Why aren't you an Atheist? (page 21)

tec

I have never met an atheist who would go further than that.

Lucky you ;)

(J/K)

But I have though. On this board and in my own life.

Peace Cofty,

tammy

jamesmahon

Christ alone

Things humans have believed for most of our recorded history (and many still do):

the earth was flat
women are second class citizens who can be beaten and raped at will
being ruled by a king who can do as he pleases is a good form of government
sex with children is fine (even up to the early 50's there was no law against that)
slavery is perfectly acceptable
white people are superior to black people
it is ok to kill people if they don't believe in your god
homosexuals should be executed
dragons were real

Do you want me to go on? Just because something has been believed for a long time does not make it true.

OUTLAW

What I think you are getting at is that believers and non-believers seem to argue and you don't like it and think they should all get on.JM

Not at all..

Arguing shows they both have "faith" in something neither of them can prove..

your contribution to this thread has been 'neither side has proof so they are just arguing from faith'.

This is just junk. Both sides have evidence and we all try on both sides, as well as we are able, to challenge that evidence.....JM

Believers have evidence?????..I`ve never seen it..

Same with the Atheists..

I`m sure I would have come across a shred of proof by either side,by now..

........................ ...OUTLAW

cofty

Really Tammy? I have discussed issues with probably every atheist currently active on this board and I think every one of them is committed to following where ever the scientific evidence leads.

First of all I don't believe that belief in God is a delusion, even if I became an atheist. If I was an evolutionist I would describe it as part of natural selection. It would be a defense mechanism that man sub consciously created to keep it at the top of the food chain. A belief that even in death man was still number 1. Even if I was an atheist I would consider belief in God an important part of human psychology. Man has a spiritual need. It's not mass delusion that keeps man believing in captive, like some atheists believe.

There are many non believing psychologists that feel that belief in God is a necessary part of human psychology and not a delusion. This delusion idea has been advanced by Dawkins, and other militant atheists like him.

I guess it's hard for me to come to it at the point of being an atheist because it seems so far from what I actually believe. But, again, I don't think I would view it as a delusion.

tec

So CA, Tammy et al what would it take for you to decide that your belief in god was probably a delusion after all?

In a creator... like in general? I'm not sure.

In the Father of Christ? Proof that there was never any Christ. That would probably throw me for a loop, lol.

Peace,

tammy

NewChapter

I guess my real question is the origin of life itself. Life had to come into existence to evolve/adapt.

Okay, so your issue is not really with the Theory of Evolution, which was not clear from your post.

Your questions rests with Abiogenesis. Where does 'life' come from. This is a much fuzzier area, but we have some great theories. The problem we run into on one level is defining life. Is life simply the ability to self replicate cells? Think of the many forms of life, plants, bacteria, humans----what makes them alive. These all reproduce and perpetuate their species.

This is a weaker area for me, because it involves so much. I have been reading about the theories, but am not eloquent enough to share it at this time. I am still digesting. But read about it. We have less answers here than we have about evolution, but we are coming to understand things much better, like DNA. So this science will grow.

Here is my reasoning on it. We don't have a good answer, although we have a compelling theory that I like to read about, so we have a gap in knowledge. It is human nature to want to fill that gap in. We can easily say, well we don't know, so a god did it. Is that really reasonable? I can fill that gap in with a god, or I can fill it in with anything else I choose. Without evidence, any option can be feasible. Or do we simply say that we don't know yet, and we will keep searching.

And another thing---you don't need to divorce yourself from the conversation. You now fully understand not to conflate big bang, abiogenesis and evoltution when getting into these discussions. The reason you are picking up on aggravation is that this is so common and so hard to stop. I recently read a pro-creationism piece that referred to the 3 interchangeably---like they were all the same thing! WTF? And they just flitted back and forth at will, and it was very difficult to even follow the reasoning because of this. It left me to conclude that the author didn't understand the difference, and therefore, every single thing they had written could be dismissed. I didn't dismiss it, as I addressed each point, but it was extremely difficult.

So next time you want to converse with an evolutionist, try to keep these ideas separate, or you will be met with exasperation. We see how creationist authors take advantage of their readers lack of information to conflate and confuse the issues. We hate to see that happen. It's very unfair to the reader, and then more so when it gives them the sense that they understand, and then they get shot down when they try to pass on what they've learned. I call foul. Educate--don't pseudoeducate. Right?

All of this information is available to you from neutral sources. It's fine to disagree with what you understand, but when you don't understand, ask questions---weigh the answers---look deeper. Don't be quick to dismiss something that does not confirm your belief (as we are all, including me, apt to do at times), because they may make a lot of sense. And when they do make sense, ask different questions. Sometimes things only make sense when the right questions are asked----but tackled from a different angle and they fall apart.

tec

Really Tammy? I have discussed issues with probably every atheist currently active on this board and I think every one of them is committed to following where ever the scientific evidence leads.

Well, I think I've lost count how many times I or another believer has been called delusional... "because there is no god". I have read that statement on this board, more than once. A strong, definitive statement. Not... there is probably no god. There IS no god.

So they might be committed to following evidence, if evidence shows them something other than what they currently believe (but I would state the same thing)... but for now, they make definitive statments without proof. Not all; but some.

Peace,

tammy

cofty

In a creator... like in general? I'm not sure. - Tammy

Technically the word "proof" only belongs in the maths class so I use it conditionally, but we can already prove that every living thing including humans evolved from a common ancestor.

In the Father of Christ? Proof that there was never any Christ.

I'm not sure what you mean. Your allergy to the commonly used name Jeus makes it doubly confusing.

OUTLAW

At which point your truck will move relative to the earth.....JM

If I start it and Drive it..

It`s never gone to the General Store by Itself..

I know whats moving and what isn`t..

The General store is Stationary..My truck moves when I drive it..

I never wonder if the truck is stationary and its the earth thats moving.

............................ ...OUTLAW

Why aren't you an Atheist?

tec

jamesmahon

OUTLAW

cofty

Christ Alone

tec

NewChapter

tec

cofty

OUTLAW

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