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I disagree in that I don't believe there is a single word, or any word for that matter,that can encompass awe.

When I get up in the morning, I spend a minute thinking about how many people I am going to meet in a given day; how each of their lives led them to be in that exact place at that exact moment; all of us strangers, none of us knowing the others, filled with our own hopes and dreams and sorrows, connected in that we are human and separated by our own individuality.
The fact that one person on that bus may say something to me that brightens my day or perhaps another will be so filled with rage that they lash out at me to "watch where I'm going" will alter my reality for that day. I might divert a minute after this exchange to do something different, to take a stroll through a park where I may happen to meet someone who will have a profound inpact on my life.

Awe is the word to describe the emotion I have thinking this, but I don't think of this interconnectedness as beauty or mystery or any of those things.

I think that it just is. And that is enough to inspire awe because it simply "is".

I have not met a strong Christian nor a strong Atheist that can explain to me the interconnectedness of things or how there is a miracle in simply being born in a particular place at a particular time because if one person in all of history made a different choice, you might not be here today to breathe the air we so take for granted.

I have yet to meet a person carrying a religious or non-religious label that can explain to me why we are so many ants, fumbling around building larger anthills that take over everything or how no matter what belief you hold, if you are extreme in it, you are the same as every person who has an extreme conviction.

Science has not told me why these things exist as they do. It tells me how they work. It speculates on possible scenerios. Religion does the same, pretending to offer a "why" to existence that is the end-all be all, as if their answers will cease all questions because their Gods do not speak yet they do.

Neither side has told me why is better to see the world through as a world of scientific fact or abstract metaphysical possibilites. Both sides have shown me that there are those that believe the world should be full of Christians or full of atheists. Both have shown me the intolerance for the other.

My question is this: why does it matter? If it harms no one, why does it matter if you are a theist or an atheist?

That's the question I'm interested in. Not whether or not there is a God. But why does it matter so much if one believes in one or not? What difference does it make?

I can't seem to get a clear answer on that from either side.

Tangie

Autonemesis

Speaking for myself, no. I cannot agree with that.

Rational inquiry does not necessarily give us a bigger picture perspective. More accurate does not necessarily mean bigger. Rational inquiry may shrink the scope of the world, or it may expand it. For example, rational inquiry leads one away from investigation of the supernatural because such efforts are quickly shown to bear no fruit. In that way, a thinking mind may be said to shrink, not expand, the scope of its world view. But in no way is this a flaw or failing of rational inquiry. It should lead you to a better world view, one that more accurately reflects reality, and not necessarily to a "bigger" one that is more inclusive of other "realms" or alternate modes of existence. Especially when the existence of those realms or modes cannot be verified or ascertained even in principle, which the afterlife, just to name one example, is by definition.

Albert Cipriani

Everything matters. As Kant said, thoughts are insipient actions. Even if your beliefs don't rise to action, they affect you as much as if you had been acted upon.

The not so hidden assumption to your question (if it harms no one) is an error. Everything is related to everything else and everything is being helped or harmed. Nothing is able to remain unaffected. Only Switzerland is allowed to be neutral. -- Sincerely, Albert the Traditional Catholic

Soul Invictus

Nice....especially the Switzerland part.

blueshuttle

I already went through this. It happened to me when I deconverted from Christianity, and became an atheist

blueshuttle

Yes of course, I dont believe in souls either. I posted that question because it was the closest thing I could think of as a "difficult question to answer".

For some reason, I have difficulty explaining it to theists, how I feel that consciousness cannot continue without a living body.

Ive been thinking of tattooing Occams Razor on my appendicitis scar (no kidding!) to help explain to people how it removes superfluous entities.

Heurismus

Does god love you as much as I do?

Uni

i have the same scar...maybe we should get

'SEE: vestigial
SEE ALSO: the truth behind the tooth fairy'

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I stated my question to answer the OP. I gave my reasons for coming to that question. I have opened another thread in order to keep this one from being derailed.

Tangie

Kaiser_Soze

To tidy up a couple of asides (wishful thinking!): On the Awe/emotion issue I think of all emotions as things that cannot be accurately or adequately described, one can only experience. Try love for size.

Tangiellis - nice post (seen the film Sliding Doors?). "If it harms no one, why does it matter if you are a theist or an atheist?" - this is a classic worthy of a new thread - highlighting the beauty of IIDB - it makes you think, re-appraise, and think again. At first glance it doesn't matter, especially for those without instructions to convert.
Then again, it does matter. You wrote, "how each of their lives led them to be in that exact place at that exact moment", and Albert made reference to Kant. So it seemingly does matter. Or does it? I'm trying to think...

And finally, back to the OP: "But wouldn't you like a (nice) god to exist?". This gives me pause for thought... and then we get into definitions again... and even when I can define all his attributes I'm not sure - I kinda like things the way they are!