It's been pointed out to you in this thread at least once and you seem to be missing it.
I'm not missing it.
Probably there's no God.
Fine.
But what if there is?
Is Atheism a Form of Blind Faith?
by passwordprotected 232 Replies latest jw friends
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passwordprotected
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Perry
Well, trying to move this along to more practical application,
The premise "there is no God" has consequences.... not the least of which is reinterpreting information that would lead a person (one who did not believe that he was all-knowing) at least to a position of asking in humility for God to reveal himself.
For the atheist, Design and "Eye-Witness" testimony MUST be rejected out of hand. For the Christian who is actually a house that the Creator lives in, it is ludicrous to watch atheists play word games with established dictionaries and present the notion that dis-belief in God is somehow a better conclusion of facts.
Atheists and Christians not only have different filters to process information, they also have different facts that they are working with. Unless God reveals himself to a person, you 'll never find him. Once God does reveal himself, you'll never forget him.
If this is true, and many , many millions will certify it is....then by comparison, atheism is the very definition of blind faith, having nothing, knowing nothing, and concluding nothing, except darkness.
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AllTimeJeff
Differences:
Atheists maintain there is no god (generally). They cannot be contradicted. No one has seen or heard god.
Theists maintain that (their) god exists. They can be contradicted.
To me, this is about being honest. Faith at this point rests solely with theists.
Again, (and I apologize for repeating my stand on this) I am NOT an atheist. But I understand why atheists take this stand. It is honest, and I support their views.
Password, I get that theists get more mud then ever thrown their way by atheists. At no other time in human history has that been possible. So it is natural to defend your beliefs. However, I don't think this is your fault.
You ask: "What if god is there?" My answer: God needs to do more of the talking and needs to rely less on his supporters for the vocalization of gods agenda.
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Perry
Atheists maintain there is no god (generally). They cannot be contradicted. No one has seen or heard god.
Jeff is a perfect textbook example of my point above.
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drwtsn32
For the atheist, Design and "Eye-Witness" testimony MUST be rejected out of hand.
No, it's that these subjective things alone are insufficient at proving that god exists. We need something empirical. We demand the same for everything else that supposedly affects our reality, so why would we make a special exception for this?
And "playing games with dictionaries"? Perry, you are laughable.
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drwtsn32
For Perry and others that don't understand why anecdotes alone are insufficient to convince skeptics:
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passwordprotected
God needs to do more of the talking and needs to rely less on his supporters for the vocalization of gods agenda.
I can only speak from a Christian perspective; God has spoken, through the Bible and through Jesus. Jesus left instructions for his disciples to make more disciples and teach them the things he taught them.
For the sake of argument; if we're the creation of a god, what gives us the right to lay down the rules of his engagement with us?
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AllTimeJeff
Perry, I have never begrudged you and your claims that god spoke to you.
What I have brought up is that at best, that can only be good enough for you. Share it, I expect you to share it. But understand why that can't be good enough for those who have not had that experience.
Otherwise, they would be worshipping god because they took your word for it. This is why I asked how long is long enough before we give "god" enough time to show up.
However, if you can somehow get god to allow himself to be recorded while talking to you, I will take you more seriously for my own views.
There is quite a disconnect though for those that promote god, in that he seems to talk to and reveal himself to some, but not others. That is the crux of the problem.
And by talking, I mean real communication as described in the bible, not "I know god exists because I see him in this flower." Thats not communication. That is inference at best, and VERY open to interpretation.
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drwtsn32
But what if there is?
This god would be unknowable for we still have no empirical evidence even supporting its existence let alone its nature. Each step in that direction takes us further and further into imagination land. Nothing wrong with imagining, but we can't honestly claim any sort of objective certitude with our guesses.
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AllTimeJeff
I can only speak from a Christian perspective; God has spoken, through the Bible and through Jesus. Jesus left instructions for his disciples to make more disciples and teach them the things he taught them.
Yes, but upon further examination, these old scrolls lack relevance due to their age, and to the sometimes hateful content found within.
For the sake of argument; if we're the creation of a god, what gives us the right to lay down the rules of his engagement with us?
Children have the right to expect communication from their parents. They don't have authority, but it is not unreasonable that they are properly and clearly guided as individuals.
For children to be left a rather large, old note from their heavenly father makes him neglegent at best, abusive at worst. We arrest parents for trying to communicate to their children the way "god" does with us. (if we were to assume that we are the creation of "god")