nonbeliever_92
Well-Known Member
Before we can have a proper debate about god and religion, we must all assert exactly what is we happen to believe. So below I would like you to answer this:
What is it that you do or dont believe in and why or why not?
I, myself, believe in no god(s) and I do not have any religion. I do believe in the big bang theory and I do believe that the theory of evolution is true. The reasons that I dont believe in god(s) or have a religion are numerous but I will give three and try to make them as plain and simple as possible as well as brief.
1.) I dont believe in god(s) because for thousands of years people have been contemplating and wondering about the oddities of the planet and the universe. Religion, I assume, was initially used for explaining what humans couldnt understand and giving relatable reasons, which wouldve been considered valid and reasonable back then, for natural phenomenon. This is exemplified most perfectly with the Greek gods; Zeus was the head god of the Olympian pantheon. Zeuss might and power was that he was able to hurl lightning and thunder upon the sky and Earth whenever he wished. Obviously, if one was to assume that this deity never existed, Zeus represented the atmospheric discharge of electricity from one cloud to another or from a cloud to Earth as well as the corresponding expansion of air in the path of lightning causing a booming sound. Today this deity is considered BS, fodder of an ancient ignorant mindset of early humans, by the vast majority of Earth. (For a good example of this research Cargo cults. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult)
My point is that if we accept a supernatural entity that creates lightning and thunder as absurd, why would one be expected to believe that a more powerful being magically created the entire universe and everything within it, which is by far a far more complicated feat if you ask me, as true?
Furthermore, if we accept the ancient, outdated god(s) as literary entertainment today because they were written on ancient scrolls millennia ago, why dont we do the same for the Bible or the Koran or the Torah?
2.) I dont rely on religion because of its fallacies against accepted and, most plausible, scientific facts. In the Bible it is said that he creates Earth and space (the heavens) in six days. But today there is much evidence to prove that earth took several million years to form and the universe in its current state too even more time to form. We accept today that it takes force of gravity helps to coalesce and compress matter into celestial objects and that under the right conditions, life may form and grow and evolve over several billion years.
Also in the Bible god creates man and woman (Adam and Eve) and all plants and animals on Earth. We have fossil records, however, that supports the claim that humans evolved from primitive ape-like mammals and there is no evidence, to my knowledge, to say that man miraculously appeared from nothing because god or gods made it so. In fact, many beings on Earth have evidence of evolution, including plants.
It seems that many religions assert that they know how man was made and formed; whether from gods molding them from clay or gods rising man from the dust of the Earth, traditional religions assert the creation of man from everything but a plausible and/or supported explanation, to my knowledge.
3.) I dont have belief in god(s) because religion inhibits and slows intellectual progress. It seems to me that instead of providing real answers religion simply says God did it, and thats the truth, which is absolutely absurd. It seems that when humans encounter something they cant understand like the ancient Greeks and lightning, they make up an entirely fictional concept, like Zeus, and assert that it is true, without evidence. If this was ancient Greece and there was a raging thunderstorm outside people would say something along the lines of Oh the gods! They must be angry; we must sacrifice a goat to appease them! Not many would wonder if maybe the storm was not caused by gods, and if they did, they were thought of an insane.
Religion and religious followers seem to have such a proud disdain for saying I dont know why such-and-such happened that they would rather say Oh a sky fairy did it. Having such an ego that they would rather make up a claim that has no logical sense then say, Wait, we dont know now, but maybe if we take a reasonable stand in thinking and investigating, maybe well know later. I think that its sad and pathetic that most don't.
In fact, if an investigation into a natural phenomena was given I an attempt to lead one closer to god and the result was instead suggestive of that no supernatural cause was involved with the phenomena, then the investigation all together was thrown out as devil work because of the churchs superstition over upsetting their god(s). This is most notably seen with Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus.
In modern times the churchs superstitions still attempts to inhibit proper learning in schools. Anytime a school system has trouble deciding on presenting to its students a reasonable and supported theory about the origins of life as opposed to an unsupported fairy tale about life just popping in from oblivion, there is a problem.
