RE: The Idea of a God Is Not So Crazy
April 16, 2014 at 4:29 pm
(This post was last modified: April 16, 2014 at 4:51 pm by Simon Moon.)
(April 16, 2014 at 1:59 pm)elconquistador Wrote: I am atheist, I very much dislike religion, but I don't dislike the idea of a God, a Divine Creator, and I do not discourage the pursuit of evidence of that creator. I don't think it's that crazy of an idea, I think religion is crazy (seeing as the mormon faith and surrounding christians really put a bad taste in my mouth and my mind does not allow my to believe in any sort of dogma without reason and logic.)
Depends on the attributes you are giving to this 'idea of a god'. Any attribute beyond a god of first cause is disagreeable to me.
Quote:Any true atheist or logical thinker cannot deny the possibility of a god, and would certainly have to accept the existence of one if given evidence.
Not sure you will get too much disagreement with most people here.
For the majority of atheists, atheism is a provisional position, not a dogmatic one.
As long as the existence of a god continues to be insufficiently supported be demonstrable evidence and reasoned argument, my atheism will continue.
Quote:Atheists and agnostics deny religion and don't focus too much on the possibility of a god, theists usually accept religion because they believe in the possibility of a god, or perhaps are convinced that there has to be a god.
I completely disagree. You seem to be describing anti-theism, not atheism.
This and every other forum has thread after thread devoted to nothing else besides the existence of a god, irrespective of a particular religion.
Religion is the dangerous outgrowth of dogmatic god beliefs.
Quote:That being said, I think it is inherently unavoidable to come upon the idea of a god or creator.
I propose that individuals join religions only because of they agree with that assumption: the existence of a god. Religions then manipulate that innocent belief to impose dogmas, rules, cultural constructs, ect.
This is my proposal because because I do not necessarily see the idea of a belief of a god very destructive, but I do see the the belief systems of religion to be extremely destructive.
What do you guys think? I need some feed back to either correct this proposal or get rid of it entirely.
Do you think people join religions and follow them without question only because it agrees with the assumption of a higher intelligence?
(I hope I articulated this well enough.)
Also, that being said, I do reject the importance or existence of a god or higher intelligence. I'm not sure if that was clear. I just don't condemn the belief of a god, I condemn religion.
The vast majority of theists do not join religions. They are indoctrinated into them as a child. I believe (based on a recollection of studies I read) it is something like over 80% of all people are the same religion as their parents.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
