Answers needed

[abaris]

1. Does God exist?
2. Where did the universe come from?
3. Does my life have a purpose?
4. Why do people suffer?
5. Is there life after death?
6. Can I distinguish right from wrong?
7. Can people know truth?

1) Which god? But anyway, given what we know, the answer is no.
2) Nobody knows, but I don't need every answer to unanswered questions.
3) To make the best of my existence.
4) Because of other people being pricks.
5) How would I know? I haven't been there and none came back to inform us. Given the evidence, no.
6) Growing up you learn quite a few things. Such as that taking a dump on the side walk or axing your neighbor to get his stuff is kind of frowned upon.
7) Define truth. It's true that I'm sitting in front of a computer typing or that I had a coffee before going to work.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

1. Not so far as I've seen or experienced.
2. I don't know. Claiming to have knowledge of something which you objectively don't is the height of absurdity and pomposity.
3. My life has the purpose I assign to it. I have a short stay here, so I choose to participate in things that make me happy with people that make me happy and safe, trying to enjoy all the moments that I have. I fail regularly at this latter part while at work.
4. People suffer because there are a lot of arbitrary events that occur that affect humanity negatively. People suffer because other people are greedy or lack empathy.
5. There is no evidence of life after death. I didn't experience life before birth, I assume I'll return to that state.
6. Yes. Society teaches us an ever changing set of mores. 60 years ago, these white ladies were seen as moral to their societies as they stalked and nearly lynched a 15 year old girl who was guilty of the crime of seeking an education with amongst their children. Today, we see that as despicable. Society taught you that, certainly a god didn't, and especially not the vile character that inhabits your holy book.
7. This is a slimy question. What is your definition of truth? Is it "Truth" with a capital "T?" Or is it just a question of whether humans can know true things? If the latter, then yes.

Good news!

Atheism is not a position that encompasses any stance on the origin of life or consciousness! So, you see, you now have no problems with atheism. Glad I could help.

Thanks! How does atheism not have to do with the origin of life? An atheist believes that the earth came into being without a god. From my viewpoint, God is a necessary part of creation, given the complexity of cellular life ("irreducible complexity") and the absence of intermediary species.

This is incorrect. An atheist 'believes', to varying degrees, that we do not know how life (the universe, theoretical paradigms on the origin of life on earth are pretty robust at this point but naturally need further evidence and theorising to clarify) came into existence. Occam's razor precludes a god explanation though naturally the only logically consistent answer for atheists and theists alike is 'nobody knows'. Some atheists may say there is definitely no god, most will say they don't know but there's currently no reason to believe there is.

Irreducible complexity as a thesis for God has been debunked so many times on this forum alone it's not even fun to do it anymore.

Welcome To the forum.

[Louis Chérubin]

Hi ignoramus,

Actually, I'm just in the middle of my education (premed currently). I also don't want to impress you. :-) If you really care, I came to see what an "atheist forum" was all about and how you express your beliefs. Thanks again for what you've shared so far!

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Hi paulpablo,

This is indeed a really interesting topic. Have you read Blaise Pascal's Pensées? If you don't read French, I would recommend W. F. Trotter's translation. In it Pascal proposes his "wager argument." Basically, if you're not sure God exists, believing him is the better alternative. You do loose some temporary pleasure from acts the Bible forbids, but what if God does exist? If he does, you forfeit temporary pleasure for the much better eternal joy.

Also, contrary to popular opinion, many Christians are quite happy people. Personally, I immensely enjoy my life: God, nature, people, learning. Sex and drugs are not the only things that give pleasure.  

That still makes no sense since the quran speaks of people having their skins roasted repeatedly, allah replaces their skins with fresh skins everytime the skin is roasted through, that's the punishment for not believing the quran, I'm assuming you don't believe in the verses of the quran?

If my brain did a sudden U turn and I all of a sudden did believe everything in your religion was true then I would give up earthly pleasures, give up my money and whatever else it took to get into heaven, considering this is what led me to believe that most religious statistics are bullshit, because so many people claim to be christians or Muslims but very few show a genuine fear of god or hell, mostly it's just sheepish behavior of saying you're a Christian/Muslim/Hindu because your family/community are.

The quran (or other religious writings) does not have the textual authority that the Bible has, so, no, I don't fear having my skins roasted.

I don't know why you let the behaviour of others determine your beliefs. Why do you?

[rexbeccarox]

Yeah... if you look at the descriptor next to my avatar, you'll realize, OP, that I don't let up.  "Tenacious" is the word SteelCurtain used to describe me not too long ago, and I think he was being nice.  

I will keep posting this until you answer.  Thanks.

Rexbeccarox,

I appreciate good tenacity. Do you want my answer so you can be appropriately shocked when I say YES! :-) I'll leave it at that. I didn't answer because hypothetical questions of this nature are not usually productive. You wrote, "If it weren't for your god . . . ." That isn't a situation I'll ever find myself in, so why ask morbid questions?

If you would like to share a good, educational reason for this question, I would love to discuss it with you further!

So, you would murder if your god didn't give you instructions not to; that's all I wanted to know. Thank you for your honesty. I just hope you don't lose your faith if that's all that's keeping you from murdering people.

[rexbeccarox]

Really??? Pascal's Wager?

Dude... you really need to look around the forum a little. You're in way over your head.

[paulpablo]

That still makes no sense since the quran speaks of people having their skins roasted repeatedly, allah replaces their skins with fresh skins everytime the skin is roasted through, that's the punishment for not believing the quran, I'm assuming you don't believe in the verses of the quran?

