Message for all theists

[thesummerqueen]

Really? That brain, with the knowledge we have now, simply because he still believed in God? That's harsh, Chuck.

If he was alive today, do you think he would believe in god? And if so, would his belief be based on evidence?

What evidence did he have back then, after all he figured out? What does the guy who headed up the genome project have? What evidence do I have for my irrationality about plants? That's why it's irrational. The guy worked out a ridiculous amount of science based on the knowledge he had gleaned from prior generations and his own observations, but also was an alchemist - did you know that? He thought he could turn base metal into gold.

If he were alive today, maybe that would translate to a perpetual motion machine. Maybe he would believe more in Spinoza's god, not a Christian one. I'm just saying - don't call a person an idiot because they believe something idiotic. It's a portion of their character, not a whole, and unfair to characterize a man or woman by a piece of their own puzzle as much as a whole group by one or a few individuals.

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I'm not operating under the assumptions that he would hold the same beliefs now, after everything happening since his life - were he alive now, he'd have more tools at his disposal and probably beliefs that in a 100-400 years will be called foolish. But that doesn't make him an idiot.