Your Biblical misunderstanding is appalling. You should really actually READ the Bible before you start misquoting it. Even if what you presumed above were true of God, that is not evidence of nonexistance but rather proof that he does infact exist and YOU have a problem with HIS justice. Had you done a more careful analysis of the text you would have understood a basic principle of interpretation when exegeting the text: When some theists and Atheists alike discuss the attributes of God, their attempts to fine-tune definitions of the divine attributes can sometimes lead, ironically, to a contradiction of the biblical textâperhaps driven by certain philosophical presuppositions (e.g., the alleged in-principle impossibility of knowing future free human choices). Further, while contemporary formulations and definitions of these attributes may be quite instructive, they can be incomplete or minimalistic rather than robust. Finally, when separately treating of the theistic attributes of, say, omniscience or omnipotence, we may unwittingly speak of them, respectively, in terms of mere "information storage" or "sheer power" and thus neglect the necessarily-connected attribute of divine goodness. This "hub" must keep the others in balance, as this befits a maximally great Being. In other words, our definitions of the divine properties should closely follow the Scripturesâ guidance to prevent such misconstruals and acknowledge certain in-built limitations when treating them separately.
The existence of objective morality provides further evidence for belief in God. If widowburning or genocide is really wrong and not just cultural, then it is difficult to account for this universally binding morality, with its sense of "oughtness," on strictly naturalistic terms. (Most people can be convinced that the difference between Adolf Hitler and Mother Teresa is not simply cultural.) These and other reasons demonstrate that the believer is being quite rational â not presumptuous â in embracing belief in God. Furthermore, Let me move to naturalistic approaches to ethics. If you hold to IO "an ideal observer will be a partial description of God, if God is conceived to be an infallible moral judge," leads me (and other theists) not to preclude Godâs having this role. (Godâs creatorship, omnipotence, etc. have no direct bearing on Godâs being a competent ideal observer and are thus beside the point.) Yes, the ideal observer theory (IO) is compatible with atheism, however, "one can be a moral skeptic and hold the theory" as well! This shows my point precisely: To talk at the epistemological level about moral knowledge and ethical decision-making still does not address how intrinsically valuable moral beings come to existâthe deeper ontic level. The IO simply does not bring us that far. So to claim that the good is that which is met with feelings of approval by an ideal observer may be useful at an epistemological level to guide us in making ethical decisions, but such approval is contingent upon the deeper intrinsic dignity of personsâthe very point in question. Even if we take IO as a non-epistemological account of moral rightness, IO doesn't address the deeper ontic issue Iâve raised. What is required to fully establish naturalistic ethics (and this pertains to the remaining thinkers you cite as well) is an account of axiological facts that go beyond conditions for rightness as well as conditions for knowledge of rightness.
If god does exist, however, there is 'strong evidence' that he / she / it is not the biblical god. For one thing, any omnipotent being that refuses to reveal its true nature in the face of so much religious confusion--religion against religion, doctrine against doctrine, sect against sect--must have some intentional desire to sow discord, or at least no desire to prevent it from happening (which could easily be done). The bible itself, in fact, is one of the most opaque and confusing books ever written. There are countless doctrinal issues that could have been cleared up with a few direct sentences, a paragraph or two of non-oblique scripture, but instead rage on today. And yet 1 Corinthians says "God is not the author of confusion." Yea, verily I say unto thee, my word shall puzzle the shit out of you. So if the bible says God is not the author of confusion, and yet the bible is simultaneously authored by God and one of the most confusing books ever written, where does that leave us? One is reminded of the "All Cretins are liars" paradox posed by Epimenides (who was himself from Crete you see). Oh and by the way, if God was not the author of confusion as the inerrant word clearly states, who is responsible for the Tower of Babel? (Hand me that zargelflub. The what? The zargelflub, you pudzonk, the zargelflub!) My earlier point was that if you created an all-star Christian debate team and pitted it against an all-star Mormon debate team and an all-star Muslim debate team, the only way to judge the winner would be based on what your personal allegiances were in the first place. My current point is that even if one presumes a sentient being worthy of the label god exists, there is strong evidence that this god is not the god of the bible, has obvious intentions of masking its true identity, and is not about to clue us in as to what the heck is going on. The message seems to be "ignore me please, nothing to see here, go about your business folks..."
