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Are there any philosophical arguments you use to "justify" your atheism?
According to the Bible Isaiah 45:7 it says "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things".
So, from a biblical point of view your reasoning is in error.
It should be
If God(god) is all knowing, all powerful, all loving, etc then evil should exist. Because it is what remains after God made peace.
Evil exists.
Therefore, god does exist.
Evil is the result after God made peace and love. Darkness is the result after God made light. Evil is the absence of peace and love, Darkness is the absense of light.
Having read your posts, I wanted to point out a few things. Firstly, I agree that there will never be any sensible (by that I mean pertaining to the 5 senses) proof for the existence of God. You cannot prove the exstence of God by sensible fact.
And yet God supposedly gave these 'sensible facts' to the authors of the bible. I mean, there are countless incidences where God has conversations with humans in the bible. If he can show himself to them, he can show himself to anyone.
Quote:
But you also cannot disprove the existence of God with lack of it. A negative cannot be affirmed in the absolute. In this way, we are still all on the same playing field of belief.
True, this would be denying the antecedent. This is why I am agnostic. However, it is not unreasonable to say "show me proof" when people make outrageous claims to know what cannot be known. Until they support their claims, one can reasonably be skeptical.
And yet God supposedly gave these 'sensible facts' to the authors of the bible. I mean, there are countless incidences where God has conversations with humans in the bible. If he can show himself to them, he can show himself to anyone.
True, this would be denying the antecedent. This is why I am agnostic. However, it is not unreasonable to say "show me proof" when people make outrageous claims to know what cannot be known. Until they support their claims, one can reasonably be skeptical.
Sure, one should be skeptical to a point. It comes to a point, however, when decisions need to be made about certain things and when not making a decision is making a decision, which is what I believe agnostics do. You agnostics got it easy, all you have to prove is that you don't know!
Interesting you bring up the writers of the Bible. I think of the history of Israel in the old testament; parting of the red sea, manna from the sky, water out of a rock, etc. and still they disbelieved in God. The one people group in history who saw the most clear and powerful wonders of God were also the utmost of disbelievers. I'm not saying I would have fared any different, I probably would been in the endless trains of the faithless as well. So the sense, while solid and dependable to a point, can be overrun with our minds and things can be explained away.
Sure, one should be skeptical to a point. It comes to a point, however, when decisions need to be made about certain things and when not making a decision is making a decision, which is what I believe agnostics do. You agnostics got it easy, all you have to prove is that you don't know!
Exactly. Like that Rush song, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." I'm perfectly fine not knowing, because I realize it's not possible. I don't think there is a necessity to make a decision about whether God exists or not. People say there is, or else you go to hell, but I'm not afraid of that scare tactic anymore. And ya, agnosticism is easy, because it's the only option that doesn't grind against the very nature of my mind.
Exactly. Like that Rush song, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." I'm perfectly fine not knowing, because I realize it's not possible. I don't think there is a necessity to make a decision about whether God exists or not. People say there is, or else you go to hell, but I'm not afraid of that scare tactic anymore. And ya, agnosticism is easy, because it's the only option that doesn't grind against the very nature of my mind.
Logicisyourfiend,
Does your name imply that you are my friend? That would be nice. So I gathered that you have made a decision and that decision is to not believe in God. Is that right?
It's interesting your reason, about the whole 'hell' thing. I hear that a lot. Typically people say something very similar to what you said 'god says that you have to believe in him or else you go to hell'. I was wondering, and since you are an agnostic it may be easier for you to conceptualize rather than an atheist, if god does require belief in him or it's hell for the lot of'em, why do you think that would be? What is it about belief (or faith - i think they are interchangeable) that would be so important to god?
Logicisyourfiend,
Does your name imply that you are my friend? That would be nice. So I gathered that you have made a decision and that decision is to not believe in God. Is that right?
It's interesting your reason, about the whole 'hell' thing. I hear that a lot. Typically people say something very similar to what you said 'god says that you have to believe in him or else you go to hell'. I was wondering, and since you are an agnostic it may be easier for you to conceptualize rather than an atheist, if god does require belief in him or it's hell for the lot of'em, why do you think that would be? What is it about belief (or faith - i think they are interchangeable) that would be so important to god?
That's a good question. I have no idea. The whole concept doesn't make sense to me, but I realize it didn't have to for people back then (or many people now). What makes sense to me, though, is that since God is all-powerful, if he cared that we believed in him, he would be able to do something about it. People wrote the bible, and that is what makes sense to me, until I get more than hearsay to prove it. Just like I'm not gonna believe that bigfoot exists until I get more than hearsay as proof.
Evil is nothing more than a perversion of truth as God defines it.
If evil did not exist then freedom would not exist, therefore God would cease to be God.
godspeed,
freedom
Let's see...
Evil is a perversion of truth, but necessary for God remain as God. His definition of "truth" does not have evil in it, because evil would be a different (perverted) truth. but the truth is, according to the bible, that God created evil. So his definition of "truth" is different than his created truth?
And, I assume you mean freedom interchangeably with free will. So if there were no evil, we would have no free will, and "therefore" God would cease to be God. Does that mean God was not God before Adam and Eve ate from the tree?
Is that pretty much what you expected me to get out of this post of yours?
Evil is nothing more than a perversion of truth as God defines it.
If evil did not exist then freedom would not exist, therefore God would cease to be God.
godspeed,
freedom
Freedom does not exist in heaven then.
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