Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

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Science has progressed to the point where we can safely say the universe functions just fine without any divine intervention, and everything that exists/has ever existed can be explained sufficiently by naturalism.


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Explain the existence of the universe.

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

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To make a long story short, I was raised catholic

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You were trained in this.

That's what training is for. It teaches you a response other than the instinct you were born with.

People aren't born believing in God. People need to explain things so that they make sense. God is not used to explain anything that already makes sense. That's because we don't need him for that.

If I get attacked in the street I will probably kill my attacker. This is because I was trained to do this. Most people will either fight recklessly or freeze up in panic.

You do what you are taught, especially under stress when you may not be thinking clearly about the situation.

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

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Explain the existence of the universe.

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God made it. Well not God exactly, but the pure essence of the Almighty willed it into being with a heaping of loving-kindness thrown in for good measure.

Reflections in a still pool
 

I am what I want to be, I experience what I want to experience, I am god.

In Hinduism there is a thought that essentially says to find the great force that is without look deep inside your self.

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

Another vote for 1859, Darwin's Origin of Species. If not, maybe 1927, Big Bang Theory.

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

Some Native American religions talk about the "Great Mystery". They believe in the Great Spirit, Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Animism, but they don't consider these to in any way explain the Great Mystery. When Europeans arrived, the Native Americans thought them to be religiously naive in the way they presented their concept of god as descriptive knowledge of the Great Mystery.

Now Science has emerged to explain many things that were once considered mysterious. The Scientific conceptual framework has become ubiquitous and many people have replaced old religious concepts with Science, thinking the metaphores of Scientific Theories are more enlightened than the poetry of old religions.

However, just as "gods" come and go throughout history, I think the current fad of Science negating Mysticism will fade in the future. Mysticism will make a big comeback amongst even the most Scientificly Literate because even though Science has explained many mysteries of the past, the Great Mystery still remains.

PairTheBoard

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

I can't give the exact date but Eve was the first atheist. When she no longer accepted God at His Word, but substituted her own understanding, she was effectively saying God is not supreme, which is the same as saying there is no God.

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

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I can't give the exact date but Eve was the first atheist. When she no longer accepted God at His Word, but substituted her own understanding, she was effectively saying God is not supreme, which is the same as saying there is no God.

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Do we know whether Eve was hot? Because if she was hot and she was the first truly independent thinker . . . hubba, hubba.

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

No, it is not absurd, because my evidence was to show that men have not willed themselves into existence and cannot will themselves out of existence.

You demand "credible" evidence from a purely subjective human standpoint. My point is, that there is an objective reality outside of ourselves, and we cannot come to absolute conclusions about certain things.

There are people here who state that they are Atheist because they think God probably does not exist from what they have seen. This is reasonable. Then there are those who insist that there is 100% positively no God. This is impossible to positively conclude, thus is unreasonable.

You also state that, " It is not the disbeliever's job to demonstrate negative affirmation." This is incorrect. Anybody who makes an affirmation that is 100% conclusive must be able to demonstrate it.

Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
 

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Do we know whether Eve was hot?

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Of course we do!

2 ways to approach the question.

1) Eve was the only chance for the survival of the species.

2) Even the snake was hot for her.