braces_for_impact

With the possible exception of Ghosts I don't see what the other things have to do with a divine being.

Aw, you haven't been listening to Art bell have you? You didn't know Satan uses flying saucers as a fast mode of transportation, because unlike god, he's not omnipresent? For shame! <img src="graemlins/banghead.gif" border="0" alt="[Bang Head]" />

Marduk

"Aw, you haven't been listening to Art bell have you? You didn't know Satan uses flying saucers as a fast mode of transportation,"

&lt;sigh&gt; yes I know
<a href="http://ufos.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.seekye1.com/" target="_blank">http://ufos.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.seekye1.com/</a>

Mike Rosoft

&gt;What do you disbelieve?
&gt;For example... intelligent life on other planets? UFOs and the Men in Black (not Will
&gt;Smith and Tommy Lee Jones)? Magick? Ghosts?

Extra-terrestrial life most likely exists. It is a simple reasoning: life evolved on Earth (= it has non-zero probability), and there is an infinite (or so large that it means almost the same) number of planets in the universe.

UFO obviously exists, but the abbreviation means nothing else than "unidentified flying object". Just because we are unable to identify something, it doesn't mean that it must be made by aliens. (And in all cases an UFO turned into IFO, it was NOT an alien spaceship.)

There is no evidence that telepathy, telekinesis, or other paranormal phenomena exists. So I don't believe in them.

I was a skeptic since my youth, and I never believed in God.


Mike Rosoft

The Dark Lord

Just to play "devil's" advocate...

Isn't it easier to believe that someone has a certain genetic abnormality that makes him/her more sensitive to changes in whatever, which makes it appear that he/she is telepathic, than it is to believe in an invisible person who lives in the sky and controls every one of us?

I'm just saying that religion is so absurd, but these other things could happen?

Mike Rosoft

&gt;Isn't it easier to believe that someone has a certain genetic abnormality that makes him/her
&gt;more sensitive to changes in whatever, which makes it appear that he/she is telepathic, than
&gt;it is to believe in an invisible person who lives in the sky and controls every one of us?

Yes, it is a possible explanation. But before making explanations what could telepathy be caused by, let's ask if there is any evidence that telepathy exists in the first place.

Crop circles are an example. Yes, we might try to explain them by whirlwinds (or whatever), but the first question should be: are there any non-manmade crop circles?

As for God, ask somebody who believes in him.


Mike Rosoft

vagrant

Again, skepticism isn't about not believing in things, but rather looking critically at the information available and making a rational decision based upon it, and the willingness to go through the cycle again as new evidence/information is presented.

We never know what is going to happen next. Could my soon to be born second child have telepathic ability due to some genetic mutation? Well, I couldn't rule it out but I would also need to see some compelling evidence if someone claimed it to be.

As for "easier to believe" its "easier" to believe that some cosmic easter bunny will make things all better when you die and all your enemies will be punished rather than we are and amazing quirk of nature and we are all we have to rely on in this uncaring universe.

Some people find that scary, but me, it fills me with wonder.

Hedwig

Hey, I'm in Oklahoma and I'd sooner live and die here than move to Kansas. At least Oklahoma has hills.

Coragyps

Hedwig - I was really only referring to the desire in both places to have creationism taught in science classes. You're in Weatherford, right? That absolutely beats the crap out of either western Kansas or here - heck, you not only have hills, you even have TREES! And you can go visit downtown Corn whenever you want!

Arrowman

I'm with Jamie_L: hard core skeptic.

I think the interesting issue here is the relationship between atheism and skepticism. I believe that atheism is not a subset of skepticism, or vice-versa - they are overlapping sets.

While I do not believe it is possible to be 100% hard core skeptic without being an atheist (otherwise one is being selective about standards of evidence), it is possible for
- an atheist to be unskeptical / gullible about other claims such as psychics, alien visitation etc;
- a skeptic to be religious.

In the skeptics group I mix with, I would say the overwhelming majority are atheists - well above the population average. But there are some religious people among the skeptics; generally they tend to be liberal Christians.

But I don't think it's easy for Fundy Christians to be skeptics; their standards of evidence are just way too low. They're not unskeptical because they're fundies; they're fundies because they're unskeptical.

To stray a little off topic - I find the Harry Potter (and similar) controversy to be illuminating. Consider:
- Fundy Christians are opposed to Harry Potter because they actually believe wizardry is real and Satanic (a point often lost on those who don't understand why some people get all riled up about something which is just a kids' fantasy after all).
- Fundy Christians don't like John Edwards because they actually believe he is conjuring up spirits - not because he's a fraud and a charlatan.
- Fundy Christians are atheists with respect to all other gods not because there is no evidence for such gods (the atheist position) but because their god has told them there are no other gods.

Answerer

I don't believe that a virgin could give birth.