Are you tired of the whole atheist/believer debate?

by nicolaou 115 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  nicolaou

  I know, I know. I'm usually the first one to stir this particular pot but it get's so frustrating to keep coming up against the same old arguments. The phrase "banging your head against a brick wall" springs to mind. How many times have believers argued for a Designer but refused to answer the obvious question of the Designer's origin?

  How often do atheists come across the assumption that because we are godless we are lacking morality somehow? And guess what? Not all believers are fundamentalist, young earthers who believe all non-believers should die - there are intelligent theists!

  I dunno, it's too early in the morning and I need a coffee . . . .
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  ringo5

  there are intelligent theists!

  
  
  That doesn't mean there are intelligent arguments for theism! :)
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  misspeaches

  The subject has been argued to death. Sometimes I feel like banging my head up against a brick wall when I see one of the debates going on. People get personally offended and then you have all these other issues start to rear their ugly head.

  Why can't we just accept one anothers differences and use the forum for its purpose? Dispute the JW beliefs, relate our experiences as JWs and help those that need it. Oh and of course the odd bit of fluff.
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  SickofLies

  Depends on my mood...

  Lately I've come to the realization that most theists are not really open to discussing the real issue, they only want to critize science, even though if God exists one could argue that he used evolution to create the universe.

  I guess in some sence, this IS the question, if there is no God, then there are a lot of people out there acting really silly and making really silly arguments. If there is a God, this does nothing to the athiest / agnostic position because he does nothing to prove he exists and has never been known to intervein in human affairs so therefore our non-belief means nothing.

  If I do argue the point it is only to sharpen my aruging skills, as I know you cannot convert a true believer with facts.
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  ringo5

  as I am currently leaning on the atheist side of the debate, the tiresome part for me , has to be the "well you weren't there so how do you know if the earth was created or not " argument .
  
  I enjoyed reading an interview of Douglas Adams that can be found here http://www.americanatheist.org/win98-99/T2/silverman.html
  
  He makes the point that all opinions are not equal. even though it's fashionable to automatically respect any opinion about god or some religious outlook, there's such a thing as the burden of proof.
  
  " God used to be the best explanation we got , and we've now got vastly better ones . God is no longer an explanation of anything, but has instead become something that would itself need an insurmountable amount of explaining "
  
  see , I can copy and paste with the best of them ...
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  heathen

  I know I am . Been there done that . The atheists think all theists are without a clue on the theory of evolution or the big bang . I mean jeezus give me a break with all that precision created from chaos crappola , don't even want to hear it anymore . Sir frederick hoyle a well know physicist says it was highly unprobable that the universe came to existance on it's own . I know he's smarter than anybody on the board so I'll stick with that .
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  Narkissos

  What I do find tiresome (or hilarious, depending on my mood) is that the debate about God -- at least in the English-speaking area -- seems to be hopelessly stuck on the issue of creation, as if "God" should stand or fall with it. This, I guess, has to do with the modern scientific mind and its practical reduction of theism to deism, by believers and atheists alike.

  Yet there is much more to the gods and to "God" than creation. As has been shown on Nicolaou's thread about prayer, the god that really matters to believers is not the one that allegedly created the world a long time ago, but the "you" which they can address everyday in the course of events, giving their daily interaction with people and things the form and structure of a continuous dialogue (not monologue, as "answers" and "signs" are read into events). An anti-subject, which is not an object.
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  greendawn

  I always love these popular debates on the forum people can't have enough of arguing about evolution versus creation (also trinity/anti trinity and the 607/587 dates with Scholar)and such threads tend to always grow several pages long.
  
  I never tire of arguing though these subjects are very extensive and one has to have a lot of background knowledge to debate successfully and without getting embarassed.
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  LittleToe

  Hehe, once more I find myselrf in Didier's camp. Some days I'm bored, some days I'm amused.
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  KW13

  For me this is the biggest subject. Think about it.

  If you believe you try and live the best life you can and please God and thats a concern for you

  If you dont you live the best life you can and your not answerable to anyone.

  It affects HOW and WHY you live. It may make you do something or it might stop you doing something.

  It doesnt matter to me whether you believe or don't, if you do good and if not good.