The Existence of God

Yes...and we will also never be able to prove or disprove millions of other stupid things. What's your point? If you can't prove something, or at the very least have a tiny piece of evidence that suggests that conclusion, why waste your time following what could be?

 

I am saying religion is a belief... Way back when in bible times there were aithiests. It is a belief.

I believe, but there is no proof.

 

Most of the material I've read isn't very intelligent - this applies to both sides of the argument.

The high-level people who argue this sort of thing are humans too. There is no qualitative difference between you or them, so if you're sharp enough, you can engage them.

There is no evidence to demonstrate the existence of the invisible pink unicorn, so we do not believe in it. There is no evidence to demonstrate the existence of flying kangaroos, so we don't believe in them. There is no evidence to demonstrate the existence of a deity, so I don't believe in one. Do you understand this?

Looking forward to it.

I don't understand something: How do you believe that something exists without evidence, and why don't you believe in other things without evidence?

 

Most people will put up a fight for things they themselves have no knowledge in. You just need to know where to look to find things of substance.

I understand this and this is completely rational, but this still doesn't disprove it.

It is too hard for me to explain. =/

 

I know where to find things of substance, and I have found them. I'm just answering your remark that those who debate this sort of thing are brilliant.

Correct, just as it doesn't disprove the invisible pink unicorn, flying kangaroos, or aliens living in the core of the earth. The lack of evidence on those subjects seems to be reason enough to disbelieve - so what's the difference between them and God?

Can you try?

 

i do believe there is a god, honestly, everything wasn't just here... POOF.
i believe that there is a greater power out there, any God from any religion is possible, it just depends on your faith.
i am christian and i DO belive there is a single god that created everything in the begining. the rest im not so sure about ^_^

 

Why do you believe those things?

 

Isn't the answer to this question obvious? I see it repeatedly asked...

They believe because they see the potential rewards of their religion to be enough to outweigh the possibility that they are inccorect.

Afterall, the possibility of eternal damnation will infinitely outweigh the alternative scientific explanation of death.

 

So, you are telling us that you believe that god exists or no? Seems very weird as you are on opposite sides.

 

Guys.... Um.. don't know how to say this, but um.. I... AM..... God...

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I am against most literal imaginings of God as presented by organized religion, but would be open to a well-presented idea of intelligent design. In short, I don't believe in unicorns or God as it is, but in an infinitely vaste universe, I acknowledge that such is possible. I don't think my opinions have much merit in this discussion either way.

I find this to be a pointless argument, as I've said before, because I see God as a preference of belief. If I like blue, it does not mean I have to PROVE that blue is the best color.

 

Some people believe for this reason, doubtless, but others believe not as the result of a probability evaluation, but because they think that there actually is a deity somewhere. I want to know why they think that there is a deity.

A preference that somebody holds is different from a belief about an objective fact about reality, though. Either there is an omnipotent deity, or there isn't. That is what we are debating.

 

Well the question stated on the first page is "Do you believe in God?" not "Can you prove God's existence?".

To a rationalist, these questions may seem like the same thing. To a theist, these questions are asking something quite different.

As for a singular omnipotent deity, you are restricting God to a particular subset of organized monotheism. The possibility in an infintely large universe of an intelligent designer seems to be a bit better. Who knows if were living in a bunch of snowglobes built by some alien race in the dimension above us? Well, we don't, we can't prove it, but there's no such paradox as seen in omnipotent benevolence.

 

Either way, a belief about reality should be somewhat justifiable. If it isn't, the holder of that belief is being irrational.

I'm defining God so that we know what we're debating about. It's a good idea to specify exactly what is meant by certain important terms beforehand.

How do you evaluate that probability?

Are you referring to "we can't prove it" as a paradox? If so, how is this not seen in God?

 

shredder.. may i ask how many posts youve had on this thread >.>





There is a higher power somewhere...

Id like shredder to explain how we got here w/o a higher power.

Don't say evolution because what started that.. (higher power...).

I think your trying to convert everyone here to atheism.

Well not convert.. just disprove facts with your own odd logic and convince them that god isnt real.

When i say "god" i mean a religions higher power.

abba means god, In Christianity god/Jesus is god.
And the same goes for all the other religions.


And to the dude saying we live in snowglobes..

You do know we can see outside our universe.

Gf.

 

No idea.

Do you have any direct evidence to demonstrate that?

Nothing "started" evolution, it's an inherent process that occurs in populations of reproducing individuals. Now, if you're asking what started life, that's a better question - but you should probably do a bit of research into abiogenesis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life).

How do you know that a higher power started evolution? You're using the argument from ignorance - "I don't know what started evolution, therefore, a higher power must have." How does that make you any different from the Greeks who thought that thunder and lightening were the result of Zeus?

Yes, I am.

Odd logic? What are you talking about?

We can't see outside our universe.

 

yes he does. he'll be there int iem you most need.

 

Is he there for the millions of children who die of starvation every year?

 

Who do you think you are to make this assumption? If there truly is no god then how did everything you see around you appear? Just shear luck? I think not, there must be some way that everything we see got here. (and I don't want to hear any Scientology nonsense either).

^_^

 

This, some might say is an example of the God we see in the old testament. The non-forgiving, harsh God. The God that likes to test people and if they fail then he smote then. This is actually a great example of this and how he is testing us to see if we can all just agree with each other and help each other out.