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#1
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When in history did atheism become the only choice?
Any thinking, rational person of today has to admit that in the year 2005, God is an absurb hypothesis. 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. Where things haven't been explained, it is fairly obvious to an open minded person that 'God did it' is one of the most childish and least useful explanations we can come up with. And wrong on so many levels.
But 1000 years ago, we didn't have answers to a lot of simple questions. For example: 1. What are the sun and the stars? 2. Where did people come from? 3. How can we think and feel? 4. What is the world made of? 5. How did everything get here, all the elements, all the amazing diversity of life 6. What makes life tick? How is life different to non life? What is the life force that drives us? 7. Where does morality come from? 8. What happens when we die? Looking at these questions, it's fairly easy to see (I think) how an uneducated but otherwise intelligent and thoughtful person could believe in God. There's simply no other explanation for the amazing world as perceived by someone from that era. So my question is, at what point could intelligent people begin to infer that God is just made up? What breakthroughs made it possible? Or have there always been atheists who didn't have the answers, but suspected the 'all powerful Superdaddy/Sky Fairy' theory wasn't it? |
#2
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
When Darwin wrote "The Origin of Species".
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#3
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
You start with a false premise by saying any thinking rational person cannot believe in God. Clearly God can be understood in an analogous manner. I do not need the impossible immediate proof that historical figures exist to believe that they existed. If I believe in Socrates, am I irrational?
There is nothing irrational about believing there may be a superior immaterial being outside of ourselves, especially since we have not made our own existence or can will it to stop existing. |
#4
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
"Clearly God can be understood in an analogous manner. I do not need the impossible immediate proof that historical figures exist to believe that they existed. If I believe in Socrates, am I irrational?
Cmon. |
#5
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
Do you believe in Socrates?
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#6
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
[ QUOTE ]
Do you believe in Socrates? [/ QUOTE ] Do you mean that he existed or that he was God? (God's son, etc.) |
#7
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
Like in Santa Claus.
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#8
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
[ QUOTE ]
There is nothing irrational about believing there may be a superior immaterial being outside of ourselves, especially since we have not made our own existence or can will it to stop existing. [/ QUOTE ] This is basically true. I think the problem comes when you examine explanations that used to be attributed to God or Godlike beings that are now explained by science and technology. The probability that the causes of current unknown phenomenon will be discovered by science increases with every new discovery while simultaneously decreasing the probability that God will maintain his place as the explanation for everything. If this is fallacious, please point out how. |
#9
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
I think the only thing fallacious is not in your reasoning, but in people who try to limit God's nature by attributing to him material or limited conceptual characteristics.
The understanding of God as pure essence cannot be disproven by any means, even in abstract human thought. It would be like trying to say that we don't exist. And although science can answer how things work, it does not answer why. This is beyond the natural realm that science works within. So why people's prejudices of what God is may change in the future, it does not alter God in any way. |
#10
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Re: When in history did atheism become the only choice?
[ QUOTE ]
I think the only thing fallacious is not in your reasoning, but in people who try to limit God's nature by attributing to him material or limited conceptual characteristics. [/ QUOTE ] --Yeah, how dare you attempt to use logic to analyze unsubstantiated claims about the existence of a non-entity. Don't you realize God will not have himself pigeon-holed this way?! [ QUOTE ] The understanding of God as pure essence cannot be disproven by any means, even in abstract human thought. It would be like trying to say that we don't exist. [/ QUOTE ] --Oh, this old canard again. First off, a statement like "the understanding of God as pure essence" is almost entirely meaningless. It's just a bunch of vague words thrown together. And the issue isn't whether or not it can be disproven (whatever that statement means), it is whether or not there is any reason to believe that it is true. If you can't offer any credible evidence, your assertion fails. It is not the disbeliever's job to demonstrate negative affirmation. Your second sentence above is entirely absurd. |
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