RE: Christians, what is your VERY BEST arguments for the existence of God?
May 7, 2010 at 9:31 pm
(This post was last modified: May 7, 2010 at 9:34 pm by Oldandeasilyconfused.)
Quote: I chose to question , found evidence lacking, new evidence presented itself, I reevaluated and thus my stance as theist.
I left the Church at 20 ,but remained theist,searching for evidence for the next two and a half decades. I found none.Atheism was an inevitable conclusion for me. Choosing to remain in denial was no longer a choice,I had been doing that since age 16. I concluded it was moral cowardice and intellectual dishonesty. A choice? Not in the sense I use the word.
Most of us are inculcated with a religious belief before the age of reason. We accept what we are taught uncritically,choice is not involved. That early belief system is in so powerful,that relatively speaking,few people ever seriously question or change their strongest beliefs.
Yes, some people, such as many found here reject their core beliefs,often in adolescence. Most will claim their new position is soley the result of reason and evidence ( or the lack of evidence) I do not believe that is true for many people.
My observation is that thinking atheists and apologists are often able to come up with subtle ,even brilliant rationalistions for their beliefs. A large number of atheists I've run across,in many forums, are also damaged human beings who have suffered greatly because of religion. The often angry and aggressive anti religion attitudes lead me to suspect there is high level of emotional cause for their position. Of course ,I can't prove this it's just a perception,which may be wrong.
It is also my position that human beings as a species are incapable of consistent rational thought or behaviour.
Quote:Belief can either be with or w/o evidence.
Indeed,nor did I claim or mean to imply otherwise.What I actually said was that [in my opinion] truth may not be inferred from reason alone. By that I mean I reject the notion of transcendent truths,independent of evidence.
To me belief without evidence,such as all religious belief,is superstition. That is an observation,not a rejection of the value of religion. My position about religion is anthropological , I take a structural functionalist view. Viz that religion exists to meet a range of human needs (hence its variety) It will end when those needs are met in other ways. That process has already begun in some societies.
Seems we are in different books after all,and that's OK.
