Quote:
Originally Posted by Grifter
Since you asked what I believe is that there is a God, is he a supernatural father figure? I dont think so, not in the context that human being perceive such things. While I subscribe to the values that Christ preached I cant count myself as a Christian because I have real doubts that the kind and loving God describe in the Bible would send the Jews and Muslims to hell for worshiping him albeit in a different manner than described as proper in the Bible.
I will grant you that reason alone will get in the way when viewing religion, if you have never felt the presence of something larger than yourself its a hard concept to accept. By reason and proof I assume you mean science. So let me walk you down a path, the basis of all science is math and oberservation. Mathmatically its been proven that 11 dimensions exist but we only occupy 4 of them. That leaves 7 that we have have mathmatic proof of existence but zero idea whats in them or what they consist of, Membrane theory. Now if we only perceive a bit more than 1/3 of the total universe and havent explored any further than the our own solar system in the 4 dimensions that we do occupy and perceive how can you discount anything if you rely solely on reason?
Disclaimer: If I have any part of Membrane Theory wrong please correct it, I have read about it but cannot do the math attached to it.
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The reason I became a little tentative and asked where you stood was out of concern I was going to engage in a debate that would not bear fruit as discussions about the existence of God most often do.
Religion is for some, more than just belief in God, but a place where people can take their existential dilemmas, sense of existence, moral uncertainties, their fear of death, life significance and disgust with their own impulses and find answers. So treating religion as a simple yes or no proposition ignores a great deal of what’s going on when people disagree about religion or the existence of God.
As you know, I am a Secular Humanist and not an Atheist, although we are linked and related, reason and science drives our life philosophy and in doing so, also means that I am not an absolutist and therein lies the difference between Humanists and Atheist.
I am a strict disciple of critical thinking and skepticism, but not in the classical sense of skepticism, but a new version of skepticism that rejects absolutism and embraces and recognizes the existence of possibilities.
I know this is contradictory to some of the comments I make about politics where I play an absolutist quite convincingly, but there is a psychological reason behind my comments and the way that I proselytize is very calculated and deliberate.
So yes!! I am very familiar with Quantum Physics and the theory of multiple dimensions like string theory, bubble theory, multiverses and the like. I do wish to understand the mathematics involved but I think it's beyond my capabilities, but for me, not understanding the mathematics does not negate the possibilities of such dimensions.
I often daydream and think deeply about such possibilities and the idea that their is a duplicate of our being in another dimension with very different outcomes or that this dimension is in the room with us, is to me, just fascinating. I love to think about where this could lead us in the future and into the possibilities of a higher consciousness beyond the intellectually egregious path we've been traveling at this point in history. The idea of something coming from nothing is what I've been contemplating and reading some of the publications from Stephen Hawking on his calculations about the birth of the universe.
God could very well exist, but until I see substantial evidence of such, I will take the position that he does not. The more that I learn concerning the vastness of the universe and the randomness of such including our existence and the formation of life, leads me further and further away from existence of an all encompassing being or creator.
Humanists such as myself recognize the importance that religion has played in history but we also recognize the damage it is doing to the world and the violence and death committed in the name of God and it is this fact, that has motivated us to educate people on all levels as it invariably results in the rejection of a supernatural being controlling the universe. Hence the current obsession from the religious right in demonizing intellectualism, institutions of higher learning and academia in general. The dumbing down of America has so far succeeded but with this new generation and a major part of my generation x, we are making significant advances towards a secular society and government.
I have much more to say but I'll let you and Jezebel respond at this point…..
The God/No God Thread