I say it again: Your are completely missing the point Let's see how many times before you get it. I'm not offering a proof that God does or does not exist. I don't believe that anyone here is offering a proof. The point is, there is no scientific way to prove it either way. Are you listening? If there is no scientific way to prove, then the only argument that wins is the one that is so loud it drowns everyone else out. Can you offer any evidence that the Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't exist?
I agree completely that moral standards are transcultural. Here we have spaghetti, in China they have noodles, and in Japan they have raman. I'm sure in cultures that I don't know they all have something similar. This proves beyond any doubt the existance of an all-powerful Flying Spaghetti Monster!
That being so, you will be agnostic about Santa Claus's or mermaids' or The Spaghetti Monster's existence. In the absence of any kind of evidence for their existence, it will be reasonable to understand you hold as you describe, the logical presumption of agnosticism, which would require the possibility that any of those things could exist and any of them in their existence could be more Godlike than God could ever be. Not rat all. As seen above from your own argument of agnosticism, God does not achieve any more the level of credulity that the others - Santa Claus or mermaids or The Spaghetti Monster. It is interesting to notice with Santa for instance, that miracles do actually occur every Christmas and are not just old stories of ones supposed to have come about thousands of years ago. In the case of the Flying Spaghetti Monster we have overwhelming evidence things of Spaghetti actually exist. Whereas things of God are only said to exist. You are I take it, agnostic about Santa and agree The Flying Spaghetti Monster could therefore actually exist, with the logical presumption He may well have attributes which exceed those God is said to have. Then of course there is Gilbert(PBUH). Seems agnosticism opens the floodgates of possibility to anything and everything and is not really the logical presumption you say it is.
Love thy neighbor as thyself If you have ever been fortunate enough to live in a well-connected neighborhood, then you know how beneficial the human notion of community can be. A good neighborhood works because it brings hundreds of people into an environment pre-disposed to helpfulness and sharing. The combination of "good people" and "helping and sharing" can be extremely powerful. When good people get together in groups and decide to help one another to achieve common goals, it is the most powerful force on the planet. We need to understand the power of that and take advantage of it more and more. If you've had a baby, then you know how difficult those first few weeks can be. Let's say that couple gives birth to a new baby in a well-connected neighborhood. Within that community, neighbors recognize the need and they help out. Perhaps they help by preparing dinners for the family for several weeks. This is incredibly helpful to the family, and it makes everyone in the neighborhood feel good to help. In the same way, if someone in the neighborhood is in the hospital, people from the neighborhood visit and help the person out. They cook meals. They help take care of the kids. They pick up the mail. They keep the lawn mowed. The neighborhood is a strong network of people willing to help each other, and willing to receive help from the group. People share rides, they take care of each others' kids, they work on projects together, they have pot-luck parties, they help each other find jobs... It is an extremely powerful concept built on ideals like trust, love, understanding and giving. Why does this happen? It has nothing to do with "God" or "religion." It happens because of human intelligence and a basic desire to be kind and helpful. We all realize that we need help on occasion, and we all like to receive kindness. We then extrapolate that common sense notion to others. If I sometimes need help from others, then it is true that sometimes others will need help from me. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Therefore, we help others. We are kind to each other. We share. What goes around comes around -- we all know that through common sense. There is no reason to gum up this simple notion with the belief in a non-existent being or religious ritual. You shouldn't help your neighbors because of "God" or "going to heaven" in the "afterlife." You help your neighbors because it is fundamentally right, and because you will appreciate it when someone helps you in the same way. It is that simple, and that human. It is extremely valuable to live in a community of people where the community members genuinely care about one another. A loving community has immense value to everyone involved. What it is all about is creating a close, caring group of people who help one another, share with one another and enjoy each other's company while we are here together on earth. What about Churches This brings up an interesting point. Having recognized that God is imaginary, what happens to churches? I don't think anything "happens" to them. They continue to exist because they perform a useful function in the community. What is a church? It is a community of people who agree to get together regularly, help one another and share in each other's company. A church also helps people to focus on the general concept of goodness once a week -- that is generally what the sermon tries to accomplish. In addition, many churches have an outreach component. When there is a disaster, either in the community or somewhere else in the world, the church members often will band together to help in some way. The church might collect and send money or relief supplies. Once you remove the imaginary being -- who, remember, was never there to begin with -- along with the book written by primitive men, does that change anything? I don't think so. In fact, it probably makes things better. Removing delusion is a good thing, not a bad thing. Churches continue to exist as communities of people who enjoy each others' company, who help one another in times of need, and who focus on goodness and good deeds for the benefit of society as a whole. What's not to like about that? By removing the imaginary being, church attendance may actually go up. It certainly will be interesting to see what happens.
