Do You Believe in God?

[Socks]

you're so edgy and original

Nyerp is my favorite non fictional dipshit. 

[Bolivian Army]

Socks are my favorite articles of clothing. 

[Thyme]

God is my favorite fictional character. 

Best antagonist ever.

[Hippopo]

uh doesn't the story go that he noticed that the sails and whatnot of large ships appeared to be lower as they sailed further off into the horizon which implied the said curvature sounds kind of like observation to me

Who, Aristotle?

No.  He first came to the conclusion the Earth was round by rationalization, not observation.  He saw the moon, the sun, the planets, the stars, and their orbits and saw them to be perfect circles.  He rationalized the earth also must be like a "round ball" as well.

the thing about science is that it's okay with not having an answer for everything at the moment 

And strengthening my point that we shouldn't trust it blindly because it doesn't explain everything. 

Where did God come from?
And as for the "material": there was none. The big bang was pure energy and as dictated by the theory* of relativity(E=MC²) energy and mass are the same and they are transmutable: energy can become mass. Mass can become energy(observed with anti-matter/matter collisions)
Mass is what makes matter. The massive amount of energy alone is what provided the material.

Good.  I like it.  But let's think about this a bit.  Pure energy is sitting there in the center of the universe just chilling.  Maybe for millions of years let's say.  What sparks the explosion?  We like to think of cause and effect.  Can there be an effect without a cause?

He said it wasn't relevant, not something we shouldn't research.

Why?  If it's not relevant to us, why should we waste our time?  I'm arguing it actually is relevant.

It's not blindly trusting if there is evidence to back it up. The Bible's only "proof" is itself saying it's true. You can't write a scientific paper and only cite the paper itself. Why should the Bible or any other religious text be any different?

No, no.  It is still blind trust even with evidence.  Remember, evidence can be misinterpreted and isn't always right (think of court cases).  You can't trust everything that comes out of science.  I already gave the example that the world is flat.  If you'd like more examples, explore the atomic theory.  See how much it has evolved throughout the years.  If you subscribed completely to the first theory, then how can you believe the later ones?  Always question and don't trust everything, especially something that is always changing.  That's what I'm saying.

Greco-Roman myth: do I even have to explain this? We already know their silly gods aren't real.

THEY'RE NOT SILLY >:[  They have a beautiful creation story. (better than silly old Adam and Eve, and just as believable)

SIDE NOTE TIME!!!!

I'M AN AGNOSTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe there's something seriously wrong with the Bible, and people shouldn't cling to it for the answers.

Likewise, I believe there's something seriously wrong with the sciences, and people should question them just as much.

Where can we find the answers?!?!?  Reason.

[guff]

Who, Aristotle?

No.  He first came to the conclusion the Earth was round by rationalization, not observation.  He saw the moon, the sun, the planets, the stars, and their orbits and saw them to be perfect circles.  He rationalized the earth also must be like a "round ball" as well.

uh actually i guess the ship thing is attributed to someone else, but he actually did base his theory off of observation so you're wrong anyways 

And strengthening my point that we shouldn't trust it blindly because it doesn't explain everything. 

not having the answer to everything != being unable to explain it ever 


also just a general note: individual scientists may occasionally rely on intution and inductive reasoning, but science does not tell us how to live our lives 

[Hippopo]

uh actually i guess the ship thing is attributed to someone else, but he actually did base his theory off of observation so you're wrong anyways  n_unot having the answer to everything != being unable to explain it ever 


also just a general note: individual scientists may occasionally rely on intution and inductive reasoning, but science does not tell us how to live our lives 

Silly, boy.  The final conclusion was made through reason. He had no "scientific evidence."   

We'll never have the answers through our constantly changing, groundless methods. 

Mmmhmm.. The greatest theories come from reasoning.  BUUUUUUUUUT!  They are always up for cross examination. 

And science should tell us how to live our lives. 

Just kidding. 