If my brain did a sudden U turn and I all of a sudden did believe everything in your religion was true then I would give up earthly pleasures, give up my money and whatever else it took to get into heaven, considering this is what led me to believe that most religious statistics are bullshit, because so many people claim to be christians or Muslims but very few show a genuine fear of god or hell, mostly it's just sheepish behavior of saying you're a Christian/Muslim/Hindu because your family/community are.

The quran (or other religious writings) does not have the textual authority that the Bible has, so, no, I don't fear having my skins roasted.

I don't know why you let the behaviour of others determine your beliefs. Why do you?

The behavior of others only effects what I believe they believe.  If I see someone jump from a building and flap their arms I'd believe they were crazy and belived they could fly.
When I see Muslims or Christians still cling on to money, having sex outside of marriage, and fear death, it makes me think they believe in the bible/quran about as much as I do (I don't believe in what the bible says at all)
I believe the bible and quran are both unbelievable for reasons other than peoples behavior.
And Muslims would disagree with what you say about the quan, they would see it the other way around.

[Louis Chérubin]

Thanks! How does atheism not have to do with the origin of life? An atheist believes that the earth came into being without a god. From my viewpoint, God is a necessary part of creation, given the complexity of cellular life ("irreducible complexity") and the absence of intermediary species.

This is incorrect. An atheist 'believes', to varying degrees, that we do not know how life (the universe, theoretical paradigms on the origin of life on earth are pretty robust at this point but naturally need further evidence and theorising to clarify) came into existence. Occam's razor precludes a god explanation though naturally the only logically consistent answer for atheists and theists alike is 'nobody knows'. Some atheists may say there is definitely no god, most will say they don't know but there's currently no reason to believe there is.

Irreducible complexity as a thesis for God has been debunked so many times on this forum alone it's not even fun to do it anymore.

Welcome To the forum.

OK. I may have just learned something new! But doesn't the definition of atheist mean that a god is not an available solution for the origin of the universe? Also, did you know that William of Ockham was a Franciscan friar? :-) I would recommend a deeper study of his theology before using him to disprove God. In fact, his razor has been used in certain dark regions of cosmology to support the idea of God. (!?)

I'll forgive your lack of interest in Behe. 

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Really??? Pascal's Wager?

Dude... you really need to look around the forum a little.  You're in way over your head.

Thanks for the advice. It is a novel experience for me. btw. Have you actually read Pascal for yourself? As you know, many things get lost in transmission. And besides, he is more complex than just his "wager argument."

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The quran (or other religious writings) does not have the textual authority that the Bible has, so, no, I don't fear having my skins roasted.

I don't know why you let the behaviour of others determine your beliefs. Why do you?

The behavior of others only effects what I believe they believe.  If I see someone jump from a building and flap their arms I'd believe they were crazy and belived they could fly.
When I see Muslims or Christians still cling on to money, having sex outside of marriage, and fear death, it makes me think they believe in the bible/quran about as much as I do (I don't believe in what the bible says at all)
I believe the bible and quran are both unbelievable for reasons other than peoples behavior.
And Muslims would disagree with what you say about the quan, they would see it the other way around.

Paulpablo,

Why don't you use the inductive approach like you do for the building jumper? The Christians you know don't have an appropriate fear of God, so they must not really believe what the Bible says.

[Longhorn]

Late to the party, as always.....

Welcome to the forum Louis

1. Does God exist?
2. Where did the universe come from?
3. Does my life have a purpose?
4. Why do people suffer?
5. Is there life after death?
6. Can I distinguish right from wrong?
7. Can people know truth?

1. What's a god?
2. We don't know. That's the only honest answer. Anything beyond that is speculation.
3. I don't know. Did you give it one?
4. Because shit isn't perfect. Something your god could hypothetically fix if he gave a fuck.
5. Do you realize how dumb that sounds? Death is the end of life. How can there be life after the end of life?
6. Can you make a moral judgement on kicking a puppy?
7. Define 'truth'

Now can you tell me what's the purpose of this? These questions sound like you should answer them, not us

[ignoramus]

Yeah... if you look at the descriptor next to my avatar, you'll realize, OP, that I don't let up.  "Tenacious" is the word SteelCurtain used to describe me not too long ago, and I think he was being nice.  

I will keep posting this until you answer.  Thanks.

I don't think this is a time-consuming question to answer, and why, if you don't have time to answer questions, are you asking more?

Well, you got your answer rex!  Happy now! What, did you actually think that he would answer honestly!  You should know better than that.
The whole forum knows he's not about to go and start killing people irrespective of his beliefs. He just can't bring himself to acknowledge that, for then, why is god needed, if his internal moral compass (The only true one, natures one) does the job anyway.
If you are going to live your life based on someone elses dogma, then that stops you from thinking for yourself, and that's where the danger lies.

[Louis Chérubin]

Late to the party, as always.....

Welcome to the forum Louis

1. Does God exist?
2. Where did the universe come from?
3. Does my life have a purpose?
4. Why do people suffer?
5. Is there life after death?
6. Can I distinguish right from wrong?
7. Can people know truth?

1. What's a god?
2. We don't know. That's the only honest answer. Anything beyond that is speculation.
3. I don't know. Did you give it one?
4. Because shit isn't perfect. Something your god could hypothetically fix if he gave a fuck.
5. Do you realize how dumb that sounds? Death is the end of life. How can there be life after the end of life?
6. Can you make a moral judgement on kicking a puppy?
7. Define 'truth'

Now can you tell me what's the purpose of this? These questions sound like you should answer them, not us

Hi!

If you peruse this engaging thread, you'll find my answers to your two last sentences. Thanks for the welcome!

5. Sorry, I should have said, "Is there afterlife after death?" But that sounds dumb to?
7. "The quality or state of being true" (NOAD).