Questions about God and Science

[IATIA]

So what about the zillion things they can't explain? Why rule out god if you don't have answers?

Because of lack of any evidence. There is not even enough to develop a hypothesis. Everything points away from a god. The absolute only evidence of any god is 100% anecdotal. If this were a basis for investigation then one would also have to include faeries, trolls, goblins, leprechauns, vampires, werewolves, sirens, ad infinitum.

[Darkstar]

The absolute only evidence of any god is 100% anecdotal. If this were a basis for investigation then one would also have to include faeries, trolls, goblins, leprechauns, vampires, werewolves, sirens, ad infinitum.

Either you accept unprovable personal experiences are what people say they are, or you don't.

Do you believe that?

[IATIA]

i have seen several UFOs over the years.

UNIDENTIFIED Flying Objects.

In fact, in one case I was determined to see what it was. My friend and I were sky watching at twilight while chit chatting when low and behold, we saw a UFO. It was glowing. We saw another, then another. Time to get a camera. Pulled out my camera and zoomed in ... Guess what! It was just a long line of birds. The glow effect was from the just set sun on their bellies against the darkening sky. It was strange that they were flying in single line like that. There were probably 40-50 in a straight line with about 50 to 100 feet distance between them.

[Darkstar]

i have seen several UFOs over the years.

UNIDENTIFIED Flying Objects.

In fact, in one case I was determined to see what it was. My friend and I were sky watching at twilight while chit chatting when low and behold, we saw a UFO. It was glowing. We saw another, then another. Time to get a camera. Pulled out my camera and zoomed in ... Guess what! It was just a long line of birds. The glow effect was from the just set sun on their bellies against the darkening sky. It was strange that they were flying in single line like that. There were probably 40-50 in a straight line with about 50 to 100 feet distance between them.

I know what UFO actually means, why else would I be using it as a joke?
Or was your comment for people like this:http://atheistforums.org/thread-14921-po...#pid339896?
Or were you just adding to it...? /rhetorical

[IATIA]

'Twas for the 'believers'. I maybe shoulda, coulda, woulda, popped a smiley in there, but I thought we were on the same page.

[Minimalist]

I know Eric Cline. He's a great professor and lecturer. Teaches at my alma mater, George Washington University. We are talking about the same Eric Cline, right? He does archeological digs in Israel.

An excellent essay on bullshit archaeology by Cline from a few years back.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/a..._faux_ark/

Raiders of the faux ark
Biblical archeology is too important to leave to crackpots and ideologues. It's time to fight back.

[Whateverist]

I'd like to ask a question. Not challenge, but question.

Scientists believe in all manner of entities that cannot be directly perceived: protons, electrons, quarks, bosons, black holes, nuclear forces, etc. They believe in these things because they help them understand natural phenomenon which they do perceive. Correct?

But God isn't one of those things that scientists can believe in because... why?

It's fine that your gods cannot be perceived directly. If there was any evidence of their properties, activity or existence, I think we could all deal with indirect evidence. But protons, electrons, quarks, bosons, black holes and nuclear forces aren't things we're eager to believe in for their own sake. Rather, they help to explain the phenomena we do perceive and to provide a unified explanation for it all.

Then too, the whole point of scientific theory is to give a natural account of things. It would be odd to run experiments to learn in detail about the way things work only to attribute it all to the whim of some deities.

[Angrboda]

The fundamental problem is that there is no such thing as knowledge. Only approximations, based on models. And even this, is just an approximation.


If you are looking for perfection, you will likely find it. Both because it does and does not exist inside you. The only 'perfect' is perfect error.

The rest is in the theory of limits and convergent series' of higher order derivatives.


The world equation has no solution, not because it has no solution, but because the jello-like flesh inside your skull cannot hold it.



This is the true meaning of transcendance. All is Maya. That's all she needs to be, to be happy.

[festive1]

Yes. I took a couple classes from him while at that university. I would have wanted to take more, but he was not in my actual discipline(s). I am also connected with him on Facebook and maybe even Twitter still, but I almost never use that anymore. Of all atheists I have met, I respect him the most.

Sorry... I'm having difficulty wrapping my head around this. You know him, and seem to like him, so you know he knows what he's talking about. He's spent his entire career studying the ancient middle east. Yet it seems like you're saying, "Cline has studied this stuff, but I have my Bible and I know the Bible doesn't lie, so this academic must be bunk."
Academia certainly isn't immune to criticism, in fact differing ideas are welcomed, however, if you're criticizing Cline because he disagrees with the Bible... Seriously? I thought we stopped doing that in academic circles a long time ago.

[Angrboda]

And it isn't that they disagree with the bible so much as he disagrees with disagreeing with the bible. The bible is inert. It takes a human being to bring it to life.