You are drawing conclusions on nothing. For all we know love and other emotions are pure biochemistry. 100% logic. The fact that we do not yet know how it works, doesn’t mean that it was magic or etc.

Secondly atheists are not claiming “there is no god”. We claim nothing, but when an theist comes and says: “there is a god”, we say “prove it or it doesn’t exist”. That’s not claiming that there is no god. That’s saying your argument is not true. There’s a difference and therefore atheism is the default answer for question if there is a god or not.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, so let me first say that I know my God, and no it isn’t any form of arrogance or denial, it is simply a ‘recognition’ statement, as with saying ‘I am Max’. I’m sure everyone recognizes love, but love is never within the boundaries of logic, so since God is love, how can one confine God to a logical explanation? Christianity is not a religion; its a relationship. Its being able to connect with your Creator. The connection is inexplicable, as with love, but it brings the very completeness that all of us long for.

My point is this: So you believe. So you don’t. Then what are you doing here? Why are you still here struggling to put bits and pieces into this puzzle that can never be finished? There’s a world out there that needs you and your brilliant minds. Enough with this senseless tug-of-war; if you don’t believe in anything, then at least believe in our kind – humans! Make this world a better place for our people. I know that’s my purpose from God, and that’s why I don’t have to struggle for answers nor do I have to prove anything. Hence, I’m not coming back to this thread, and I hope you don’t too. Things happen which are not for you to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you. Cheers!

Thanks for clearing up just what we should believe in the Bible and what we should ignore. But I can walk a half a block and find a so-called Christian that would refute your claims. Who to believe???

By the way, I do know what I am talking about when I say the Bible (New and Old Testaments) is hogwash. A book written by patriarchal men that thought the Earth was flat and being left handed was a sign of the Devil. They have nothing to offer me. And when you get to your “judgement day”, you will be greeted by… NOTHING. You are wasting your life praying to a God that can’t hear you because he does not exist, and waiting for an afterlife that will not come. But, by all means, carry on!

I would like to say we have evolved since those dark times when this fantasy was written, but then I read your post and see your picture. You are proof of de-evolution.

Does anyone else hear the theme from “Deliverence” in the background???

JT – you give the appearance of having read the Bible, but still don’t know what you’re talking about. Sunday is not the Sabbath, so what difference does cutting one’s grass on that day make? I know, there are plenty of preachers that get lost in Leviticus and start repeating the old laws just like we’ve never heard them before. All the Law and Prophets were fulfilled in Jesus Christ (according to the Bible), and we now live by two commandments: Love God with all your heart, mind and strength, and second is to love neighbor as self. Do Chrsitians always follow these commands perfectly? No; but those are the ones that apply, not the 800 others about scales, hooves, and days of the week.

We are the accomplishment of God that was made in his image. No other being of creation is described that way. We are the only intelligent beings that have been offered redemption. Humans are the only beings in creation that God appeared as, in the form of the man Jesus Christ. We may not be the greatest triumph of his creation, but I don’t think anyone (reasonably) claimed to be. We are the created ones that God loves.

I’m sure you’ll disagree, but it makes me feel better having sharded with you (and the readers of this blog) the truth. Don’t stand before God on judgement day and say you never heard it.

The Bible is a patriarchal book, written by ignorant slave owners, using the fear of eternal damnation in an attempt to control people. When some tells tell me they “believe in the Bible”, I will always ask them if they believe in it in a metaphorical or literal sense.

If it’s metaphorical, then I say they must reject all of the shorthand bullet-point religion that has been handed down to them to be observed as the WORD OF GOD, such as fear of homosexuality, abstinence prior to marriage, the existence of Jesus, Noah and all the other hocus pocus mumbo-jumbo.

If it’s literal, then I say they must not have read it because they should have been put to death long ago after they ate a shrimp cocktail or a ham sandwich; or have ever cut their grass on Sunday. Not to mention the dozens or hundreds of inconsistencies that can’t be explained away.

Neither of these positions is tenable. Pick your poison. You can’t have to both ways.

The Bible is an outdated collection of stories with about as much wisdom as Aesop’s Fables. Maybe less. One day, it will be regarded as taboo to believe in such nonsense, not unlike voodoo or human sacrifice.

In light of what I wrote above, I also think is it is very arrogant for anyone to state that they KNOW a Supreme Being either exists or does not exist. NO ONE has definitive proof, one way or the other.

While science has taken us extraordinarily far in explaining the material world, I think there has got to be more to the true meaning of existence… for lack of a better word, something spiritual. However, as much as we hold our own species in high regards, I feel that we are far too primitive to even hope to understand the true meaning existence.

We are not God’s greatest accomplishment. If we are, then God is the mentally-challenged kid sitting in the corner with the dunce cap on his head. The proof is in the pudding. Humans – God’s greatest creation – show surprising little humanity. I find it is ironic that our greatest horrors have often been committed in the name of a God.

Instead of looking for the reason for our existence by searching for some phantom in the sky that simply does not exist, we should look inward and understand that all we have is the here and now. And we should be good to each other simply for the sake of being good. What is “right” is inherit in all of us. We don’t need a manual written 2000 years ago to scare us and instruct us on right and wrong.

The joy of life, interaction with nature and with the ones you love should be enough to sustain you and give you a meaningful existence. If it does not and you STILL feel the need for a mythical imaginary friend, I feel for you. You have just surrendered control of your happiness to an entity that does not even exist.

Santa isn’t all-knowing. He just knows when you’ve been a net bad or good in his book. Not everything that has ever happened.

I know plenty of intelligent adults who believe in a divine being. 1) This set of statements only applies to the Judeo-Christian god. Therefore, Hinduism, tribal theologies, etc are exempted from this list. 2) Plenty of intelligent individuals have been religious. Some say the complexity of the universe, others say the utter simplicity of the universe are reasons alone for a divine being. The arguement on intelligence isn’t a valid argument because it can go both ways. I do not doubt other people’s intelligence for not believing or believing in a divine entity.

Regarding the never returning calls bit. God returns calls. It may just be in a form you don’t like or see. Communication is both the sending of the message and the receiving. And sometimes the answer is no…we just don’t want to hear it.

Last two are obviously false if you are a believer. If you’re not a believer, they’re obviously true. My argument as to why they make sense and evidence is the actual universe itself. As of now man knows energy and matter are the same thing. (E=MC^2). However, we have never been able to spontaneously create them….thus we question how did the universe come into existence. Well, the matter and energy had to come from somewhere…Thus enters the divine. I’m not saying you need to believe this…but for a logician, with the current scientific body of knowledge we have, this logic seems to follow.