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If there is an introduction forum that I was supposed to visit before making my first post, I apologize. I didn't see an introduction forum.
I'm 47 years old. I was born and raised Catholic. At some point during my youth (Probably in high school or just after), I came to the following conclusion about religion:
1. I don't know for sure if there is a God.
2. I don't know for sure if there isn't a God.
3. It's doesn't seem likely that anyone, ever, has known or currently knows the truth about the existence of God(s).
In short....
1. There may be a God.
2. There may not be a God.
I suppose it's possible (But highly unlikely) that perhaps someone, multiple people or a group of people do actually know that a God exists. If this is the case, it seems that there really isn't any way of proving it. If there is, they have chosen not to for whatever reason.
The fact of the matter is that I really have no idea. Nor do I think that anyone else does. I'd say it's possible, but not likely.
It's always been my preference to leave the door open to both possibilities that there may or may not be a God, because, lets face it man, I really can't honestly answer the question either way. Nor do I think that anyone else can answer the question either way.
I have never felt that it would be correct to tell myself that there isn't a God. "Is there a God?" is not a question that I can answer with 100% certainty.
With that in mind, how is it that an Atheist can tell himself that there are no Gods?
Aren't all of us really in a state of not knowing?
The Gnostic Atheists who think they know things that don't exist when they don't seem to exist would be Gnostic Non-Gnomists, and Gnostic Non-Loch-Ness-Monsterists as well.
Last edited by LuminousTruth; 12-15-2018 at 06:39 PM..
The Gnostic Atheists who think they know things that don't exist when they don't seem to exist would be Gnostic Non-Gnomists, and Gnostic Non-Loch-Ness-Monsterists.
Right?
It's just seems strange to me for Atheism to even exist if in reality it seems that nobody really knows the truth.
In order to be Atheist, don't you have to actually tell yourself that there is no God?
There are gods that are self-contradictory though, like an all-just God of omni-mercy or an Impartial God of Certain Sects. For those, why would anyone even assume the tiniest possibility?
You should go here http://www.city-data.com/forum/athei...s-posting.html and read the post labeled FAQ. I did not write it. Some of the members wrote it and asked that it be posted along with the forum rules where everybody can see it.
You should go here http://www.city-data.com/forum/athei...s-posting.html and read the post labeled FAQ. I did not write it. Some of the members wrote it and asked that it be posted along with the forum rules where everybody can see it.
Thank you. I did take the time to read this just now.
You appear to be thinking that not knowing the answer, and rejecting a suggested possible answer, represent a contradiction.
You are correct in stating that none of us has the answer. Let us say that there has been a murder, the body was found in a room the door to which was bolt locked on the inside, and there were no windows or any other means of entry or exit. The mortal wounds are such that they could not have been self inflicted. None of the investigators knows who did it or how it was done.
Someone suggests that it has to be the work of malevolent spirits which materialized in the room, committed the murder, and vanished without a trace.
You are certainly free to view that offered explanation as preposterous and impossible, despite your still not knowing how the crime was possible.
That is how I view the question of a god, especially the suggestion of a hands on god which is deeply interested in human conduct. I have no explanation to offer for the existence of the cosmos, only wild guesses. I see no particular reason to place any special emphasis on the god wild guess. I don't believe it.
If there is an introduction forum that I was supposed to visit before making my first post, I apologize. I didn't see an introduction forum.
I'm 47 years old. I was born and raised Catholic. At some point during my youth (Probably in high school or just after), I came to the following conclusion about religion:
1. I don't know for sure if there is a God.
2. I don't know for sure if there isn't a God.
3. It's doesn't seem likely that anyone, ever, has known or currently knows the truth about the existence of God(s).
In short....
1. There may be a God.
2. There may not be a God.
I suppose it's possible (But highly unlikely) that perhaps someone, multiple people or a group of people do actually know that a God exists. If this is the case, it seems that there really isn't any way of proving it. If there is, they have chosen not to for whatever reason.
The fact of the matter is that I really have no idea. Nor do I think that anyone else does. I'd say it's possible, but not likely.
It's always been my preference to leave the door open to both possibilities that there may or may not be a God, because, lets face it man, I really can't honestly answer the question either way. Nor do I think that anyone else can answer the question either way.
I have never felt that it would be correct to tell myself that there isn't a God. "Is there a God?" is not a question that I can answer with 100% certainty.
With that in mind, how is it that an Atheist can tell himself that there are no Gods?
Aren't all of us really in a state of not knowing?
With what you say, should anyone at all be the least bit religious?
If one cannot know for certain, do you pray, go to church, teach your children any one religion?
There may be a God, but until a reason to suspect one exists, or that there is a reason one must exist, why believe in one?
Yes, we are all born in a state of complete unknowing, in this subject and just about all others.
As we grow up, most of us learn stuff. And as we learn, we stop looking under leaves for fairies, stop trying to chase rainbows, and stop thinking that there is a Santa Claus, both literally and metaphorically. Some of us reach the conclusion that the religion we were brought up in makes little sense as a factual story, although it may still hold a lot of interest in terms of history and human psychology.
So do I tell myself I don't believe in god? Never, anymore than I tell myself that the earth is an oblate sphere. It's just something I've concluded from the evidence I've gathered over the years.
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