(November 2, 2014 at 1:16 pm)His_Majesty Wrote: Lets take away all of the fluff and feathers for a minute. Let's take away all of the technical babble, all of the rhetoric for just a second.
I can't speak for every religion, but I am a Christian theist. Now what does that imply? Well, that would mean that I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of mankind, and that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
That is basically my belief in a nut shell.
Fluff and feathers!
Quote: Now, if you are an atheist, you may find my beliefs laughable, sickening, stupid, etc....which is fine, Christianity isn't for everyone because after all, Jesus said "But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." (Matt 7:14).
Glad it's fine, because I can't help it. It is a ridiculous belief in many ways.
Quote:But as an atheist, here is what you have to believe...
I just love it when people tell me what I have to believe. It's like posting a sign that says and now another straw man.
Quote:you have to believe that billions of years ago before humanity, dead matter was floating around in space...and for whatever reason, suddenly, this dead matter "came to life". Not only did it come to life, but it came to life and began thinking, talking, and having sex.
First of all, not believing that a god who always existed brought life into being by magic is not the same as believing that anyone knows how life came about. And life coming out of dead matter is no more unbelievable, in fact less so than either and god said it and puff it happened, or god made us out of clay (dead matter).
Secondly, I know of no scientific hypotheses for the origins of life that involves matter drifting around in space suddenly springing to life, let alone immediately thinking, talking, and having sex. There's a summary here of the current theories about how very simple life may have begun. Wikipedia: Abiogenesis There's a better and broader discussion here: Talk Origins: Abiogenesis
Only religions posit instant complex life complete with language and sex. The explanations vary from god said, fashioning out of clay or water, being shit out by god, or carved out of wood. Think about it. It's all magic.
Quote:Just think about that for a second. This non-living material suddenly CAME TO LIFE. For the life of me, I just can't get myself to believe that, even if I tried. I just don't understand how naturalism/atheism is a more reasonable position than theism.
There always was a being capable of making things spring into existence merely by saying "let there be. . ." Now that's crazy. Think about it.
Quote:You have to believe that a process that can't think or see, created consciousness. So consciousness came from a process that can't think??
I just don't have enough faith to be an atheist.
But you believe that the is an uncreated sentient being that can create life by just saying let there be life? Now that's faith.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.