The meaning of life Billions of people throughout the ages have asked themselves the question, "What is the meaning of life?" Many people answer that question by turning to religion. The problem with the religious perspective is that it squanders the meaning of your time on earth. Many religious people believe that this is the "meaning" of their lives right now: "If I am good while on earth, then when I die I will go to heaven where the streets are paved with gold and I will live with God in the lap of luxury and have absolutely anything I want or need for eternity! My time here on earth is a mere nanosecond compared to eternity. I just have to tough it out here for a nanosecond to get my infinite reward." In this scenario, your nanosecond on earth pretty much has no meaning -- the whole goal is "heaven." Think about where this sort of thinking can lead: Example #1 - This sort of thinking can be seen in the actions of Islamic suicide bombers. They believe that, by blowing themselves (and others) up, they will be given as their reward a place in heaven with 72 virgins to satisfy their every whim. Example #2 - The power of religion to completely warp the human mind can also be seen in a cult known as "Heaven's Gate." In 1997, 39 members of this cult all committed suicide together. Why? Because their religion taught them that by dying they would be transported to a space ship traveling near the Hale-Bopp comet. [ref] The meaning of their lives was wrapped up in this ridiculous fairy tale, to the extent that they would voluntarily and peacefully commit suicide. This sort of thinking is fascinating. We all know that suicide bombers do not get entertained for eternity by 72 virgins. And we all know that the members of Heaven's Gate were not transported to a space ship by killing themselves. These two fantasies are obviously absurd. Yet billions of Christians believe that they are going to heaven. Christians for some reason believe that their fantasy is true, when in fact all three of these beliefs are equally imaginary. These three beliefs also show how cancerous religion can be. Instead of focusing on the here and now, religion focuses on an imaginary place and time that is a total fabrication. Life's meaning It is a fact that God is imaginary. You have proven that to yourself beyond a shadow of any doubt. What, then, is the meaning of life? The meaning of life is simple and comes in three interlocking pieces: You have been granted one human life. With your life you have been given approximately 30,000 days on planet earth. You may choose to do with your life anything that you like. You, and only you, get to choose what you want to do with the life that has been given to you. You give your life its meaning by choosing what you want to do with it. That is the meaning of life. You, and only you, give your life its meaning. What should you do with your life? You should pick whatever it is that you believe in, or whatever it is that makes you happy, or whatever it is that is most important to you, or whatever it is that you most enjoy doing. Then you should work to make it happen. Choose the thing or things that you want to do with your single, unique, precious, human life, and make them happen. It does not matter what it is that you choose to do -- do whatever is important to you: If it is your kids, then figure out an equation that lets you do what you want to do with your kids and go do it. If it is saving the environment, then go do that. If it is bass fishing, then go do that. If it is cancer research, go do that. If it is making a film about something that you feel strongly, go do that. If it is entertaining people to brighten their lives, go do that. If it is making lots of money so that you can buy more and more stuff, go do that. And so on... You can give your life whatever meaning you want. Pick whatever it is that is important to you. Decide what you think you can do to help human beings, as a species, move forward, and then go do it in whatever way that you think is appropriate. It is your life and it lasts about 30,000 days -- make the most of it. The fact is that you, and only you, give your unique human life its own, personal meaning. You can choose to do absolutely anything you like. Each life is unique to the human being who designs it, and the way you define your life's meaning is up to you. This is how it always has been, and how it always will be. Having said that, there one caveat that you should keep in mind: You can do whatever you want with your life, as long as you stay within the boundaries of what your fellow human beings will allow. For example, if you decide that the goal of your life is to murder as many people as possible, then the rest of us will do our best to stop you. The reason for that is simple -- your goal terminates the existence of other human beings, and that is not fair to them. As in any game, there are rules that make it possible for the other players to play. The game of life has rules as well, established by your fellow human beings to keep things fair. See the previous chapter for details. The power of working together You might also keep this in mind: As discussed in chapter 30, it is a fact that people often get more accomplished when they work together. Let me give you an example to help you understand how that works. A hospital puts human life into clear perspective. My son David has seen more than