RE: Evidence that God exists
March 3, 2009 at 6:19 pm
(This post was last modified: March 3, 2009 at 6:36 pm by Mark.)
(March 3, 2009 at 3:59 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: I respect the Pope as I respect other people in position. I don't respect his faith much and am opposed to most things he says. I don't have enough respect for ordinary people.
But of course, you do have respect for ordinary people. Wouldn't you shake a stranger's hand and treat him kindly?
While I respect the Pope as a man and would shake his hand, I despise his office, which seems to me to be uniquely destructive to human welfare. I do think that the Catholic Church has the potential to revolutionize itself, embracing "liberation theology." If that ever happened, and if the Church also stopped trying to advance a program whereby government would inflict the Church's moral tenets on everyone (e.g. birth control, abortion), I would probably become more respectful of the "Holy See".
The Pope had his way today, we'd all be living as if under Francisco Franco.
(March 3, 2009 at 4:39 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: No fairytales Even. Just serious rational challenges. Sorry, I did think it a good question.
Among the rational suppositions are descriptions made in the language of faith (as opposed to evidential). There's logic in the whole story with a deity at it's centre. It just works that way. To take on the study is an enriching experience to some.
There's equal logic in the whole story with a deity not at its center. And since the supposed deity has never shown himself or caused any known effects, what is the point of entertaining the possiblility of his existence, let alone wallowing in his worship?
"Enriching?" Well, many people find reading the Bible every day "enriching," but after you've read the whole thing once, anything further is a waste of time. There are many books besides that one that are much more deserving to be read. And which among the world's many religions would be "enriching" to study? All of them? Or do you suggest a particular one?
Broadly, what is worth spending one's time on? I'm a USCF-rated chess master, and I find the study of the game, which is deep, to be enriching. But I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Religion I would recommend to no one, since it's a waste time to study what is transparently false.
