tooney1 Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 The only real answer to this thread is: we don't know. Faced with unknowns, humans will instinctively latch onto what they feel is the right answer based on experience, their own reasoning and genetic tendencies, i.e. the need to fill the existence question (proven to be greater in some than others), which by scientific means, is flawed. We have a hard time leaving things open. To believe or not believe, is probably closed-minded... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George. Posted October 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 To believe or not believe, is probably closed-minded... To believe means that you are happy to do what you're told, claim what you're told to claim and think what you are told to think. A non-believer, a disbeliever, an agnostic or an atheist however asks questions. They don't just swallow what they're fed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacre Bleu Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Shetland church closures: Names of kirks revealedSandnessFoulaTingwallBigton St NiniansDunrossnessFair IsleFetlarSt Magnus, YellHillswickSullom North MavineVoe Parish ChurchSand - SandstingWeisdaleCunningsburghQuarffGulberwickBressayNestingWhalsay ChurchSkerries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacre Bleu Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 (edited) To believe or not believe, is probably closed-minded... To believe means that you are happy to do what you're told, claim what you're told to claim and think what you are told to think. A non-believer, a disbeliever, an agnostic or an atheist however asks questions. They don't just swallow what they're fed. Another sweeping and inaccurate post. I suggest you look up the definition of each of those terms. Many people arrive at, or bolster existing, belief systems through reasoned enquiry. Equally, a non-believer, disbeliever, agnostic or atheist doesn't necessarily have to 'ask questions' to arrive at their position. I know many people who would define themselves as one of these things who haven't given it much, if any, consideration. Edited October 18, 2018 by Sacre Bleu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George. Posted October 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Many people arrive at, or bolster existing, belief systems through reasoned enquiry.It would be interesting to see any reasoned enquiries that suggest that a god for you to pander to actually exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacre Bleu Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 It would be interesting to see any reasoned enquiries that suggest that a god for you to pander to actually exists. An individual doesn't need to 'pander' to a God if they believe in them. If are referring to me when you state "a god for you to pander to", then let me remind you that I am an atheist, in that I do not have belief in a God. Re: reasoned enquiries. How about: The ‘something from nothing’ argument - a higher power must have initiated the conditions for the Big Bang and/or the laws of physics. There currently isn’t a particularly robust or widely accepted scientific counter to this argument other than 'God of the Gaps' - there is no reason to assume that because science doesn't currently have an explanation then that invokes God. The 'complexity' argument - the complexity of many organisms is statistically unlikely to have developed through natural selection alone. The human eye is an often used example. Evolutionary evidence makes a good job of countering this assertion. The various Ontological Arguments - philosophical arguments based on pure logic and abstract reasoning. They also include arguments that if God exists in the mind, then he does indeed exist. Ontological arguments have been at the root of some very interesting philosophical debate since the 11th century and are conceptually quite challenging (for me at least!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Allan Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 To believe means that you are happy to do what you're told, claim what you're told to claim and think what you are told to think. A non-believer, a disbeliever, an agnostic or an atheist however asks questions. They don't just swallow what they're fed. I don't mean to be rude, but that is nonsense. I'm an atheist myself but throughout the European reformations and counter reformations there were thousands of men and women who questioned the state of the church and what they were being told to believe. They were willing to be tortured and burned alive to have their own beliefs and ideas accepted. Obviously, you may see this as stupid now, but there was an historical context which makes this difficult to understand in today's modern world, and it was also the first fight towards allowing people to have a political opinion. What it definitely does say is that the analogy that "religious people are sheep" is simplistic at best. Sacre Bleu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urabug Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Well when all is said and done we cannot deny the power of nature ,something most of us marvel at but do not fully understand. God is probably "nature" a power that is there that we cannot see but know of it's presence in so many different ways. It's all around us no matter where we go. Folk in the past developed religion to suit themselves hoping and praying that what ever was worshiped would improve and get better ect ect ,but nature has its own way of working as we know., and not all prayers are answered the way we would like Folk went to extreme lengths in the past to pervert the course of nature. trying to appease a god which was just nature after all .Could say they wasted there time! Consequently as result we now have goodness knows how many different religions and as far as I can see all usually praying or preaching for something provided by nature.be it health, wealth whatever. So God is simply "nature" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarsus Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 There are many things in the universe some of which we have only recently discovered, electromagnetic waves to mention one. light is an electromagnetic wave as are radio waves, could there be a force that permeates the universe which may be God, many other cultures think so. Have you every wondered where consciousness comes from, a lot of eminent people are coming round to the idea that it may not come from the brain but from outside, perhaps it is another force in the universe. Keep an open mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Okay, the mystery is over. I'm ready to admit it now. I AM GOD! There, question closed. As you were. Suffererof1crankymofo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Okay, the mystery is over. I'm ready to admit it now. I AM GOD! There, question closed. As you were. Or DOG to the dyslexic.. Ghostrider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarsus Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Gravity waves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarsus Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 When you see how our consciousness affects the double slit experiment and how it alters water you may be closer to the truth than you realize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeChoi Posted March 16, 2023 Report Share Posted March 16, 2023 I think everyone chooses to believe in the existence of God or not, don't you agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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