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Does God Suffer From Vanity?
- Thread starter Thunderdog
- Start date
Errrr.....
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Quote from Thunderdog:
While I think it would be better all around if they held beliefs that were better founded in fact, there is no denying that how people choose to live privately is indeed their own business.
I'm an atheist too (the 'weak atheist variety'), but I'm not at all convinced that the self-delusion of theists is such a bad thing for them at all.* Take any location in the world, any time period in history, and you can bet those people had some sort of spiritualism, mysticism and ritualism. Religion doesn't work on us, but it does work on <i>them</i>, the masses. It gives them a sense of purpose, a sense of security. Religion serves its purpose quite well, which is to provide people with a warm cozy security blanket out of thin air.
Don't you <b>envy</b> that sometimes? I do. While I need real opiates, all <i>they</i> need is a few fairy tales to feel nice and comfortable, contentedly at peace with themselves and the world.
*Excluding the violent, predatory & victimizing forms of theism- like Aztec, Satanism and Islam.
I agree.Quote from vhehn:
atheists believe there is no god based on the evidence. that is not faith. if a theist believes in an god that there is no evidence for that is faith. if a theist believes in a god that provides evidence that he exists it is no longer faith but fact backed by evidence.
Quote from StoicZeno:
Really? God does not exist? That's quite the blanket statement. I don't suppose you have supporting evidence?
What I find even more disturbing is your mixing of God and religion. Must they always be in tandem? Perhaps that is the problem to begin with. Is God mans problem, or is it religion? And which claims to speak for the other? Is your lack of faith a result of something God did, or didn't do? Could it be that your spiritual ignorance in thinking religion and God are one has caused you pain? God gets a bad rap as a result of mans creation....religion. Think on that if you will.
It's fascinating to me that those who believe in something that can by definition never be proved ask for proof of it's opposite as a refutation of arguments against it. I am under no compulsion to prove that God doesn't exist. Choosing to believe that DNA is a miraculous engineering job by God is a choice.
The difference between God and Religion? Usually a semantic one at best. I see your point, and I agree that it is man's invention, religion, that causes problems, as opposed to a personal belief in a Creator God. But since God is also a human invention, brought about by fear of the unknown and unknowable (death in particular), I don't make the same distinctions you do.
Regarding spirituality, your post wasn't particularly abusive and you seem fairly rational. I'm a little surprised that you would make the mistake of assuming that a belief in God and/or the practice of a particular religion, and spiritual belief, are mutually exclusive.
Yes, sometimes. I also envy the look of innocent wonderment in a child's eyes when he or she talks about Santa Claus. And while I wish it were all true, I know that it is not. While such excursions into fantasy are a nice diversion, I think life is best lived in the real world. At least for me. While there is no denying that faith may help people cope during difficult times, I think that the people who are too preoccupied with religion's promise of eternal life end up discounting the value of the present perhaps more so than those who know that the only lives they have are the ones they are now living.Quote from Rearden Metal:
Don't you <b>envy</b> that sometimes? I do.
Quote from Rearden Metal:
*Excluding the violent, predatory & victimizing forms of theism- like Aztec, Satanism and Islam.
Thats ridiculous.........none of those examples can possibly describe your adjectives, can they?
Aztec, sacrificial voodoo, murderous islam...only ONE of these things exists now, in a POTENT from.
Yet you leave out the very christian inquisitions, germanic reformation pogroms , crusades, or jews murdering entire tribes?
Or, given satanism, whatever the heck it is, was INVENTED by christians to vilify non-beleivers? People who were, for the most part, tax fugitives?
Just trying to figure out your differentiation, is there, actually any?
I suppose it comes down to a question of personal judgment. I also feel quite comfortable not believing in the existence of flying unicorns even though no one has proven beyond a doubt that they do not exist . For all intents and purposes, as far as I am concerned, they do not exist and I see little value in patterning my life around the possibility that they might exist. But please be assured that if ever such a creature is discovered I will buy front row tickets to watch it take off and land.Quote from ddunbar:
An atheist who goes a step beyond reason and emphatically states that there is no God, as opposed to merely not having proof of a god or gods, does indeed have a religion of sorts. They are placing a faith in something that has neither been proven or disproven. Reason dictates that the question regarding the existence of a god or gods must always remain unaswered until all reasonable means have been exhausted in either proving or disproving its existence.
Question for anyone,
If there is no omnipotent, How do you explain where all forms of life came from ? Do you believe humans evolved out of bacteria through evolution ? If we evolved from monkeys/apes/etc, then why are there still monkeys, apes, etc ? If you believe in evolution, something created this bacteria. Or did a living thing just evolve out of gasses and minerals ?
If there is no omnipotent, How do you explain where all forms of life came from ? Do you believe humans evolved out of bacteria through evolution ? If we evolved from monkeys/apes/etc, then why are there still monkeys, apes, etc ? If you believe in evolution, something created this bacteria. Or did a living thing just evolve out of gasses and minerals ?
Quote from volente_00:
Question for anyone,
If there is no omnipotent, How do you explain where all forms of life came from ? Do you believe humans evolved out of bacteria through evolution ? If we evolved from monkeys/apes/etc, then why are there still monkeys, apes, etc ? If you believe in evolution, something created this bacteria. Or did a living thing just evolve out of gasses and minerals ?
Reply, it DOESNT MATTER, because if christianity, islam, forest spirits or sea gods have a purpose at all, whatever that purpose is,
they have not made people smarter, more reasonable or rational, have NOT made people more humane, more open minded and less stupid, they have in fact acheived the opposite effect throughout history.
I suspect, maybe even beleive, that this phenomena is what the bible talks about regarding satan-following false idols, false prophets, becoming less human by following blind and insufferable dogma-it refers to itself, a verifiable fact.
Jmo.