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Re: Questions I would like to pose to athiests [message #442590 is a reply to message #442577] Thu, 13 January 2011 09:46 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Spoony is currently offline  Spoony
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reborn wrote on Thu, 13 January 2011 05:28

What possible explanation could satisfy the question? Does this not make you ponder that there could be a God?

there are two problems with that. firstly that doesn't answer the question at all, it aggravates the question. now instead of having to explain the origin of a few blobs of hydrogen or whatever, you've got to explain the origin of a super-powerful entity capable of willing planets and stars and shit into existence, and creating life on a whim. this isn't progress.

secondly, the furthest this could get you is deism, not theism. you use the word God in singular with a capital G - anyone reading this is likely to think you're talking about the Judeo-Christian one, as opposed to say Thor or Zeus. the closest anybody's ever come to inferring the existence of a deity is by saying they don't know how something could have happened; there's an enormous logical gap between that (i.e. supposing that maybe some entity did it on purpose) and determining that entity's qualities (such as: "He listens to my prayers" or "He disapproves of homosexuals" or indeed thinking that He is the right word to use here)

btw, if you have an hour to spare, let me recommend the lecture A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence Krauss.

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Spoony wrote on Thu, 13 January 2011 05:15


I'm not sure, but if I can reply to the question with a question, why are so many people wrong in what they worship?

Perhaps that is not the important part of the question, perhaps it's the fact that so many people do worship that should be interesting?

No, I think the follow-up question is more important. "Why do so many people think this?" Well, are they right to think it? We're fallible. The mind plays tricks, and there are people out there who profit by misleading us.

Here's another point. Your question implies that there's a majority of people in the world who believe in a god. Well, look at it another way. The majority of people in the world do not think Christianity is correct (and if you split Christianity down into its innumerable different sects, the numbers are even more damning). The majority of people in the world do not think Islam is correct. The majority of people in the world do not think Hinduism is correct. I could go on. There's no religion that cannot be inserted into that sentence.

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I'm saying what's the point of learning if what you gained is lost when you die. What will your experiances matter to anyone in a 1000 years time? If there is no real lesson plan for us, as there is no teacher, then why bother going to class?

Isn't life wonderful for its own sake? Doesn't it rather devalue human life to suppose that its meaning must be determined by a god we've got to obey, that we're being tested in preparation for an afterlife, etc?

What will my life matter to anyone in 1000 years time? I couldn't care less. Most people's endeavours won't matter in that timeframe. Maybe if someone develops a cure for cancer or something, but if you're going to say human life is a waste of time then it seems you shouldn't be impressed by that either.

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I do have a child, she means more to me than anyone else. I would face anything for her well being. If I cease to exist when I die, then I would not be sad.

There you go. Life for you has meaning and it has absolutely nothing to do with a god.

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However, if you cannot reflect on your past (because you do not exist), then those experiances you had are lost.
Everything you take in is unique to you. All your experiences are interpretted by you, so are unique. If you cease to exist, then what was the point of you experiancing them if they are lost?

this question's very easy to turn on its head. if death is the end, if there's no afterlife, then this life is all we have and it becomes even more precious, so let's make the best of it for ourselves, our children and our fellow creatures, and let's try to keep the world intact for succeeding generations.

if you think that's a waste of time, i invite you to say so.

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I was trying to say that Yes we are different to the other animals, but why are we the only ones with higher reasoning?
No other animals have been capable of gaining this level of reasoning over the period of time the Earth has existed?

once homo sapiens starts to develop intellectually, it becomes an upward spiral. figuring out how to use tools, standing upright which lets us develop bigger brains, etc... it's like saying once a child can read it'll learn stuff a lot faster.

Quote:

Spoony wrote on Thu, 13 January 2011 05:15


Again, why are you equating these two concepts? You might as well swap "God" for "Kim Jong-Il" or "McDonalds"


Because people can have faith in a God that their prayers will be heard. If it is just chance, then you just have to wait and see.

or do something about it yourself instead of wasting your time praying

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Spoony wrote on Thu, 13 January 2011 05:15


How are you defining hope?

I am asking you how you define it.
You are in a room with a murderer holding a gun who hates you.
You hope he doesn't kill you. Do you hope for a 1 in a million chance, but realsie you're probably going to die as that is extremely far fetched?

the chances that the police will burst in, or that i can talk my way out of it, or that i can live my life in such a way that nobody hates me enough that they want to risk a hefty prison sentence on my life's account... the chances of any of those are much much greater than one in a million, and they're probably a lot greater than the odds that an intervening God exists.

however, there's a problem with the 3rd option - that i can live my life in such a way that nobody hates me that much. the problem with that is there are people in the world who loathe everyone here with a level of murderous bloodthirst that none of us really appreciate. and why? religion.

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Yeah, you're right. But logically there are people that will miss out. Are you saying that some pople exist, have bad luck, and then die? There is no higher power at work that can save them, or causing them to have this existance so they can learn this hardship? They have this lot in life, experienace some shittyness, then just cease to exist? What's the point of their life?

certainly the governments in place could be better than they are (although it absolutely must be said that governments work better in every way when religion is kept out of them), but they work a shitload better than the concept of god would. see my earlier statement about the sheer monstrousness of the depiction of Yahweh in the bible. if what christians keep saying is true, people like me are going to be tortured for ever just for what we think. well, even the poor people of North Korea have a better deal than that.


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