his fair share of hospitals and with him I have met sick kids of every possible description -- retarded kids, paralyzed kids, kids with amputations, kids in wheel chairs breathing from tubes, kids with cancer getting chemotherapy. The kids with cancer are bald. They often vomit as the drugs are administered because the drugs are so toxic. There are babies, toddlers, kindergartners, teens. For some, their IV lines snake up their shirts to permanent sites in the chest because they are hooked to IVs so much. A hospital shows us something important about human beings. A hospital is a facility designed to help other people. In a modern hospital there is a remarkable array of technology, and medical science understands more and more every day. All of that technology is designed to help people. We've built all that by agreeing it is important, and by working together to attack the problems that diseases create. When we put our minds and our resources to it, we can build amazing things. The thing is, we see that same kind of cooperation throughout America. Let me give you a few examples to help you see what I am talking about. I have food, clothing and shelter. At this moment I am warm at 72 degrees despite the outdoor temperature of 40 degrees F. I am able to drive less than two miles to three different shopping centers and over two dozen restaurants, including three all-you-can-eat buffets that cost less than $8 per person. I can shop in several grocery stores stocked with thousands of food products -- the most variety ever seen by humanity.
A huge array of products are available that make life easier and better: I can watch 80 channels on cable with my TV I can surf the Internet or play a game with my computer I can call people on the cordless phone or my cell phone I can wash my clothes in the washer and dry them in the dryer I can play a DVD that I can rent for $3 I can take a warm shower I can flip on any of the dozens of light switches when it is dark If I get suddenly ill I can call 911 and a team of extremely competent people will be at my door in less than five minutes to transport me to one of the three modern, fully equipped emergency rooms within 10 miles of my home. If I get hungry I can open the refrigerator or the pantry and cook a snack or a meal on the stove or in the microwave. If I want to travel I can fly to almost anywhere in the world from the international airport that is 10 miles away. If on a whim I decide I want to, I can drive my car to Disney World tonight and shake Mickey's hand tomorrow morning. Since it is December, there is a Christmas tree in the living room with a pile of presents underneath, strands of lights decorating the front porch and a wreath on the door. The mail arrives every day. So does the newspaper. So do the packages from FedEx and UPS. So does a nice hot pizza containing a total of 2,500 calories if I order one and pay $10. There's a scale in the bathroom that tells me I eat too much. There's a thermostat on the wall that keeps the temperature just right. There are five smoke detectors on the ceiling that will wake me in case of a fire and let me and my family get safely away from the building. Then my insurance policy will pay for the damage. My point here is simple: We take it completely for granted, but life in America is utterly amazing. Absolutely, utterly, amazing. Who created all of this? Did God? Certainly not. People have created all of this by agreeing to work together. We have come together to create an orderly society that gets better and better through cooperation. Think about the allies coming together World War II to fight evil. Or the space program in the 1960s and 1970s, where thousands of people came together to accomplish the impossible and go to the moon. Or any big political campaign that wins against the odds. Or a business that has a fantastic mission and vision. Or any charitable organization focused on accomplishing something good and worthwhile. When people are involved in projects like these, their lives are richer and fuller because they are working toward a common purpose with a group of fellow human beings. In those experiences we can find a powerful message about the meaning of life. The meaning of your individual life is bounded by the accomplishments of our species. Although each of our lives is fleeting, our species as a whole is a chain stretching back thousands of years and stretching forward for an unknown distance. You are one link in that chain. Each of us contributes to the world. Our children inherit the world that we create. What is the meaning of life? It is about loving and being loved. It is about helping and being helped. It is about giving and receiving, asking and accepting. It is about working with other people and allowing them to work with you. Life is about dreaming of something better, and then making it happen. For all of us now. For our children in the future. Life's meaning is about what we do today and tomorrow with the time we have available. It comes in thinking about that time -- that precious moment that is your life -- and making the most of it in a way that is unique to you. The next time you are sitting at a traffic light, look over at the person next to you. Smile. That person is a fellow human being. You and he and six billion others mold this planet and create the future for our children. Together we create the path of our species.