First, we must agree on definitions. I'm sure you will accept this one: God = Creator of the Universe. Is it OK? So, you require a creator for universe existence. Why you don't require a creator for your God? I assume you don't. If you do, then there's some bigger God, and another one, etc. ad infinitum. We can logically deduct, that this concept doesn't make sense - either there's a serious inconsistency in your line of reasoning (one thing needs a creation, another doesn't need it) or there's a infinite number of Gods. Concept of God can, but doesn't have to imply the existence of afterlife. And vice-versa: the concept of afterlife doesn't imply the existence of God.
Scientists agree that even the slightest change in the force of gravity or the weight of an atom during the evolution of our universe would have rendered it a lifeless mist rather than our magnificent sea of heavenly bodies. Yet most people fail to see God's hand in this! Is it really so much easier to believe that we simply chose the right card from a deck of billions? Have we become so spiritually bankrupt that we would rather believe a mathematical impossibility than in a power greater than us? Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this. When we as a species abandon our trust in the power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faith...ALL faiths... are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith, we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because MAN is flawed. But if you look beyond the sex scandals, or the violence waged in the name of God or Allah, or corruption, you will still find in each religion a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control. Are these religious people obsolete? Are they dinosaurs? Does the world really need a voice for the poor, the weak, the oppressed, the unborn child? Do we really need souls like these who, though imperfect, spend their lives imploring each of us to read the signposts of morality and not lose our way? Who is this god Science? Who is this god who offers his people power but no moral framework to tell you how to use that power? What kind of god gives a child fire but does not warn the child of its dangers? The language of science comes with no signposts about good and bad. Science textbooks tell us how to create a nuclear reaction, and yet they contain no chapter asking us if it is a good or a bad idea. Scientists proliferate weapons of mass destruction, but it is the Pope who travels the world beseeching leaders to use restraint. Scientists clone living creatures, but it is the church reminding us to consider the moral implications of our actions. We are encouraged to interact on phones, video screens and computers, but it is the church who opens its doors and reminds us to commune in person as we were meant to do. We murder unborn babies in the name of research that will save lives and the church points out the fallacy of this reasoning. Science may have alleviated the miseries of disease and drudgery and provided an array of gadgetry for our entertainment and convenience, but it has left us in a world without wonder. Our sunsets have been reduced to wavelengths and frequencies. The complexities of the universe have been shredded into mathematical equations. Even our self-worth as human beings has been destroyed. Science proclaims that Planet Earth and its inhabitants are a meaningless speck in the grand scheme. A cosmic accident. Even the technology that promises to unite us, divides us. Each of us is now electonically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone. We are bombarded with violence, division, fracture and betrayal. Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history? Science has not beaten religion by providing answers. Science has won by radically reorienting our society so that the truths we once saw as signposts now seem inapplicable. As the rift between science and religion grows deeper and deeper, and as religion is left behind, people find themselves in a spiritual void. We cry out for meaning. We see UFOs, engage in channeling, spirit contact, out-of-body experiences, mindquests -- all these eccentric ideas have a scientific veneer, but they are unashamedly irrational. They are the desperate cry of the modern soul, lonely and tormented, crippled by its own enlightenment and its inability to accept meaning in anything removed from technology. The godless and anti-religious ones may mock us mercilessly. But I believe goodness can still prevail. Listen to your hearts. Listen to God. Together we can step back from this abyss.
You can't debunk a belief in God. You can counter it with your own opinions, but that is nothing more than showing us your a-hole and claiming it don't stink.
I'll accept that definition. A "god" would be the creator of the universe -- or perhaps more generally, the creator to all that is. Now I do understand where the logical contradiction comes from. "If your universe requires a creator, why doesn't your creator require a creator, etc?" We live in a world where every event has a cause. If something takes place, it does so because of conditions that caused the event to happen. However, when one asks, "Why is there something instead of nothing," I believe that answer is god. God could merely be the set from which everything else is a subset. Perhaps the universe is God and God is the universe. Perhaps we are existing within God right now. There is still the problem on the other side of the coin that states that, "if every event has a cause, then the universe must have a cause." If the universe has no cause, then it always was. How could it always be? Obviously when you get to that level of ontology logic itself begins to break down. At that point, I must rely on my faith to bridge the gap between understanding what is knowable and accepting what is unknowable. At some point, there may have been an uncaused event. This is not logical, but even logic fails at some level. I don't have the answers but I realize that I have to go with something that works for my situation, life and experiences. There have been many moments in my life that I just "knew" something without understanding how and accepted that explanation.
Thank you so much for the dose of self-righteous clap-trap. I particularly admire the way you equate morality and accountability with religion and religious faith while conveniently leaving out the Church's role in sponsoring and perpetuating human misery. And as for "murdering" helpless fetuses, this is largely, if not solely, a manifestation of the Church's lack of respect, much less regard, for women, who are, after all , disposable. Bombarded with violence, division, betrayal? When since the beginning of history have we ever been without violence, division, etc? More depressed and defeated than ever? Clearly you've been watching too many old movies. As for the "spiritual void", this is simply a function of ego, the insistence that we are all somehow special, and that there has to be some reason why we're here since we're all so wonderful. If I believed sincerely in all that you claim to believe, I suspect that anyone I knew who saw me coming would immediately turn and walk the other way in order to avoid being drenched in syrup.
very nicely put and close to the way jewish mysticism describes the relationship between G-d, the universe, and ourselves. G-d is a verb.
if a "god" exists, man does not know who/what IT is. by that i mean, if a "god" exists it is not jesus christ or mohammed or some other nonsense.
if a "god" exists, man does not know who/what IT is. by that i mean, if a "god" exists it is not jesus christ or mohammed or some other nonsense. LMAO _______________________________________ If you have some absolute proof of this you should share it with us.
if a "god" exists, man does not know who/what IT is. by that i mean, if a "god" exists it is not jesus christ or mohammed or some other nonsense. LMAO ___________________________________________ I thought that this was your statement. If not please tell me where I misquoted you.