Let me rewrite #12 to be, “Why don’t miracles occur in modern societies in public places with any more frequency or verifiability than–for instance–UFO sightings?”
Your personal dogma is not an exception to the rule.
or one might ask why less religious people assume they’re more intelligent?
Well then show me a study which correlates misguided belief in ones own intelligence to atheism. But otherwise we’ll have to go with the research that’s been done on standard measures of intelligence like IQ and educational attainment. I believe you’ll find those standards to have been created independently of any attempt to research the demographics of religiosity.
Such as ? I don’t knowingly base beliefs on faith.
Addendum to previous post.
But more importantly, cosmosdan, let’s see your answers for the other thirteen questions.
I didn’t say that the vast majority of religious people did it; I said the religions did it.
The Inquistion is the winner, I would assume. We know they killed thousands; we have no knowledge of the daily death count caused specifically by atheists.
Now - post proof that “most of what atheists say about them is wrong”. Also, learn to count.
“the complex, intelligent being always existed”, the answer is yes. God did not “pop”. if something is needed for something else to exist i suppose one greater something could begin another,which in turn created another, etc, but that seems to be the complicated explination, so one all powerful being initiating everything really is simpler
sage rat wrote about 2 “miracles” one had 1 step, the universe “popped” into existence, the other had multiple steps, complicating the God scenario. it appeared he was attempting to make it fit occam’s razor
Not more intelligent, more mature in their thought processes regarding certain things. When religion took hold of people, it did so because there was no science to contest it and because the minds of the people then were riddled with childish superstitions that would not withstand the slightest criticism if it happened in this day and age.
i think i did prove that, God can exist, as the initial something. even when, or if, the “fluctuations in spacetime” are proven as the birthing of the universe, we’re still left with the question of where did spacetime come from
Hardly. A logically impossible being that violates known physical laws + all of reality is more complicated ( and less plausible by far ) than all of reality by itself. You are simply trying to define God creating the universe as simpler by ignoring his own complexity.
The “God scenario” IS more complicated. And again, there’s zero evidence for it being true, or even possible.
You might as well claim that Earth is the egg of a giant space turtle that’s going to hatch any time now; that’s actually MORE plausible. And has just as much evidence going for it.
Simply stating that to be so doesn’t mean you proved a thing. What’s God made of ? Where did what he’s made of come from ? Where did he come from ? How does he pull off his physics-violating tricks ? And where’s the evidence for such a creature - if you want to claim violations of physics, you need to have evidence.
And the fact that you call him “all powerful” automatically makes your version of God impossible.
Lots of things “can” exist. But the only thing we have any evidence of ever having existed is the universe. Postulating other things that might exist outside of observable reality is open to infinite number of possibilities.
I have as much evidence to think that Newton just believed something, as well as you have to think or believe he was talked to by God.
I did not feelyou answered it, just you claim that God spoke to Newton because he said so, and changed his way of living, You believe Newton and so I believe you have the right to believe whom ever you choose but belief is not fact.
Bush believed God wanted him to be president, if that is so God sure doesn’t like Americans.
Monavis
It requires an account and a purchase to read the article. Can I borrow $30.00?
I don’t doubt that countries with better education have more atheists. It was your specific phrasing I objected to because in my experience my comment is true. {it wasn’t directed at you personally} Certainly we can think of plenty of brilliant highly educated minds that hold religious belief. Right?
It’s an interesting phenomenon to me that very intelligent people can hold fast to unfounded beliefs. I think the answer is something other than just intelligence.
In that regard, I agree with Sam Harris that religious beliefs should be put on equal footing with any other belief. They should be questioned and examined. In doing that I noticed that people in general form their belief systems with facts and intellect and also their emotions. All people , believers and non believers, believe things based in part on personal biases and emotional preferences. In that sense everyone operates on some level of faith. It was interesting to note that when I started expressing this in forums several atheists objected to my equating religious or spiritual faith with the kind of day to day faith all people operate with. Why? I thought we were putting them on equal footing. IMHO it comes down to trying to understand the internal process of how belief systems are formed, held on to, or improved over time. How do we overcome personal bias or dogma to continue to grow? That seems more relevant to me.
I’d qualify this by noting that I think a better education helps dispel dogma and religious myth over time. As more factual information becomes widely accepted things change.
Where was God existing and who created the place?
Monavis
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…oh, you’re serious?
The key there is* personal* You have your own belief system that most regular posters are familiar with. You consistently do what you just did and post sweeping generalizations and condemnations of religion as facts and then can’t back them up with evidence. This happens repeatedly. That’s dogma according to Webster
c: a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds
Since I don’t hold traditional Christian beliefs I don’t see the point. Do you?
Agnostic?