, they were laughed at at the time but we now know this to be true, an asteriod collided with the earth and part of it formed the moon.

Now on to my point, we're told that theres millions of different factors that caused us all to be here today and in fact we're actually very, very lucky that everything turned out the way it did (distance from the sun and all that b*llocks)

So it made me think, whats the chances of us being here because of all these small events, with the odds of it happening the way it did being like 1,000,000,000,000 -1 when I could just be one thing/man that decided/made it all

Personally I don't believe in God but it makes you think

StickyMicky

It makes me think that the vast population of the human race, is still not ready to accept that we are insignificant beings that are a flukey by product of some big event.

SRSport

Its amazing this fluke and Stef I think its far higher odds than that.

Where does the whole concept of God come from?

tony de wonderful

He's a clever chap but his book is a bore and lacks an intelligent philosophical perspective. It's like he's not well read and has zero wisdom.

I find Dawkins a bit like that but less so.

tony de wonderful

He's a clever chap but his book is a bore and lacks an intelligent philosophical perspective. It's like he's not well read and has zero wisdom.

I find Dawkins a bit like that but less so.

StickyMicky

Probably devised as a way of keeping cavemen from battering each other.

SRSport

Yes I could, but the reason I would give you isnt a normal one that most people would give you and I dont know how the thread would respond, ask Lisawrx she'll know hat I mean.

StickyMicky

"Creating life" is overrated now anyway, we as humans are starting to do this, we are therefore gods, maybe we will evolve until we are supremely powerfull, then **** it all up and it all contracts and explodes again

SRSport

In fairness he hasn't given me one simple reason why I shouldn't.

tony de wonderful

Even if it is a crutch then what business of Hawkins' is it that you or I adopt it?

SRSport

I doubt that this would be Gods only ability. Now creating life from nothing, introducing something called physics to help us understand about the place that we live in and to help us make sense of a lot of things is something else. I dont think he would have expected someone to come along saying 'yes, I can prove there is no God because we understand the laws of physics' that this very God gave us in the first place. I expect he would be doing this

stef_2010

iTrader: (3)

I think so aswell just couldnt be bothered typing anymore 0's

ChefDude

you guys questioning faith, trying to find reason in it, for it, etc will probably never understand.

faith isn't impirical, something to quantify or justify. you just have it or you don't.

I'm not religious, but I pay some respect to their belief because we as atheists are in the minority on this planet.

Call them stupid or delusional, but there's more of them than us

Martin2005

You could also argue that most of the world great religions have at there core the same fundamental teachings and philosophy, of course these have been largely ignored by those who wish to exploit religion for their own gain and create division.

So 'logic' could not invalidate all religion on that basis

britishbulldog

iTrader: (1)

I assume the "god" you believe in is the christian god as in the bible.

Do you also believe in allah, because i dont believe he is in the bible.

if you only believe in the one god that is purely down to where you were born, if you were born in an african tribe who worship the sun god or juju or something like that you would worship them, if you were an ancient greek, you would worship zeus, do you deny this fact?

What if the bible is wrong and the koran is right, are you still going to heaven?

Martin2005

That kind of assumes that if there is a god he gives a toss about which religion you follow

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Most scientists agree that the probability of life existing right across the Universe is as close to 1 as to make it certain.

The events that brought us here now are not maybe that unique after all. Life does not depend on sunlight as originally thought but on any energy source. If this is true, and it would seem to be true, then things like ice moons with active volcanic cores are likely to support life just as well as earth. Maybe not sentient beings but life.

There are surely planets out there in the thousands just like Earth.

So what of God then. Apparently we are in his image - so are all sentient beings in the Universe just like man then?

Hysteria1983

Me too, but not my eyes! I have been very specific about that.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Most scientists agree that the probability of life existing right across the Universe is as close to 1 as to make it certain.

The events that brought us here now are not maybe that unique after all. Life does not depend on sunlight as originally thought but on any energy source. If this is true, and it would seem to be true, then things like ice moons with active volcanic cores are likely to support life just as well as earth. Maybe not sentient beings but life.

