Ryanfire

Who is god?
What is god?
When is god?
Why is god?
Where is god?
How is god?
The answer to all of them = UNKNOWN

What is the origin of the universe? = UNKNOWN

Theism has faith in the unknown.
Atheism and agnosticism, will attempt to discover the unknown.

Want a purpose to life? There are your answers.

Which has more to offer humanity?

Your choice.

Just think back to when you were babies. You searched for the unknown, and wanted to experience the unknown. Why must theists stop at faith?

Abacus

Because it's easy to do.

Bible Humper

...And everyone's doin' it.

David Mathews

Hello Ryanfire:

David: I agree. I have faith in God even though I do not know or comprehend Him.

[qupte]Atheism and agnosticism, will attempt to discover the unknown.[/quote]

David: What has atheism and agnosticism discovered as of yet?

David: I agree. This is all a matter of choice. Choose well.

David: Theists don't stop at faith. At least, not all theists stop at faith. I read books and magazines devoted to science, philosophy and religion. I think about a lot of different things and am curious about the whole world.

Sincerely,

David Mathews

emphryio

I think possibly the great key is not understanding yourself. If they simply understood that they were grasping for flying fairies because they wanted to be happy, they might be ashamed enough to chuck such foolishness.
But amazingly they have lied to theirselves very well. They really think it has nothing to do with being happy.

Therefore they are unable to make an unbiased decision. And they find a way to believe anything.

On the other hand many are just plain stupid.

Samsa

If, perchance, there just happens to be a Great Deity skulking amongst the antimatter in the deepest bowels of the universe, then he's doing sod-all to affect MY life.

Believing that I should kowtow to a bunch of moral precepts so that this space daddy will have a celestial hangout all furnished for me when I snuff it has less to offer me than conducting my life on my own terms, in the best way I know how.

You can spend your life eternally searching for how the merry-go-round came to be, or you can try to ride on everything before you have to get off. Both of those are legitimate life purposes.

Karen M

Now, was that really necessary?

"Theist" does not automaticly mean "stupid."

First of all, not all theists just stop at faith and don't research their beliefs.


Second, I believe many theists have faith because, from what they tell me, they believe based on personal experiences of "God." I'm sure we have all heard the stories about someone "just feeling God's presence," "being one with the world," or someone having a similar religious experience.

Scientists even got together a group of Buddist monks who agreed to let them study their brain activity during meditation and found several occurances in the brain during the hight of their meditation (I believe one of which was a deadening of some areas of the frontal lobe which is the area that controls our feeling of a barrier between ourselves and the world around us).

They found the same type of activity when studying nuns during intense prayer.

Please note, however, whether "God" is making these types of brain activites to give people certain religious experiences is still under discussion.


I have met many theists who are nice, rational people, and I refuse to label them stupid just because they believe things that I may think have no scientific base. Personal emperical evidence of the senses such as these religious experiences seems a much more reasonable explaination. That is, after all, how we gather information about the world around us.

[ July 07, 2002: Message edited by: Karen M ]</p>

Ryanfire

To David:

would you have faith in your god(your creator) if
*a) It was a mortal, but solved its mortality and became immortal, but understood the creation of life through reality.
b) It was a computer.

Here's a tip: A creator doesn't necessarily have to be supernatural or have supernatural abilities to create life. You will find out when the time is right

Contemplate the above to seek better understanding.

[ July 07, 2002: Message edited by: Ryanfire ]</p>

Zippy

A lot more than Christianity has. How many scientists do you think are atheistic? And how many of those would lose their impetus to learn if they were christian?

Paul

AJ113

So you think all christian scientists have lost their impetus to learn?