Hello Frank and Interbane and Johnson1010:
Frank013 wrote:
From what we see of the universe so far it appears to be self regulating following specific rules and laws… these laws do not waver for the faithful, we are clearly in charge of our own destiny, from my point of view no god is needed to clarify any of what we see or try to explain.
I wrote:
I do have faith, but, I do not go looking for answers to the unknown in a structured religion, I agree, that will lead to disapointment. You need to look within yourself for answers and prove them to your satisfaction,
Frank103 wrote:
logically a person has to admit that in the vastness of the universe (of which we see very little) there are possibilities that we have not even considered. Some sort of god could be one of them, I have zero problem admitting this. However the defined gods made up by men fall very short when looked at logically, historically and scientifically and there is no evidene to suggest that a god of any sort exists.
I wrote:
It’s understandable that eventually, man starting asking questions outside the realm of its existence and knowledge. With those questions, creativity was born. With creativity, comes art, and dance, and stories, and with stories, religion was born.
Interbane wrote:
Everyone has faith. But simple faith and the Faith of religion aren't the same. For anything we believe, there must be sufficient reasoning or evidence. Some beliefs can have sufficient, but incomplete evidence or reasoning, so faith bridges the gap. The problem is that religion lacks sufficient evidence or reasoning. I have faith, but not in things that are likely untrue.
Frank103 wrote:
Atheists (at least none that I know) do not claim that there cannot be some sort of god, or prime mover of some sort. But we do not believe in those things with no evidence to support them.
Frank103 wrote:
Similarly no belief in gods is necessary even while accepting the unlikely possibility that they might exist.
Johnson1010 wrote:
my desire for truth, for seeking out answers to the unknowns are what caused me to lose faith.
I sought truth and found only pale lies in religion.
There are always answers, but perhaps the questions should be re-phrased.
"What is the meaning of life?"
Wrong question. Meaning is a human construct that works in concert with language and symbolism. Life has no "Meaning". What is the meaning of a volcano? what is the meaning of air? Useless questions.
Broadly speaking, you could say the replication of DNA is the "Meaning" of life. That may be an un-fulfilling answer, but it is probably not far off the mark.
Sometimes we become confused by the limitations of our language and common uses of words. There may be no clear answer at hand, but there are always correct answers. We might just be looking for them the wrong way.
Better questions are "What is that? How does it do what it does? How can we make ourselves better with this?" and others.
I am an atheist, and I'm ravenous for knowledge. I will not, however, accept fairy-tales as a substitute for a world view.
I wrote:
Does the true atheist stop asking questions when there is no true answer? Do atheists still wonder about the unknown? Is it humanly possible? I need to wonder more about this.
It is my opinion that the basis of religion stems with the capability to ask creative questions. It is my opinion, that religion originated with the ability for creativity.“Why”, will never be answered, my opinion will never be justified. "Question everything", that is human nature, that is encoded into our genetic makeup.
I feel the need to apologize, Frank and Interbane, for including Johnson1010 in my salutation. I quoted him, the god inside me told me that is was the polite thing to do. His cloak of percieved intelligence remains untorn upon his head. Where you do not accept a concept without proof, I do not accept a concept riddled with contradictions.
The evidence of God will prove the invalidity of God.
To seek evidence of God will prove to be fruitless unless you are faithful.
To be faithful, you must submit to that which has no evidence.
If evidence is required, you have no faith
Without faith, God does not exist.
If God does not exist, you can not claim to believe