RE: Let's Start Over, I'm Blackrook and I'm Here to Get Some Answers to Important Questions
September 26, 2012 at 4:43 pm
(This post was last modified: September 26, 2012 at 4:45 pm by Darkstar.)
Wow, I did not expect this. Well, here goes nothing:
Some people say that religion comforts them, and if following a certain religion is the only way they can be at peace with themselves, then I think that is fine. It is possible, though it might take some doing, to be a freethinker but believe in god for emotional reasons. Personally, I think that a self-generating god is far more amazingly unlikely than a self-generating universe, but I cannot prove it 100%. I personally feel that it is more of a 99.99% that he doesn't exist, but you can believe what you want if that's what you need. However, you don't need divine intervention for something good to happen to you. People mistake such fortunes for divine intervention all the time.
The problem of theism in general, at least how I would define it, is that it accepts premade answers in leiu of actual discovery. However, if you are like your father and 'do not try to waive any science because of the bible' you can still fit with a deistic view, in which god created the universe but does not interfere with life on earth. Deists are not bound by the (flawed) moral code of any established religion. For example, Christianity teaches that homosexuality is evil. It is true, that it is a deviation from the norm, but it is not possible to objectively call it evil. This does not mean that you can do whatever you want. Many wonder where atheists get their morality from (or if they even have any). I personally believe (and I think a number of other atheists would agree) that many morals are biologically built into us. There have even been interesting studies on altruistic bacteria, like this one. Regardless, if you know right from wrong, and seriously consider things for yourself, you won't need the church to tell you what to do.
When confronted with the meaning of life, one must admit that there is no objective meaning other than the perpetuation of the species. However, you can give your own life meaning. What is the difference in the life of a docter compared to a lawyer? Things like social activism, the bonds we form with those close to us, the lives we've impacted, overall our contribution to society, that is our meaning, the meaning we choose to give ourselves.
It is personally not comforting to me to believe in god. If you don't believe, then you won't take your misfortunes as personally as though god chose not to help you. As for death; yes it's kind of scary to think that it's all over when you die, but one eventually comes to grips with it. The rules laid out by Catholicism will, as your thread title stated, doom almost everyone to hell, so not beliveing may actually be more comforting in this case.
After reading your posts in this thread, I am beginning to understand why you acted the way you did. Thanks again for trying to be civil.
Some people say that religion comforts them, and if following a certain religion is the only way they can be at peace with themselves, then I think that is fine. It is possible, though it might take some doing, to be a freethinker but believe in god for emotional reasons. Personally, I think that a self-generating god is far more amazingly unlikely than a self-generating universe, but I cannot prove it 100%. I personally feel that it is more of a 99.99% that he doesn't exist, but you can believe what you want if that's what you need. However, you don't need divine intervention for something good to happen to you. People mistake such fortunes for divine intervention all the time.
The problem of theism in general, at least how I would define it, is that it accepts premade answers in leiu of actual discovery. However, if you are like your father and 'do not try to waive any science because of the bible' you can still fit with a deistic view, in which god created the universe but does not interfere with life on earth. Deists are not bound by the (flawed) moral code of any established religion. For example, Christianity teaches that homosexuality is evil. It is true, that it is a deviation from the norm, but it is not possible to objectively call it evil. This does not mean that you can do whatever you want. Many wonder where atheists get their morality from (or if they even have any). I personally believe (and I think a number of other atheists would agree) that many morals are biologically built into us. There have even been interesting studies on altruistic bacteria, like this one. Regardless, if you know right from wrong, and seriously consider things for yourself, you won't need the church to tell you what to do.
When confronted with the meaning of life, one must admit that there is no objective meaning other than the perpetuation of the species. However, you can give your own life meaning. What is the difference in the life of a docter compared to a lawyer? Things like social activism, the bonds we form with those close to us, the lives we've impacted, overall our contribution to society, that is our meaning, the meaning we choose to give ourselves.
It is personally not comforting to me to believe in god. If you don't believe, then you won't take your misfortunes as personally as though god chose not to help you. As for death; yes it's kind of scary to think that it's all over when you die, but one eventually comes to grips with it. The rules laid out by Catholicism will, as your thread title stated, doom almost everyone to hell, so not beliveing may actually be more comforting in this case.
After reading your posts in this thread, I am beginning to understand why you acted the way you did. Thanks again for trying to be civil.
John Adams Wrote:The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.
