There is a difference between "not knowing" and not "wanting to know". Many choose the safe option of agnosticism because they feel it legitimizes their position, plus the fact that they may find walking in a religious minefield too daunting. Better to stay on the safe side rather than to get hurt or upset anyone.
This may be true of some, but I don't know how many. The "safety" you're talking about is relative to your surroundings. For someone raised in a JW family, being openly agnostic would hardly be the "safe" choice. I would venture to say that many religious people remain in their religion as a matter of the kind of "safety" you're talking about.
If people really want to know about anything...."where there's a will, there's a way."
Just untrue. I can want to know if there is life on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri all I want. I
can't know till we have the evidence to make a reasonable determination.
Funnily enough, God gave Israel many tangible signs of his presence before and after they left Egypt, and still they left him. Humans become immune even to miracles it seems, which is why they no longer happen.
Oh balderdash. The issue in the Bible isn't that people stopped believing God existed despite him showing up and talking to them. His issue was them
disobeying him anyway. And yet despite knowing they'd disobey him anyway, he still showed up. So again, I ask: if it was good enough for them, why isn't it good enough for us?
God requires only those things that humans find almost impossible these days...."faith, hope and love"...fading into a bygone era by the looks.
Faith is fading (thankfully). Not really the other two from what I've seen.
No, I mean that so many of us are totally satisfied with what we observe in nature...it speaks louder to us than the assumptions of godless science....which has become the substitute "religion" for those disenchanted with mainstream religious offerings. It seems like such a viable alternative....not everything is as it seems.
To channel Bill Maher, science is a religion like abstinence is a sex position. That's just an equivocation religious people tell themselves to rationalize their beliefs that have no (good) evidence.
When I researched how much of the science that is fed to the masses is actually just assumption and guesswork, I was quite amazed that they could present any of it as "fact".
I would ask for an example, but I think it would send us down a rabbit trail. Maybe start a thread?
Can you name me anything that man uses of his own invention that has no purpose? Purpose demonstrated intent, and intent needs intelligence to plan ahead. I see the connection in nature where everything is designed to interact. The amazing cooperative function of the eco-system is no undirected accident. Biological function is amazingly designed.
Again the false dichotomy. I agree, ecosystems do not occur "by accident." That doesn't mean God did it.
For you, apparently.
My point is those aren't the only options.
That is the key to any discussion about "scientific facts"....the only provable "fact" that we agree with is adaptation.....lab tested and observed to be an amazing mechanism by which living creatures can adapt to a changed environment or food source. The "fact" of that change is confined to individual species however, and science has no real evidence that adaptation can cross species barriers to invent another "kind" of creature, no matter how much time is thrown at it.
That's simply false.
29+ Evidences for Macroevolution: Part 5
Darwin's finches were all still finches, the tortoises were still tortoises and the iguanas were still clearly identifiable as iguanas. Nothing in any scientific experiment has ever proven otherwise. Assumptions are not facts...its surprising to me how many people are led to believe that they are. Mislead the teachers and you mislead all who are taught by them.
The only one I see making assumptions is you. First of all, "kind" is an ill-defined term pulled from Genesis 1 that even creationists can't consistently define. Second, why would you assume that the genetic mutation and adaption you admit occurs in nature is somehow limited to within a certain species? You have no biological or genetic rationale to defend that idea.
Have you ever talked to an actual biologist who does research on speciation about your criticisms here?
No, that is not what I said.
I quoted you...
I said that God is searching for those whose hearts are inclined towards him and who want to get to know him. He is not far away from any of us, and we have more information available today on so many topics, that we can find out whatever we want to know...if we really want to.
Ironically, the more widely I've learned and read, the less convinced I've become by the claims of any religion.
Jesus likened it to a search for hidden treasure. If you knew that buried in a certain field there was untold treasure, wouldn't you start digging? It depends on what you value I guess...."one man's trash"...as they say. works both ways.
If someone told me there was untold treasure in a certain field, I'd ask for evidence. Only someone completely gullible would just go start digging in a field on an empty promise. Next thing I know you'll be telling me to go find the Fountain of Youth.