Well, I went through the work of putting a link for you. You *may* find this site interesting, since it's got some scientific stuff, don't Atheists love Science? (Who needs books, if you can have some stuff for free) : http://www.godandscience.org/
that was quite humourous... Libertine...i asked a question, for clarification on something you posted, but it was missed [cause you were responding to one of ryu's] so im gonna ask it again...what did you mean by "nothing can transcend 'the whole of existing things'"
If the Universe is the "whole of existing things", there can be nothing OUTSIDE the "whole of existing things". So, nothing can "transcend" this. No room for gods, etc. So, the religious folk claim he is a "Spirit". The etymology of "spirit" simply translates to "breath, air, etc." -- in other words--that which is essential for life, the life's essence...blah blah... So, I guess this means the "evil spirits" are really just "bad breath"??
no one knows silly buns I am almost possitive (in my mind) that we will never know. It makes me sad sometimes, but it is the truth.
The THEORIES of the observable universe are several. Notice I said the observable universe...many think the BIG BANG caused this. Since the universe is the whole of existing things and not a "whole thing", I agree with the theory that the "uni-verse" (ha ha) IS....AND has always existed because matter cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change form. If "breath man" can JUST exist, so can the whole of existing things. As a matter of fact, I have much more "faith" in the latter because it can be sampled.
Instead of trying to prove why I think God exists, I guess I must simply refer to experience. Bad things happen...this isn't a gloom and doom thing, and I don't care to talk about hellfire or eternal damnation or something. I'm talking about when a friend comes to you and lets it all out, and they gain even a little bit of consolation from what I tell them about God. We can sit around all day and bicker about God's existence, but for me it just always comes down to social justice. Faith in God happens to be the thing that drives me, but I can work right next to a non-Christian doing the same thing as me, and see Christ in them, even if they're not Christian. That's what God is. God is love..creation, restoration..strength...
Libertine, why can't you just read my words at face value? If it helps, I wasn't raised in the Church, so it's not like I'm just a Christian because that's what I know or that's how I was raised. This has been a long process and investigation for me and, to be honest, I still am very interested in Islamic theology. *sigh* btw, I looked up sophistry this time...instead of just forging ahead with an argument..against interpolations...
I respect your right to choose, of course. But, as vigorous as religious folks are about their beliefs, so am I about mine. SO, if I come across as Mr. Asshole Man, don't take it personally, it's just aimed at the "beliefs" not the person.
What I realized with the last guy I dated was: I think the beliefs are the person in a way. He wanted me to take faith and God and put it on a shelf when I was with him, as if I could just take off my God-hat and put it in a box so that we could party together, and then I'd go back to being myself during the week. It totally pulled me apart. One might say that we just didn't get along in other arenas, not just religion, or lack thereof.
Oh, I see. Well, I can separate my beliefs in religion and politics in order to have a good time with a person, but I would not completely abandon them. I think variety and differences are great for friendships and even relationships as long as when someone differs with an issue, the person doesn't take it as a personal assault on them. If I say I disagree about religion, that doesn't mean that I think you are a stupid or bad person because we disagree, it just means that I don't agree with you on that issue.
right..which is why I must reiterate..except for an amazing physical connection, (amazing enough for me to ignore how totally wrong we were for each other) there was nothing else there to keep us together.