Sorry to burst your bubble, but no, there isn't a God.That's a comment I posted in response to this post and this post, which I stumbled across quite at random, looking for information on Richard Dawkins.
Subjective religious experience has been used in support all kinds of different belief systems, from Moromonism to Wicca to Taoism to New Age beliefs. It isn't reliable. And what about people who pray and pray and pray and never receive a response?
Important point about your last post. You said: "I read this article and don't know anymore. That makes me so very sad." Why? Have you ever thought about why its so important for God to exist, or is this just something the society has hammered into you? It's something I used to believe back when I was a theist, but now I literally don't know what I was thinking. I could not have given you a rationale if I tried.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
No Virginia...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Hallq,
Thanks for your comment. There is a God. I believe it fully and purely. I choose to believe because I just inherently know that is what completes me. Without God, I am less.
Society hasn't hammered that God exists into me. I grew up in an atheist home and have numerous amount of friends that are atheist. If anything, the society I grew up in told me there was NO God. But I've long ago given up pursuing other people's truths.
We do receive answers, just sometimes not ones that we're willing to identify. There has to be a willingness to let go of the selfish desire to have everything our way and recognize that there are 7 billion other people on this planet each with different needs and desires than our own. If every prayer were answered in a positive sense, pure chaos would exist.
Have you ever thought about why it's so important for God NOT to exist for you?
Either way, I hope you have a peaceful day :D
Won't speak for Hallq, but the nonexistence of deities isn't important for me: It's just a fact of life, at least until they come up with a way to test them scientifically.
The primary reason I tend to debate people on the issue is that a lot of them intend to force the issue on me with legislation, or cause harm to the next generation by lowering school standards.
Of course, I've found a new -ism that's caught my interest: Ignosticism: The question's not meaningful until someone's defined "God".
I suppose I might have an investment in the fundy biblical God being false: Everyone I know and love could be arbitrarily targeted for a stoning if that guy exists.
We are students at Dallas Christian College and as a part of our Introduction to Philosophy class we were asked to blog with an atheist. Basically, we would like to find out about your belief system. We are required to ask two questions.
1. How do you find meaning in life?
2. Have you developed a belief system?
If you could please meditate on this questions and get back to us we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks very much.
There's a difference between a "modern" Christian way of thinking and the post-modernist ways that many of us are trying to achieve. I'm not at all a modern Christian in the sense that I'm part of the reformation movement of the church. The church I intend to pastor shall be radically different than many churches that are in existence today, yet I'll be ordained as a Lutheran minister.
Do I need God to exist? Certainly not. I can live with the fact that he doesn't exist. I just don't want to. I look at the beauty of the world, the stars of the universe, the way people take care of one another when we need each other the most, and I'm convinced there is a God.
I'm not a Christian to condemn anyone, nor do I believe that a belief in God should be condemning. I would encourage you to truly study the bible as a document before coming to the conclusion that anyone would be targeted for stoning if it were read properly. Unfortunately, there are still many Christians that are struggling to catch up to the post-modernist way of thinking. With many third world countries developing past the middle ages, we are watching as the modern "evangelical" approach grows. I hope that you'll watch this growth with an open mind.
That's all I'll ever ask you for :D An open mind.
JJ&G-
1. From the inherent value of human life and all the that make it up.
2. I have many beliefs. Do I have a system that pretends to answer any major question you could ask? No.
Whit-
I am curious as to what exactly you mean by "postmodern." Much of what goes under that name today is, as they say, "fashionable nonsense," though I'd like to hear your take.
Postmodern being indicative of our way of thinking. If we went back 500 years, the Christians in those days would believe truly that the Christians today were heretics. They would probably burn many of us at the stake. 1600 (roughly) signalled the end of the middle-aged way of thinking and progressed us into the more modernized way we are now (the majority). The progression of this thinking varies between nation to nation, but the United States as a whole is ending the end of the "modern" way of thinking. We are now exploring a new way of thinking, of being Christian, propelling us into the post-modernist way of thinking.
This idea borrowed from "A New Kind of Christian." Interesting read :D
"A New Kind of Christian." I'll try to remember that for when I make time to read a good selection of liberal theology. Thanks
Someone showed up on Skeptico asking this as well, and then disappeared (Carnival of the Godless post).
My answers:
1. What do you mean by 'find meaning in life'?
2. Atheism is not a belief, it is a lack of belief. If you mean by what system do atheists commonly interpret the universe, then we generally use the scientific method and humanism.
The first answer is more than a prissy avoidance since there are many possible definitions of 'finding meaning in life' and the way the question was posed seems to suggest that they believe there is no answer outside of god.
Until we find out what the questioner believes finding meaning in life is, there is no point in responding.
Hallq will be on the Narrow Mind show on 11/01/06. at 9 am in the morning. Listen at unchainedradio.com
I would like to see some evidence that there is no God.
pretty please
Nathan,
I would like to see your evidence that there is no Zeus. Or Apollo. Or Baal. Or Ganesh. Or Thor. Or Odin. Or Zoroaster. Or Hera. Or Ra. Or Anubis. Or Reshef. Or Seth. Or Korrawi. Or Vishnu. Or Prithivi. Or Freyja. Or Isis. Or Loki. Or Horus. Or Athena.Or Asclepius. Or Cerberus. Or Cupid. Or Posiedon. Or Eros. Or Aphrodite. Or Hades. Or Helios. Or Hephaistos. Or Hermes.Or Juno. Or Janus. Or Jupiter. Or Pandora. Or Persephone. Or Saturn. Or Mars. Or Amaethon. Or Aonghus. Or Dagda. Or Anu. Or Belenus. Or Balor. Or Aegir. Or Balder. Or Fenrir. Or Heimdall. Or Potrimpo. Or Svantovit. Or Tapio. Or Bunyil. Or Bacchus. Or Gurrangatch. Or Hephaestus. Or Maui. Or Hine-nui-te-po. Or Morpheus. Or Nai-No-Kami. Or Quetzalcoatl. Or Wotan. Or Xolotl. Or Artemis.
When you tell us your evidence for rejecting just this tiny minority of all the gods ever believed to exist, we'll tell you why we go one god better.
Pretty please with chocolate on top.
Nathan? Hello?
Josh, Josh and Gene, where'd you go?
It's no fun if you don't respond.
Post a Comment