I know the subject has gotten a bit off base. But just a question to you guys that don't believe in God. What are your thoughts on how we got here. Since it is a scientific fact that once upon a time there was nothing. Where did the something come from. Second what makes you feel guilty when you do something wrong. Where does that come from, is that a DNA pass down you think? And last what kind of sign to you need to believe in God?
1) The transformation of nothing into something has only recently entered the realm of science and I'm not qualified to comment on that at this time.
2) What makes me feel guilty? It used to be my mother. Now, it's something called a conscience. Most people of good upbringing have one. The possiblity of feeling guilty comes with cognitive development and is usually present in human beings from the age of 3. Since a cat will never have a cognitive ability greater than that of atwo-year-old child (with the possible exception of Siamese cats), they may feel badly about having disappointed us in some way, but it's not quite guilt.
3) The only god I don't believe in is the one that can be all-powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful and perfectly just at the same time, for such a thing is an impossibility. I would be quite open to the possibility of a god who had, at the most, only two of the aforementioned qualities. Therefore, while this precludes the existence of a Judeo-Christian-Muslim god, I could accept any other ifthere is evidenceto show she exists.
An earlier post had a comment about intelligent design that I cannot allow to go unchecked. Shame on you for thinking that it is 'dumb' to believe that life today has evolved through millions of years from humble origins. There is overwhelming evidence to show that natural selection is entirely credible, evidence that is peer reviewed and open to debate in the best scientific tradition.Not so intelligent design.
I think part of the problem is not enough of us know what natural selection is. The best way toexplain it is to compare it to artificialselection.
Artificial selectionis how we came up with many different breeds of cats, dogs, horses, cows and even some plants. We humans created conditions in which animals having certaincharacteristicsare made to mate with similar members of the same species. Hence, we "selectively" breed these animals,leading to specialised breeds. Becausethis is initiated andcarried out by humans, it is called artificial selection.
Natural selectionis something similar carried out withouthuman intervention. Some animals havecharacteristics that, in certain environments and under certain conditions, prove to be advantageous. They eat better and can defend their territory more successfully. They may even appear more desirable to prospective mates. This leads to more reproductive success as their children will tend to have the same characteristics thatmade the parents so successful. The lineages of less successful members of the species eventually die out. In some cases, entire species die out.
There was mention of Hitler in a few posts. Some (not necessarily in this Forum) have accused Hitler of using "Darwinism" to create asuperior race. Actually, he was using tried and true farming techniques. Darwin had nothing to do with it.
Magic can do neato things without a scientific or logical basis. Therefore God is magic and uses magic. So religion likes to explain things by saying that the universe and people and pretty trees and moutains were made by magic. That is a fairly crude explanation. When we look into the structure of the building blocks of life, even down to the very subatomic particles that make up the fascinating constituents of its form, we never get to a tiny cell containing the twinkling light of magic. What makes us tick? We're not really sure. But then, should we know all the secrets of the universe after only having delved into them for the last couple thousand years, and in a realistic way only in the last 50 or 60? Are we so arrogant that we think we should know everything there is to know? We may never get the answers but for absolutely sure, we will never even come close to finding them if we hunker down behind an old book or effigy or idol or dogma and claim that any farther is heresy through our own fear of the unknown.
Yes, the bible is vague and goes in every direction at once. Freedom of choice is what we have as humans, not what god gave us. Remember, he killed almost everyone with the flood and you still don't think he'd say, hey, I ought to be very clear with these idiots and tell them what's what? Sure he would.
Here's a challenge for the god fearing creationists: Galileo was religious and pious but the church excommunicated him for propounding his understanding of our place in the universe. (Turns out he was absolutely correct). Darwin couldn't state his beliefs for over twenty years for fear of what the religious would do to his career, and life. Whether you believe in creationism or not, Darwin added greatly to our library of understanding about our natural world. He was foremost, an explorer and documenter, carefully recording reality and only then considering its implications. He was also religious, and believed in god. God didn't say how to smelt iron in the bible. He didn't explain the sun or stars to us and he didn't tell us to watch our procreation so that we didn't overrun his big blue and green creation. We had to figure these things out for ourselves. Why then do you backtrack and deny what we have learned? Why perpetuate the church's mistakes? We will be the authors of our own future. Let the Middle East become mired in its own past, desperate to return to the old laws and the sinless (yeah right) days of yore. Please, realize you're only a pawn in the same game. Creationism is like Sharia Law, an illogical haven from having to think or progress. There will always be a search for better understanding. Sit back and if you can't be part of it, at least applaud its efforts. The only people who say they have all the answers are those who won't look for more.
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