If we all just took the religious stance of simply believing things without thinking or investigating for ourselves and then rejecting those things that dont fit with our beliefs, wed still be in the Stone Age.
What is it that you do or dont believe in and why or why not?
I, myself, believe in no god(s) and I do not have any religion. I do believe in the big bang theory and I do believe that the theory of evolution is true. The reasons that I dont believe in god(s) or have a religion are numerous but I will give three and try to make them as plain and simple as possible as well as brief.
1.) I dont believe in god(s) because for thousands of years people have been contemplating and wondering about the oddities of the planet and the universe. Religion, I assume, was initially used for explaining what humans couldnt understand and giving relatable reasons, which wouldve been considered valid and reasonable back then, for natural phenomenon. This is exemplified most perfectly with the Greek gods; Zeus was the head god of the Olympian pantheon. Zeuss might and power was that he was able to hurl lightning and thunder upon the sky and Earth whenever he wished. Obviously, if one was to assume that this deity never existed, Zeus represented the atmospheric discharge of electricity from one cloud to another or from a cloud to Earth as well as the corresponding expansion of air in the path of lightning causing a booming sound. Today this deity is considered BS, fodder of an ancient ignorant mindset of early humans, by the vast majority of Earth. (For a good example of this research Cargo cults. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult)
My point is that if we accept a supernatural entity that creates lightning and thunder as absurd, why would one be expected to believe that a more powerful being magically created the entire universe and everything within it, which is by far a far more complicated feat if you ask me, as true?
Furthermore, if we accept the ancient, outdated god(s) as literary entertainment today because they were written on ancient scrolls millennia ago, why dont we do the same for the Bible or the Koran or the Torah?
2.) I dont rely on religion because of its fallacies against accepted and, most plausible, scientific facts. In the Bible it is said that he creates Earth and space (the heavens) in six days. But today there is much evidence to prove that earth took several million years to form and the universe in its current state too even more time to form. We accept today that it takes force of gravity helps to coalesce and compress matter into celestial objects and that under the right conditions, life may form and grow and evolve over several billion years.
Also in the Bible god creates man and woman (Adam and Eve) and all plants and animals on Earth. We have fossil records, however, that supports the claim that humans evolved from primitive ape-like mammals and there is no evidence, to my knowledge, to say that man miraculously appeared from nothing because god or gods made it so. In fact, many beings on Earth have evidence of evolution, including plants.
It seems that many religions assert that they know how man was made and formed; whether from gods molding them from clay or gods rising man from the dust of the Earth, traditional religions assert the creation of man from everything but a plausible and/or supported explanation, to my knowledge.
3.) I dont have belief in god(s) because religion inhibits and slows intellectual progress. It seems to me that instead of providing real answers religion simply says God did it, and thats the truth, which is absolutely absurd. It seems that when humans encounter something they cant understand like the ancient Greeks and lightning, they make up an entirely fictional concept, like Zeus, and assert that it is true, without evidence. If this was ancient Greece and there was a raging thunderstorm outside people would say something along the lines of Oh the gods! They must be angry; we must sacrifice a goat to appease them! Not many would wonder if maybe the storm was not caused by gods, and if they did, they were thought of an insane.
Religion and religious followers seem to have such a proud disdain for saying I dont know why such-and-such happened that they would rather say Oh a sky fairy did it. Having such an ego that they would rather make up a claim that has no logical sense then say, Wait, we dont know now, but maybe if we take a reasonable stand in thinking and investigating, maybe well know later. I think that its sad and pathetic that most don't.
In fact, if an investigation into a natural phenomena was given I an attempt to lead one closer to god and the result was instead suggestive of that no supernatural cause was involved with the phenomena, then the investigation all together was thrown out as devil work because of the churchs superstition over upsetting their god(s). This is most notably seen with Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus.
In modern times the churchs superstitions still attempts to inhibit proper learning in schools. Anytime a school system has trouble deciding on presenting to its students a reasonable and supported theory about the origins of life as opposed to an unsupported fairy tale about life just popping in from oblivion, there is a problem.
If we all just took the religious stance of simply believing things without thinking or investigating for ourselves and then rejecting those things that dont fit with our beliefs, wed still be in the Stone Age.
