Freethought & Rationalism Archive

MikeG · 02-04-2002, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hedonologist:
Mike, you said the same thing as the first time, but you didn't give any reason or rebuttal to what I said.

Maybe God put it all there so we would see how little we are in comparison to what he could do.

I guess it wasn't clear to me what your original question was, but I'll comment on your last sentence above.

I remember when I was camping at about 14 yrs old, a theist at the time, looking at the milky way, and sincerely asking a friend "how could anyone not believe in god?". It was awe inspiring and I suppose I did feel quite small - but amazed at the same time. What I didn't realize back then was it was not necessary to attach god to the universe to be impressed with the vastness of space & time - it does fine on its own.

MikeG · 02-04-2002, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LadyShea:
I watched the Blue Planet series on Discovery this weekend (watch it, buy it, whatever it is outstanding). I kept thinking "How can anyone seriously believe all of this was created by an intelligent being and that WE are somehow at the top?", there are unimaginable types of life out there....that no human will ever see and that serve no "purpose"!!

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to check out that series. Nice pic I saw of you on a colletion of infidels web page somewhere btw

Viti · 02-04-2002, 07:24 PM

Thank you...it's one of my faves, I was having fun that day

hedonologist · 02-06-2002, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kvalhion:
To what end?

Make us humble? Give us some perspective of how powerful he was?

Quote:

Originally posted by Kvalhion:
Why would a God even have a need to do such a thing?

That is a different argument which would apply regardless of whether God created "extra" stuff. Why would anyone have needs?

Quote:

Originally posted by Kvalhion:
You can come up with thousands of "what ifs" that do not change a thing about the real world we live in if you like.

What it could change would be our awareness of what is real.

Quote:

Originally posted by Kvalhion:
I would rather focus on reality and what matters.

OK, that what I am doing. I suppose you know what matters to you, better than I would.

hedonologist · 02-06-2002, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeG:
What I didn't realize back then was it was not necessary to attach god to the universe to be impressed with the vastness of space & time - it does fine on its own.

Well this is a new subject. I think the "impressiveness" of God comes from the implication that he may do some miracle for you such as resurrecting you. It is often subconscious and people don't realize that is why it seems wonderful to them. That is my theory anyway.

MikeG · 02-06-2002, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hedonologist:

Well this is a new subject. I think the "impressiveness" of God comes from the implication that he may do some miracle for you such as resurrecting you. It is often subconscious and people don't realize that is why it seems wonderful to them. That is my theory anyway.

I would disagree. Even as a theist I can honestly say my being impressed was caused by the vastness of the universe only. I fail to see any connection to resurrection. If anything, it seems to me the idea of resurrection is even more silly when viewed in perspective of the universe. Our subjective view that the few dozen years we are alive is of supreme importance fizzles when you consider trillions of other worlds, existing for billions of years (now I am sounding like Sagan in the "cosmos" series ... but I did really enjoy that as a kid).

hedonologist · 02-07-2002, 08:00 PM

Hehe some theist you were!

hedonologist · 02-07-2002, 08:10 PM

One night I was taking some video footage of the majestic moon when some waskely aliens in a large spacecraft landed right in my field of view. They kept trying to communicate with me and they didn't even know my language and I was like, "Do you mind? I'm trying to film the moon here. Do you think you're more important or something?" hehe

[ February 07, 2002: Message edited by: hedonologist ]

hedonologist · 02-07-2002, 08:22 PM

The thing which makes God unimpressive is the lack of evidence of his existence, thus most people don't really believe in him. If you really ever believed in a god such as the Christian god, I think you would think he were much more important than even an alien craft, at that time, because you don't even know if aliens could put you in some eternal torment or heaven. What people call a "belief" in God is usually just a clich�d facade.

2tadpoles · 02-10-2002, 10:23 PM

[ February 10, 2002: Message edited by: Frogsmoocher ]

02-07-2002, 08:10 PM	#18
hedonologist Banned Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: South CA Posts: 222	One night I was taking some video footage of the majestic moon when some waskely aliens in a large spacecraft landed right in my field of view. They kept trying to communicate with me and they didn't even know my language and I was like, "Do you mind? I'm trying to film the moon here. Do you think you're more important or something?" hehe [ February 07, 2002: Message edited by: hedonologist ]</p>

02-10-2002, 10:23 PM	#20
2tadpoles Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: next door to H.P. Lovecraft Posts: 565	[ February 10, 2002: Message edited by: Frogsmoocher ]</p>

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02-04-2002, 07:24 PM	#13
Viti Contributor Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Down South Posts: 12,879	Thank you...it's one of my faves, I was having fun that day

02-07-2002, 08:00 PM	#17
hedonologist Banned Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: South CA Posts: 222	Hehe some theist you were!

02-07-2002, 08:22 PM	#19
hedonologist Banned Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: South CA Posts: 222	The thing which makes God unimpressive is the lack of evidence of his existence, thus most people don't really believe in him. If you really ever believed in a god such as the Christian god, I think you would think he were much more important than even an alien craft, at that time, because you don't even know if aliens could put you in some eternal torment or heaven. What people call a "belief" in God is usually just a clich�d facade.

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