Atheism

[caribe]

would an explaination of time back to one second after the Big Bang dispprove God?

Certainly not since explanations about the universe to femto seconds after the big bang which correlate directly to temperatures do not and will never disprove god or gods or demons or unicorns or elves or ...

Faith by its nature is irrational but some of the developments of natural selection are not discernible to the present generation of naturalists and as such could well defy rational explainations- perhaps man is not God, is that more than science can handle?

If god exists he or she should roll over so we can study it. Until that time there is no reason to posit god to explain anything. There is also no reason to posit gods or demons or unicorns or elves or ...

Perhaps your god is not god, but simply the unruly child of someone who is really in charge... perhaps not. where does it end?

[caribe]

Remove God and you have Africa then?

How can that be? Africa has the most gods on the planet. Africa also has a big population/ resource issue.

[Crankmas]

well we thought 5.14a but look where that thought process got us?? enjoyed the diversion peace out and Merry Radiator or Happy Stapler day!

[pigsteak]

caribe...don't forget the left was the first to have a symposium on faith this year while politicking. faith is for sure not a lib/dem issue...perhaps in the minds of a few on here, but I dare say the large majority of left leaning voters also consider them selves to be persons of deep faith. you just don't like those people of faith who have politics different than yours?

either way, charlie is right..this is very unproductive..it entrenches and seperates folks. defending religion on here, which I do because it is the easy opposite to take from you flamers, makes my world view hurt. i would hope I/we could live in harmony with every/any disparate group, no matter your god view.

[Shamis]

Thanks Pigsteak, faith evolves, nice concept, looking outward Darwin discovered that species thrived when certain traits were present and diminished when those traits were not passed, faith evolves from an inward look see, it would be interesting to know what traits favor the evolution of faith, strife, tragedy, or is faith not a byproduct at all but a different entity altogether.

The trait to believe has to be strong in order for young children to survive in a dangerous world, where exploring through trial and error would almost certainly result in death. Once said children reach adulthood, they need something new to believe in, and I think that is what drives belief in god.

[Shamis]

Remove God and you have Africa then?

Wow. That statement fails on so many levels.

[Pru]

I almost want to read this thread.

[caribe]

Pigsteak: I have no negative feelings toward you or Charlie due to his/your mysterious beliefs. If you believe in two gods or three I love you both like I love cooked food! Do you really think that these kinds of conversations are divisive? I can quit, New Year's Resolution!

[discojett]

[the lurkist]

I wonder if the question isn't whether a uber powerful all knowing being (benevolent or not) exists, but why humans seemingly have a hardwired need to have faith, to creat for themselves a desire to believe in something that might make badness all okay, and something to be grateful to for the goodness (like climbing on a weekday a a beautiful crag with perfect weather and no one else is there- that is the Shit and I always want to thank someone for it.)
Is it a area of the brain (limbic area?) that is wired in such a way that reason isn't enough? I confess that I am one. I know Darwin was correct, science is reproducible, but none the less when I learned in embryology how the heart forms in a mammal I couldn't believe that from the disorder of cells, came this incredible order. That defies logic, to my simple brain. Too, I was further convinced when my wife gave us two little girls. Not so much us, but I was floored that these perfect little beings, clean and unspoiled and perfect, would be trusted to us tarnished, fallible, and whole sale fucked up adults to care for. Call it God's idea of a bad joke or his persistent faith in us to do something good.
Don't be like the Dwarves in the end of the CS Lewis book "The Last Battle". Sitting around so sure you are correct. Of course, saving yourself a spot on the lifeboat is a piss poor reason to have faith, too.