A Simple Question...or 3!

[Mister Agenda]

DO YOU WANT TO BELIEVE IN GOD?

I want to believe in God if God exists, I do not want to believe in God if God does not exist.

...or is [proof] the main thing holding you back?

Lack of evidence/proof is the main thing holding me back, but that part of the question seems like it should be preceded with an 'and' instead of an 'or' since one doesn't preclude the other.

Do you believe that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe?

No. There isn't enough information to estimate the odds of that. It would have to be VERY improbable though, for us to be the only example among a hundred billion galaxies, but it just might be that improbable. All we know for sure is that there is at least one chance in a universe of intelligent life existing somewhere in the universe. If we ever confirm the existence of non-sapient life elsewhere in the universe, it might give us a better grasp of how to calculate the odds of another sapient species being out there.

Can anyone here (besides us zealots) answer a question, or challenge to their reasoning seriously? oops thats 4!

These were much more polite questions than those of another recent thread-starter's, thanks for that.

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Ok....For those who don't "think" there is a God, or want to "think" there is a God...

Why would you think there is intelligent life somewhere else?

We know intelligent life is possible, because of us. We don't know of any conditions in the universe that would preclude it existing elsewhere. There are billions of places it could happen. Therefore it seems reasonable to think there is a good possibility of some intelligent life existing somewhere else in this vast universe.

Wouldn't it be a "belief" that someone exists w/o seeing proof?

What's reasonable to believe depends on the claim. It's reasonable to believe there's someone named Renee living in Paris right now. I don't have any particular person named Renee in mind, but it's a common enough name and sounds kind of French. It's reasonable to believe that the odds are in favor that I'm right that at least one person named Renee is living in Paris. This is inductive reasoning.

Also, wouldn't it be possible for this unproven intelligent life to be 100's of billions of years superior to us? And actual hide from us 40,000 year old infants?

Well, the universe isn't old enough for another sapient species to be hundreds of billions of years older than us; but it's possible that one could be hundreds of millions of years older than us.

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By that same logic all the atheists have to say "we currently don't know" to the existence of God.

Most of us DO say that. We don't know if God exists and we're not going to believe that a God we don't know exists, exists. Especially when there are so many versions of God to choose from, many of them mutually exclusive.

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So...Yes! The point of my question(s) was to reveal that most of you will believe, think, ponder (whatever term have you) there is intelligent life somewhere in the universe. But you will refuse to ________ there is ONE God who created it!

Because there is no scientific or logical or probabalistic reason to think it.

That seems odd...but, I'm not surprised. Most of YOU want to think there is someone out there "like us", but not a supreme being that created everything, including us!

It's no skin off my nose if there's no one out there like us. If there is it is highly unlikely that I'll ever know it. We suspect aliens because we already know life is possible and the universe is very big and old. We've been clear about our reasons, and you choose to disregard them and insert the reason you'd prefer we have. You shouldn't have to resort to strawmanning our position if your own is sound.

And the biggest piece of evidence/proof there is a God, stares all of us in the face daily! [Time] tells you there was a beginning....and there will be an end! Translation: This stuff didn't just appear on day one!

You're arguing for a first cause, and there may be one, but there's no good reason to think that first cause was a sentient being, let alone your version of God.

We had an old pastor at my church that had a saying that always bothered me, and intrigued me at the same time! "God won't put us in Hell....we will march there ourselves, willingly." I'm realizing that message hanging around here!

The important thing is that you get to believe that you're going to heaven and we will be tortured in perpetual agony for eternity and it's what we deserve for not sharing your beliefs.

And...what do we have to offer each other is the reocurring question in my mind? IMO...just confirmation of our own convictions! But in separate directions... You slide deeper into your hatred and darkness, as I move more to love and the light. Alas...my old pastor was right.

Not seeing your love and light from this angle. Looks more like contempt coupled with smug self-congratulation. I have trouble thinking that if a just God exists, he would think you're on the right track with that comment.

I have one more question for all you highly intellectual folk....

Sarcasm: it's what Jesus was about.

Do you think that given our scientific advancements, through "time" (possibly 100's of thousands of years) we will become like gods?

If we survive that long and continue to progress technologically, it's likely. We might even be able to create universes of our own, although I think that would be an ethically questionable exercise.

....Or, are we doomed as a race of people to become extinct, and for what reason?[/b]

Forever is a long time. The universe will arguably exist eternally into the future, although it seems that it will wind up nothing but a cloud of ever-more dispersed photons. We might not be able to survive in that, even with millions of years of technological advancement. And if we still have descendants in that time, they certainly won't be the same species as us.