(March 18, 2016 at 10:32 am)Brian37 Wrote:Atheism is not something that one has to accept, anymore than one has to accept that two plus two equals four. Theists ask us to accept their god. We say no and that is that. If they can't prove god, then we have nothing to prove.(March 18, 2016 at 10:24 am)drfuzzy Wrote: Yes Brian, exactly. I once had a Deist tell me that "if there is a god, life on Earth is an experiment. And you can't keep meddling with your experiment. You just set the parameters and then observe the results." I rather liked that take on things, but even that, when you consider billions and billions of galaxies - - - just doesn't really make sense.
Deist aren't any better, neither are pantheists, those are simply watered down woo where the gap answer tries to avoid the divisions the old woo does, but it is still a gap answer. It is simply better logic to accept that our gods and religions were not around 4 billion years ago, or 14 billion years ago, and there is no need to gap fill with old religion or even a generic deity. The universe did fine prior to our existence and it will continue on long after we go extinct. We CAN as a species be positive about our ability, IF IF IF, we pull our collective heads out of our asses, we can be positive about finding ways to extend our finite ride.
There simply is no going back for me while I retain my lucid state, while my marbles are in tact, to go back to believing in sky wizards. I know too much about the size of our universe, to think that our god's or religions we create are important to the universe. It was understandable when humans didn't know any better that they made such bad guesses, but we know better now.
The god who allows children to be raped out of respect for the free will choice of the rapist, but punishes gay men for engaging in mutually consensual sex couldn't possibly be responsible for an intelligently designed universe.
I may defend your right to free speech, but i won't help you pass out flyers.
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
--Voltaire
Nietzsche isn't dead. How do I know he lives? He lives in my mind.
I may defend your right to free speech, but i won't help you pass out flyers.
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
--Voltaire
Nietzsche isn't dead. How do I know he lives? He lives in my mind.