There are surely planets out there in the thousands just like Earth.

So what of God then. Apparently we are in his image - so are all sentient beings in the Universe just like man then?

tony de wonderful

So what if you believe in Science? Is that just a question of being 'born into it'?

britishbulldog

iTrader: (1)

no its the fact that science is backed up by evidence and can be tested, the same thing cannot be said about "god" there is no evidence whatsoever to back up the existance of "god" except it is written in a book, do you believe in the mr men cos they are in a book too

or are you saying science is not real? again

SRSport

Agreed that a lot of what you believe is how you were brought up, but there is a point where you are capable of making up your own mind. If I had never been brought up to know anything about the existence of God would I believe? I would probably question what happens when you die, is there something else to life, etc. I believe its natural to do this (which is why there are so many people that believe in God), it is built into us until there is a substitute or because we dont like the idea as it contrasts with our lifestyle we look for ways to make us believe there is nothing, find some scientist or a group of like minded people and close off any openness they may have had.

As others who don't believe have commented they find it difficult to believe there is nothing at all. If I grew up in a Muslim family then I would probably believe in Allah but I would be interested in what others believe so I can make up my own mind.

Christianity is the only faith that makes total sense to me, Ive looked into it further and as mentioned before because I have looked I have experienced things that I can not question.

Martin2005

You seem quite envangelical about this

britishbulldog

iTrader: (1)

I totally respect your right to believe in whatever you like, however before i buy into something i like to have some evidence to back it up, no-one i have ever spoken to about religion can provide a shred of evidence to back up their beliefs.

like i asked before do you believe all that is in the bible or pick and choose what suits you? as far as i can see the bible is full of homophobia, genocide, mass murder, racism and i assume you dont believe in
any of these things?

there was a study done on arabic or muslim children, cant remember exactly, they were asked to read the story of joshua invading some other country and killing all the people, they were asked if joshuas actions i.e genocide were acceptable and all that answered yes, approx 85% of them gave religious reasons for believing it was correct, i.e "it was ok because god ordered them to do it" or "they were right because the people were of another religion" when the religious part of the story was taken out and changed to a modern tale of for example france invading a chinese city and killing all the chinese only 5% agreed the actions were justifiable, religion spreads hatred and gives people justification for truly heinous acts that in any other context would be deplorable. Does the Koran not instruct its followers to "kill all non believers?" but its ok cos god/allah/appollo\zeus (delete as appropriate) told you to do it

Martin2005

You seem to be falling into the trap of confusing religion and the existence of a 'god'

I suspect that most people would agree the religions are chock full of contradictions and prejudices, along with silly rituals and pointless ceremonies. That is different though to saying that there is no god, life is without purpose, and science can explain it all (which it manifestly cannot).

britishbulldog

iTrader: (1)

my mind is open to believe anything is possible, just show me the proof,
would i believe a 250 ton jumbo jet could fly if i had never seen one fly, i dont think i would just take your word for it, but take me up in one, or even just show me one taking off and i am a believer. writing a book about it would not convice me in any way though

So when someone can provide 1 single piece of evidence to support god's existence then i will believe it.

another example religious people use is you have to have "faith"

if i have "faith" my car is faster than yours does it make it so, no.
but if we had a race and my car beat yours then there is the evidence to back up the "faith" faith without anything to back it up is meaningless

britishbulldog

iTrader: (1)

When did i ever say science can explain it all?

let me give you an example:

theory "a" has loads of evidence to back it up
theory "b" has no evidence to back it up

Theory "a" can explain many many things backed up by evidence, however there is something theory "a" cannot prove. is the logical jump "oh well it must be because of theory "b", it makes no sense.

is there anything else you believe in that there is no evidence for, and finally can you name one religion that does not believe in a "god" ? they go hand in hand, simple as that.

GlesgaKiss

To be honest, as long as there are people like you around, these guys like Dawkins, Hawking, etc, are wasting their time. You just believe for the sake of believing. You know there's still no evidence but you believe anyway... you even say as much in your own words. There's nothing out there that could ever stop you being religious - unless of course Science could factually answer every single question about life and the universe.