The world we live on has many people, some theists, some not. Maybe a supreme Being doesn’t exist, I don’t know for sure. Do you claim to know that God is not? Is there a heaven beyond the universe? Religious beliefs are taken for granted, but seem to be increasingly questioned as time goes on. Questions are alright. Investigation is allowed, but the question about the origin of the cosmos and the existence of God does not yield a definite answer. I wish we were living in paradise. Maybe there is no God. I think most subscibers here would tell me there isn’t. Theism, eliminate it, right? Science, given time, will explain everything, right? Human striving for knowledge, total knowledge, seems funny to me. Such seems beyomd our grasp; maybe not.
Some questions of knowledge are probably not resolvable. Why is there something rather than nothing? What is existence? I don’t think we can answer these.
What is the nature of this universe and how did it come to be? I think we can answer this question, but maybe not today.
And, finally, there is mundane knowledge that is easily attainable. Such as knowing how to tie your shoes, knowing how to be happy, and knowing how not to confuse the search for knowledge with the superstitions of two thousand years ago
Many facets of ancient thought, including mythology & religion, are still relevant to the quest for knowlege today. They come into play when knowledge becomes wisdom.
As a naturalistic humanist I do not revere ‘holy texts’. But I’m sure there is some wisdom to be found in these old books. Personally I find merit in parts of the bible, some Buddhist texts, the Tao Te Ching and other religious works. Atheism need not entail throwing away the insights of past ages.
The only sane, rational way to discuss this is to discuss and analyse what we know, not what we believe. Belief is not a standard to base anything on. I don’t go grocery shopping based on ‘belief!’ I prefer to know.
Isn’t the point about ‘does god exist’ give a bit too much concession to the favourite of the you-tube believers and religious websites generally who revel in what they see as their irrefutable challenge to atheists ‘but you can’t prove god doesn’t exist’.
The point is that, however traditional and culturally ubiquitous is belief in god it is, essentially, a hypothesis. ‘I look and see the beauty of the world and I know there is a god’. No you don’t; you’ve produced a hypothesis called god. If you fail to provide evidence of this hypothesis yet hold it true then it is a belief based on faith. If I say ‘no I do not accept your hypothesis’ then I am entitled to do that and it is not my job to disprove the hypothesis.
The world we live on has many people, some theists, some not. Maybe a supreme Being doesn’t exist, I don’t know for sure. Do you claim to know that God is not? Is there a heaven beyond the universe? Religious beliefs are taken for granted, but seem to be increasingly questioned as time goes on. Questions are alright. Investigation is allowed, but the question about the origin of the cosmos and the existence of God does not yield a definite answer. I wish we were living in paradise. Maybe there is no God. I think most subscibers here would tell me there isn’t. Theism, eliminate it, right? Science, given time, will explain everything, right? Human striving for knowledge, total knowledge, seems funny to me. Such seems beyomd our grasp; maybe not.
A simple reason for rejecting the god of Abraham is this: the moral system of the bible is not reflective of my own morals.
While we don’t have to believe that science will explain everything, we can’t rationally conclude that religion is true or there is a god. Just because we can imagine something doesn’t make it true. I just think we should know better in 2012. If there is a god, he is absolutely pure evil by all evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Does God exist? No. Do people believe God exists? Yes. Are the people who believe in God wrong? Not in their minds. Are those that believe in God fooling themselves? Yes. The human mind can talk itself into believing pretty much anything. Are those that talk themselves into believing in God stupid? No. How can otherwise intelligent people talk themselves into believing in God? People can talk themselves into believing in pretty much anything. Why? Because the human mind can adopt and discard beliefs at a whim. Perfectly sane people can talk themselves into doing wonderful or horrible things, like going on walks to raise money for cancer research or sending minorities to concentration camps.
The bottom line is that humanity doesn’t know itself very well.
