seeds wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:08 pm That’s easy, uwot.
In order to not believe in God...
(in other words, to not believe in a “guiding intelligence” presiding over the universe)
...then what an atheist “has to believe” (by default) is that blind and mindless processes have taken hold of the fabric of reality and somehow managed to fashion it (like a potter’s hands) into a context of order that defies comprehension.
That without the slightest hint of teleological impetus, the noumenal underpinning of the universe (the quantum), not only managed to self-arrange its patterns of information in such a way that would eventually lead to the manifestation of an unthinkably stable setting upon which life (life?) could then effloresce into existence,...
...but also managed to blindly and fortuitously equip that setting with every possible ingredient necessary to enable and sustain the efflorescence throughout its journey to self-awareness.
Now that’s basically what an atheist “has to believe” (again, by default) in order to not believe in a guiding intelligence.
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Although some of what you say is no doubt true, I have had some utterly mind-blowing experiences in my life that set me on my spiritual path - a path that has nothing to do with my upbringing in the way you are suggesting.
In fact, if you haven’t noticed, the ideas concerning God to which I was indoctrinated in my youth are precisely what I am attempting to demonstrate as being dubious and shallow (but not without elements of truth).
Might I humbly suggest that what you find ridiculous (as do I, btw) are the brazenly absurd depictions of God handed down to us from ancient minds.
In which case, can you not see that your own indoctrination to religious nonsense is influencing your current point of view?
Come on now, -1-, consider what Werner Heisenberg stated...
...or how about Lord William Kelvin...The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.
...or Max Born...I believe that the more thoroughly science is studied, the further does it take us from anything comparable to atheism.
...or Paul A. M. Dirac...Those who say that the study of science makes a man an atheist must be rather silly.
...or more recently, Michio Kaku stated...God is a mathematician of a very high order and He used advanced mathematics in constructing the universe.
...The point is that if that tiny sampling of top physicists can be open-minded about the issue of God, then why can’t you?I have concluded that we are in a world made by rules created by an intelligence. Believe me, everything that we call chance today won’t make sense anymore. To me it is clear that we exist in a plan which is governed by rules that were created, shaped by a universal intelligence and not by chance.
Right back at you, -1-.
And thank you for all of your kind words.
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