Do you believe in God?

[MrSmith]

Once again I've adjusted your statement so it reads more accurately.

No they don't they give vague answered to questions just as you do.

I already have and most people take what they are taught by their parents, and the education system of faith, and not using Critical Thinking. This is why we have a planet full of theists, they are simply doing what humans have done for thousands of years and passing knowledge down from generation to generation and accepting it on faith.

 

Faith definition confidence or trust in a person or thing:

Faith works find when you understand what it means.

 

But we don't have a planet full of theists as I've already explained. As I said before it's up to you to do the work to hone and refine your innate critical thinking skills if you so wish.

 

All the data suggests you are wrong; you have far too much faith in your Critical Thinking abilities.

[Baz1]

There is but it's non belief that is on the rise and has been since the 1960's.

 

That's not necessarily true.

 

In the 1960s we saw that studies of the Universe showed it had an origin- the Big Bang.

 

You had atheists like Fred Hoyle who did not like the sound of this because it sounded 'too religious' but the evidence was (and still is) overwhelming.

 

It was this finding that probably helped shaped the minds of people- some used it to resonate with their religion (e.g. if you followed any of the Abrahamic faiths) and of course, others continue to live and hope to one day see what caused the BB (like CERN is doing now).

 

What I am pointing out is that this probably opened up a wider platform- and continues to do so. More and more people are understanding science and use their religion to fill in the gaps- as science does not deal with the 'whys'.

 

Then you have the fact that the Universe came fine tuned- that all its properties seem like they are fixed to permit life- again science cannot answer WHY- I already gave a post previously that the chances of this fine tuning was impossible-extremely unlikely, the numbers used would not even fit on this page I am using....but I am not going to labour on that- the problem with some Athiests that they just want to have faith in this 'chance' and hence debating becomes impossible because we could use chance for ANYTHING then!

 

So I am leaving this thread with a nice quote from Fred Hoyle- who was one of the first to appreciate the phenomenon of fine tuning when he wrote in his book, The Universe, Past and Present Reflections, saying as if

"a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature"

 

Finally, some (like Barleycorn) who have raised points like mathematical formulas showing that the Universe could come from nothing- then that would not be science so it is not falsifiable but you still believe it??

 

Science is wonderful- it is also neutral when it comes to questions outside of its realm.

 

Don't abuse it...and atheists, please stop making it out that you have some sort of claim to it.

 

Cheerio.

[pininsho]

Faith definition confidence or trust in a person or thing:

 

As I said before I don't accept that definition in the context that it's being used. The trust as I mentioned in my last post comes from our innate critical thinking skills which we have developed, in the main, sub consciously since birth meaning no faith is required.

 

All the data suggests you are wrong; you have far too much faith in your Critical Thinking abilities.

 

I've not seen any data. All I've seen is you asserting the same nonsense that has been debunked numerous times on this thread.

[flamingjimmy]

 

Finally, some (like Barleycorn) who have raised points like mathematical formulas showing that the Universe could come from nothing- then that would not be science so it is not falsifiable but you still believe it??

 

I see you've never studied maths then. It's better than science, you can't prove anything 100% with science, you can only prove things wrong. With maths, you can actually prove things to be true, it is even more certain than science.

[MrSmith]

As I said before I don't accept that definition in the context that it's being used. The trust as I mentioned in my last post comes from our innate critical thinking skills which we have developed, in the main, sub consciously since birth meaning no faith is required.

It’s not really your place the change the definition of a word, faith means to trust and all you do is keep spouting about is critical thinking but you have yet to demonstrate and explain how it helps you to decide on whether a statement is true or not.

I've not seen any data. All I've seen is you asserting the same nonsense that has been debunked numerous times on this thread.

 

That’s my point you don't look at data you just critically think and get everything wrong.

[RootsBooster]

Science is wonderful- it is also neutral when it comes to questions outside of its realm.

So, it would seem, are religious texts. The bible offers no credible answers and contradicts itself throughout.

Don't abuse it...and atheists, please stop making it out that you have some sort of claim to it.

 

Cheerio.

 

I haven't read a single post where any atheists "claim" science to be exclusively for them, or even imply it.

[janie48]

Janie, do you think these governments "tortured you" because they don't believe in God, or because they wanted break your will and crush any hope, forcing you to fear and obey them ?

 

Yes they did want to crush the will of the people,so they could control them.In China they are apparently allowing more freedom now,because they have realised you can never crush religion.They learned that from the experiences of Eastern Europe, the USSR and their domination of the balkans states and Poland etc,but a great many had to suffer and die before that was learned,and we don't really know everything even now do we? Especially in North Korea where everything is so secretive.

[flamingjimmy]

Science is wonderful- it is also neutral when it comes to questions outside of its realm.

Science (and reason and logic, the basis of science) can be applied to absolutely any question you want it to. You might not be able to get a perfect answer to every question, but you will get a better one than you would from reading the Quran every single time.

 

Don't abuse it...and atheists, please stop making it out that you have some sort of claim to it.

I'll stop laying claim to it when you stop ridiculously pretending that the Abrahamic texts don't fly in the face of about half of what we have learned in the past few hundred years thanks to science. Edited May 7, 2012 by flamingjimmy

[RootsBooster]

Yes they did want to crush the will of the people,so they could control them.In China they are apparently allowing more freedom now,because they have realised you can never crush religion.They learned that from the experiences of Eastern Europe, the USSR and their domination of the balkans states and Poland etc,but a great many had to suffer and die before that was learned,and we don't really know everything even now do we? Especially in North Korea where everything is so secretive.

 

So why did you bring the word "atheist" into it?

[janie48]

http://www.secularism.org.uk/what-is-secularism.html

 

This bit is fundamental to secularism;

 

Secularism seeks to ensure and protect freedom of religious belief and practice for all citizens. Secularism is not about curtailing religious freedoms; it is about ensuring that the freedoms of thought and conscience apply equally to all believers and non-believers alike.

 

Well that sounds much like the system we have now.