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I decided to start this thread because I've seen other similar threads asking people why do they believe in a God, so I decided to ask atheists or agnostics about their reasons for not believing or doubting.
This post is not intended to convert anyone, or to offend anyone either, it's just a way to understand better your reasons.
Love and Light
I don't have any reasons. I just don't believe. You can't force yourself to believe. It wasn't even a choice.
What difference does it make in YOUR life TODAY? Would you be a different person with a difference attitude toward those around you, if the world was billions of years old? Would you be more or less honest, have more or less compassion for the poor and hungry, if it were formed in only six days?
Would you love your family differently if it all started with a Big Bang?
What purpose does it serve to insist that the earth, as we know it, was formed in six days? I fail to see the reason. Nothing that I know would change one way or another, reagardless of how it all began.
The difference is....that maybe there is a supreme being out there. If God does exist our ultimate concern ought to be how to be properly related to this being upon whom we depend moment by moment for our very existence.
"What difference does it make if God exists?" merely show that they haven't yet thought very deeply about this issue. Even atheist philosophers admit that the existence of God makes a tremendous difference for man.
All I am saying is that look at things with an open mind! We're all in this world together, lets make the best of it.
Again, you all are avoiding the question. I ask again...
How do you believe the world/universe was created, if at all? Why does anything exist, rather than nothing?
I don't know and neither do you. The absence of an answer based upon PROOF isn't a reason to insert god/easter bunny/aliens, etc. We likely will never know- we are very limited creatures- and prone to supersitition. As indicated in your question, no reason to believe universe was necessarily "created" at all.
As to the original question- people ask me not only to believe in an invisible entity without proof, but that he has certain attributes for which there is no evidence, based on an old book written by ignorant goat herders? No thanks. I'm agnostic as to the exitance of some "higher" power (though I'm strongly inclined to conclude no such thing exists), but I'm atheist as to all gods described by men.
well im not but i got a lil empathy goin so i will imagine for a second that i am.
the answer comes, i got nothin at all to lose by doing so and it works for me.
but hey that is the same reason i am a christian!
i guess it works either way huh?
have a good day. (for real ok!)
The difference is....that maybe there is a supreme being out there. If God does exist our ultimate concern ought to be how to be properly related to this being upon whom we depend moment by moment for our very existence.
"What difference does it make if God exists?" merely show that they haven't yet thought very deeply about this issue. Even atheist philosophers admit that the existence of God makes a tremendous difference for man.
All I am saying is that look at things with an open mind! We're all in this world together, lets make the best of it.
The question that I posed was not "what difference does it make if God exists" It was, "what difference does it make How and when the earth was made?"
It could have been done quickly or slowly. If a Supreme Being/Force/intellect did it, OK. If it was just a big whooze or bang or whatever, that's OK too. It's been done. Nothing we can say or do can change the origin.
I am just too dense to understand why it is supposed to effect our daily lives enought to argue about it.
I don't know and neither do you. The absence of an answer based upon PROOF isn't a reason to insert god/easter bunny/aliens, etc. We likely will never know- we are very limited creatures- and prone to supersitition. As indicated in your question, no reason to believe universe was necessarily "created" at all.
As to the original question- people ask me not only to believe in an invisible entity without proof, but that he has certain attributes for which there is no evidence, based on an old book written by ignorant goat herders? No thanks. I'm agnostic as to the exitance of some "higher" power (though I'm strongly inclined to conclude no such thing exists), but I'm atheist as to all gods described by men.
Jake, I get the feeling that you think the universe has always existed eternally. Science nor philosophy nor religion agrees with you. The infinite is nowhere to be found in reality. It neither exists in nature nor provides a legitimate basis for rational thought. Mathematicians recognize that the existence of an actually infinite number of things leads to self-contradictions. What is infinity minus infinity?
Okay, I admit I went off a little too deep there, but I am trying to show you my point. I don't think it's a good idea to base thoughts on something that first of all is highly unrational -- more inplausible than the very idea of believing in God! In one of the most startling developments of modern science, we now have pretty strong evidence that the universe is not eternal in the past but had an absolute beginning about 13 billion years ago in a cataclysmic event known as the Big Bang.
Again, the universe is not eternal. We know this. Science knows this. YOU know this. There is no way around it. There must have been a cause which brought the universe into being. Therefore, we can summarize that:
1.) Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2.) The universe began to exist.
3.) Therefore, the universe has a cause.
This cause must be an uncaused, changeless, timeless, and immaterial being which created the universe. It must be uncaused because we've seen that there cannot be an infinite regress of causes. It must be timeless and therefore changeless—at least without the universe—because it created time. Because it also created space, it must transcend space as well and therefore be immaterial, not physical.
The question that I posed was not "what difference does it make if God exists" It was, "what difference does it make How and when the earth was made?"
It could have been done quickly or slowly. If a Supreme Being/Force/intellect did it, OK. If it was just a big whooze or bang or whatever, that's OK too. It's been done. Nothing we can say or do can change the origin.
I am just too dense to understand why it is supposed to effect our daily lives enought to argue about it.
But if you are willing to accept that the universe was created by a supreme being, then what's holding you back from believing in God? I am not saying Christianity, I am saying a supreme overall being.
This is the first step needed to break out of the inplausibility of atheism.
Again, the universe is not eternal. We know this. Science knows this. YOU know this.
Science has not yet established your assertion as fact. There was a Big Bang. There might have been a previous Big Bang that expanded then stopped expanding (due to the aggregated force of the gravity of all matter that exists in the universe) and re-imploded in on itself, the intensity of which could have led to another Big Bang. Scientists are trying to establish what is the quantity of matter found in the universe so that a more fact-based guess can be made about whether the universe's present expansion will go over for ever. A series of Big Bang explosions and contractions could have been taking place for all eternity, as far as science knows right now.
But if you are willing to accept that the universe was created by a supreme being, then what's holding you back from believing in God? I am not saying Christianity, I am saying a supreme overall being.
This is the first step needed to break out of the inplausibility of atheism.
Again, I'll ask the same old tired question again, what difference does it make in how you live TODAY? Would your life change if the world was created in six days or if it took a billion years?
Notice.....I am talking about WHEN the earth was created. NOT whether or not God created it. I simply don't understand the importance of how many days/years it took. Not every Christian believes in the six day creation story.
If a person's life/belief depends on WHEN the earth was created, then, in my opinion, something is seriouly wrong with them, be they religious, athetist, or agnostic.
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