DNA Proves Existence of a Designer

[T0 Th3 M4X]

No I wasn't already a Christian.

Which makes me wonder... How did you identify yourself, in the religiosity/spirituality spectrum?

You have a similar outlook on life as I do.  There is beauty everywhere.

Well.... not entirely everywhere. There's plenty of crap in this world that I'd rather wasn't there.

Our big difference seems to be that what you see as an end, I see as a gateway to the next great adventure.

I have no reason to think there is any adventure beyond that gate.
Believe me, I would love to know that there was such an adventure. But I don't. And I don't see how anyone on this Earth can know about it. That makes your point of view little more than wishful thinking, don't you think?

As a Christian, that in a lot of ways is how we understand Jesus.  He came here, went through extreme circumstances like we often do, got chased, beaten, mocked, and eventually died.  And in all of it, it wasn't a loss, but the winning move.

It's amazing how getting chased, beaten, mocked and killed became something to aspire to.
Suffering is to be avoided, in my opinion. And, if I can, I'll try to avoid it befalling upon others.

But Jesus, according to the story, didn't stay dead for long. He respawned and immediately obtained the cheat code for god-mode and then, instead of sticking around, guiding humanity so that no more idiocy would come to pass, he buggered off, flew off... then, 600 years later, Mohamed came and idiocy followed... and he too flew off... Myths tend to repeat certain themes, you see? It's a way to keep the hero "alive", when he's not really around.

In Christianity, some spirituality, some guidance is totally valid and it's been found to help in putting minds at ease. But that doesn't mean that the whole story is true. Nor that the "magical" (or, if you prefer, miraculous) bits are true.

- Before, I would say I was more ignorant, but not intentionally.  Even when I'm skeptical of something, I try not to rule it out, but I don't necessarily go out of my way either, just because there's too much to do in life, and I can't focus on everything.  Just like people claiming there is a Bigfoot running around somewhere.  If there is, I'm ignorant of it, but that doesn't mean there isn't.  I'm not an enthusiast for chasing Bigfoot as a hobby, so unless someone gives me a reason to believe, besides a blurry camera picture or video, then I'll just continue on with other things. If they are right, great, I'll look at what they want to show me.  If not, great.  Glad they're doing something meaningful to them.

- There are a lot of things in this world that I wish weren't there as well, but there can still be beauty in those things.  Like finding beauty in what we view to make a mistake.  Someone lays a hot coal on a table and a child places their hand on it.  It's not a good experience for the child at that moment, but he or she knows not to touch hot coals in the future, or anything that might have been subject to large amounts of heat energy.  Not only do they know, they can tell others not to touch hot coals.  But that little singe kept someone else from being burned severely based on their experience and the knowledge they shared from it.  This is kinda what I meant before.  I tend to be very analytical and I like to be somewhere in the center of things. Knowledge is always viewed as a good thing, even when the information is negative.  It allows us all to act accordingly.

- I understand how you view Jesus dying and then he's back.  Yep, would seem like an oddity at face value.  But it wasn't just that.  It was like that coal I was just speaking of.  At face value it seems bad that the child burned themselves.  When Jesus died, it was very similar.  Someone died a brutal death because others failed to see their value, and as such felt they had removed the problem.  The thing is, he wasn't the problem, they were.  They got what they wanted, and in return he offered what they needed.  It's not that he had to die, but that he chose to.  I think comparing it all to a bridge going across a gap would be a good comparison.  He became that bridge.  Anybody can cross, but nobody is forced to.

I won't go around telling anybody they have to believe what I do.  What I can do is be willing to share why I believe the way I do.  What they do with that is up to them.  Yay or nay, they can be my friend regardless, and if they tell me not to talk to them about it, then I respect that.