Godless Apostate

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by #-3

But it is a system to explain away an problem we find to be in explainable, with an unfounded story that can't be tested. Or as some call it, religion.

This is a silly, simplistic description of what religion is. If you want to tailor your description to deliberately be as vague and high-level as possible, you can basically fit anything into any category you like. Or as some call it, empty sophistry.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

And they all contain substantial differences of fact that make the whole written by God and inerrant a foolish arguement, if God wrote the Bible then God's memory is clearly suffering from something serious

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think a better analogy to the possibility of the existence of god comes from literature and history, not biology and science.

It's closer akin to the history of the Trojan War, the existence of the Anatolian Hittite Empire, the neo-Babylonian Empire, or the Judean Davidic Dynasty—all of which were considered complete fabrications until archaeological excavations and surveys beginning in the 19th century. So, if there is eventual compelling evidence for something like a "god" it will enter the realm of whatever it is we at that point consider to be the natural world, but will almost certainly bear little if any resemblance to the stories and ideas about god from history.

I agree. Throughout the ages many unknowns attributed to god or the supernatural have been explained by science. Today there are fewer such unknowns but still some pretty big ones

• the nature of consciousness and the soul
• how and why are we here
• what, where and why is the universe

to name a few. Unfortunately for many people the only vocabulary to rationalize the unknown is god (aka magic), which ties to a larger set of religious beliefs (aka mythology). In reality if there is a god they would also be part of science and act through scientific mechanisms we just don't understand yet. Gravity for example is still pretty much magic but we accept it as a scientific mechanism because we can measure it.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Jesus. No, they weren’t. The four canonical Gospels were all written before 100 C.E.

Thanks for the correction. Point stands.

[peter12]

There is a higher percentage of edgelords among the atheist community than any other community that has existed in human history.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by peter12

There is a higher percentage of edgelords among the atheist community than any other community that has existed in human history.

Had to look up edgelord..

An edgelord is someone on an internet forum who deliberately talks about controversial, offensive, taboo, or nihilistic subjects in order to shock other users in an effort to appear cool, or edgy.

Considering the internet has only been around for 30-40 years, and communities like this for maybe 20, I think you exaggerate.
Religious fanatics have owned that sphere for centuries, hell they could get entire communities to kill themselves with various types of poison just because they were cool and edgy.

[peter12]

Not a fan of fanatics, and certainly wasn't referring to you.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

In either case, unicorn or god were born from peoples imaginations making the discovery of them nonsensical, which isn’t the case with bacteria.

I dunno dude, you kind of sound like one of those old timey doctors who thought the idea of washing their hands between surgeries was preposterous. Preposterous imaginative bollocks! (your avatar doesn't help)

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by peter12

Not a fan of fanatics, and certainly wasn't referring to you.

Lol, triggered

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think a better analogy to the possibility of the existence of god comes from literature and history, not biology and science.

Fair enough, but it would help if so much of it wasn’t so absolutely crazy. The ark, rising from the dead, moving boulders and floating to heaven, things like that

I know you have a lot more to work with than that, but I’m just a casual observer of the stories

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Fair enough, but it would help if so much of it wasn’t so absolutely crazy. The ark, rising from the dead, moving boulders and floating to heaven, things like that.

Well, yeah. That would also make it a lot less fun and interesting. Reading pre-scientific stories about the great flood, or apocalyptic myths borne from foreign occupation and oppression from a modern perspective will result in missing some of the best, most useful and meaningful parts. When one actually takes the time and care to enter into an ancient worldview to discover the deeper meaning of these myths she or he can actually learn things about themselves and their world.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Fair enough, but it would help if so much of it wasn’t so absolutely crazy. The ark, rising from the dead, moving boulders and floating to heaven, things like that

I know you have a lot more to work with than that, but I’m just a casual observer of the stories

Exactly, those are stories of just ONE faith. There are many faiths with their own stories, and some of them are a lot more logical, some of them are oh, so much worse (I'm looking at you Mormons). None of them are right. All of them are right. It doesn't matter. They're just stories.

It has nothing to do with the possibility of the existence of god. It's a completely separate philosophical subject.

[The Fonz]

I’m not religious or a believer in any religion whatsoever, but I have over time absolutely opened up to the idea of a God/creator. This is largely due to the idea that unless humanity as we know it is wiped out in the next few centuries, we ourselves will be capable of playing “God”. Simulation theory, and all that.

We’re approaching a point where our own technology should be able to produce a reality that is, for all of those within it, indistinguishable from the one we’re living in right now.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I know for a fact Jesus would be cruising the desert in one of these:

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by peter12

There is a higher percentage of edgelords among the atheist community than any other community that has existed in human history.

I've been through my militant anti-theist phase, and while I'm still an agnostic atheist and anti-theist, it's mercifully becoming less and less of an issue these days such that I really don't need to dedicate much if any time to talking about the subject.

BUT...

If someone was raised on and had it hammered into their head all of the religious nonsense that many people from religious upbringings have been subjected to, only to come to the conclusion that you've been: lied to, emotionally abused (eg: told you'll be eternally tortured for some minor transgression unless you pray to this petty, capricious father figure in the sky), and kept in the dark about the realities of the world by the only people in your life you thought you could trust with absolute certainty, I have a very hard time faulting them for being incredibly harsh in opposition.

[peter12]

Yeah, I don't disagree with that.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by peter12

There is a higher percentage of edgelords among the atheist community than any other community that has existed in human history.

MGTOW and HAES...

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Bonded

MGTOW and HAES...

MGTOW is pretty bad. At least with HAES, the issue will resolve itself over the next 10 years when all its adherents eat themselves to death health.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by jammies

Fervent belief that there are no gods is no more defensible than belief in a god. Don't "believe" anything, instead place statements on a spectrum from nearly certain to extremely unlikely. Essentially, be an agnostic about everything, which doesn't prevent you from having an opinion, just from an unreasoned one.

Especially as we are seeing more progress in mathematical theories on various ideas on what this world could be. Quantum mechanics, multiverse, simulation, etc.

Being ashiest as a pragmatic, common sense mind had a place in history, but right now seems like a really dumb time to proclaim to be atheist. At this point you're starting to close your mind off just the same as religious folk have done.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Saying god could still exist is like saying unicorns could still exist (not being a dick, just pointing that out)

How could a person accept the facts and science and still believe a god exists without a shred of proof, ever? Blind faith or something more?

Out of curiosity, have you studied any scientific theories relating to our existence? There are a lot of promising theories that lend credence to a creator.