Dear Resident Theists

[Ronkonkoma]

Sure, and that's great to speculate, also it's very interesting to think about what's out there. And even what's in here in our twisted little minds. For example, did you consider the vast expanse of space inside our atoms? It seems like the more we zoom in, in the more the scenery begins to resemble the vast expanse of outer space!

Agreed.  I think it is less intuitive to think of space as having either an upper or lower limit of scale.  Having the means to image beyond a certain level is not a reason to set aside this basic intuition.

Either way, we have to go on living. Should I get up this morning? Why? Why do good when its more convenient to do evil?

Surely you do not think it might be more convenient to do evil if only you could elude the long arm of the god?  Do you find yourself beset by evil impulses which you must constantly be on guard against?  I don't.  Caring about others is in our nature, going against that should be hard.

Are there good and evil? And who is to define it?.... We need answers to these now, and science might be great for that, the only problem is that it is very very SLOOOOW. And our lives are short.

I don't think science has any role to play where morality is concerned.  More often, science provides us with more power to do incidental or unintended harm.  If or when we ever reach moral agreement and achieve the political conviction to something about it, science may help us match means to ends.  But morally, science is neutral.

So we do in fact need philosophy to answer these. Philosophy is supposed to be reasonable. Reason is a tool we have other than science. Religion itself should be reasonable, and it should fit with science.

Couldn't agree more with the part I bolded.  I personally get bored discussing religion with apologists who think they have to explain away bits of science as being in conflict with their theology.  Evolution should pose no problem.  Big bangs should pose no problem.  And neither should a multiverse or abiogenesis pose an obstacle to an adequate theology.

I do think there is a reason for God belief and I don't oppose it even though I don't embrace it either.  At the very least how and why it arises nearly everywhere and at all times makes it an interesting question.

"Only a mind is going to get it right. A mindless process can make the planet [Earth] quickly and permanently sterile."

-- Astrophysicist Hugh Ross.

The reason we have the appearance of so many religions, creation stories and deities is because we live in a universe that fills us with wonder and we sense that there is a huge world beyond our comprehension. This is especially true of early civilizations that were more exposed to nature. When was the last time I saw the milky way? But Abraham probably contemplated on it every night. Either way, there is a reaching out towards the divine on the part of humanity. Either through the archaic religions and philosophies, and more recently through science. You can see this when Stephen Hawkins concludes there is a high likelihood of aliens existing in outer space with much greater intelligence than ours.

And seeing mankind reaching out, what do you think the Creator did? Turn a blind eye?

So Stephen Hawkins would even recommend preparing for this dreadful day of our encounter with aliens, that will likely mean disaster for our civilization. There are even pseudo-scientists who suggests that an encounter already happened. They say the Pyramids of Egypt were built by aliens. Either way, you would think we would have heard more of it, it would have been etched in the psyche of human beings, our calendar would have been completely altered. Armies would have been mobilized... But there are those who think all this already happened at a certain location some 2000 years ago. Some 45 miles northeast of Gaza and the Mediterranean Sea, 47 mi west of Amman Jordan, 37 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, 6.2 miles south of Jerusalem. They think, being the primitive and backwards beings that we are, the encounter turned out disastrous for the visitor. Kings and rulers persecuted him from the day he was born into our cruel world.  Our calendar was split in two (BC and AD). Crosses are raised all over the world to remember the unwelcome Creator. The One beyond space and time, who was so infinitely powerful to become one of us. A limp infant crying under the stars.The Alpha and the Omega. Born in a manger for cattle because there was no room for Him elsewhere.