[guff]

Silly, boy.  The final conclusion was made through reason. He had no "scientific evidence."   

Every portion of the earth tends toward the center until by compression and convergence they form a sphere. (De caelo, 297a9-21)
Travelers going south see southern constellations rise higher above the horizon; and
The shadow of Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse is round. (De caelo, 297b31-298a10)

anyways go get your aura read you new age asshole 

[Hippopo]

anyways go get your aura read you new age asshole 

I already did for the day.  I'm very green.  New growth, yay!

:P

[Lance Corporal Atlas]

hey monsieur

What you fail to realize is that supposed science in early years of civilization was largely based on religion and random guessing. Slim said modern day science, not science in general. Also, he isn't trusting blindly in it when they have given evidence to back up their claims. When "god did is" is used to explain a lot of things as opposed to "well this works because it follows the law of blah blah blah", I'd say that the rational that uses other things to back itself up would in fact be more accurate.

Also, you seem to want science to prove how it's proving that it's proving that it's proving how it is in fact correct. By that logic, nothing is certain. Which is dumb, by the way.

[sans culottes]

A supreme being created the world in seven days and all humans descend from a woman who was made out of a rib. That's a stupid theory of creation.

A bunch of atoms in space went BANG and suddenly Earth was made and every living organism descends from one cell. That's a stupid theory of creation. (I'm aware that not all atheists believe this)

How was the world created? We won't ever know and we don't need to know. The problem is that people seek answers to everything. What's more important than seeking answers is seeking more questions.

In my mind, I like to go by rational and scientific thought. But the other side of my head says, "What's the point of being agnostic?". Sure, organized religion has been fucked up, but the basic principles of Jesus are all fine and dandy. Sometimes I want to believe in God because it's pointless not to, and sometimes I want to think scientifically.

[Ezloﺕ]

A supreme being created the world in seven days and all humans descend from a woman who was made out of a rib. That's a stupid theory of creation.

A bunch of atoms in space went BANG and suddenly Earth was made and every living organism descends from one cell. That's a stupid theory of creation. (I'm aware that not all atheists believe this)

How was the world created? We won't ever know and we don't need to know. The problem is that people seek answers to everything. What's more important than seeking answers is seeking more questions.

In my mind, I like to go by rational and scientific thought. But the other side of my head says, "What's the point of being agnostic?". Sure, organized religion has been fucked up, but the basic principles of Jesus are all fine and dandy. Sometimes I want to believe in God because it's pointless not to, and sometimes I want to think scientifically.

if by suddenly you mean "nearly 9 billion years later" that the earth was created then yes

[guff]

A bunch of atoms in space went BANG and suddenly Earth was made and every living organism descends from one cell. That's a stupid theory of creation. (I'm aware that not all atheists believe this)

how is that a stupid theory 

things fall because massive objects distort the fabric of spacetime which results in a mutual pull inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the objects.  that's a stupid theory of gravity 

[sans culottes]

The world is very confusing. But, we will never know if the universe was made by a big bang, a god, or something else. We will never know if any supreme being exists. Yeah, we have science to help us understand the world and it's great. But think about this - how can -you- know what science is real and not? In example, we agree that Bird Y evolved from Bird X on a tiny island because many scientists studied the birds. But have any of us personally studied them? To take this perspective further, maybe I'm the only human in the universe and everyone I've met is an alien lifeform technologically disquised. It sounds stupid and I can't prove it, but I can't disprove it either.

In short, we will never know if a god exists so it's not worth debating - you either believe or don't, just don't be an ass about it and we can all get along.

[guff]

The world is very confusing.

not really no though i am a bit miffed about how i ran out of poptarts 

But, we will never know if the universe was made by a big bang, a god, or something else.

how do you know that 

But think about this - how can -you- know what science is real and not?

by definition, science is real
humans are fallible, but that's why we've got peer review and the requirement for reproducible results

In example, we agree that Bird Y evolved from Bird X on a tiny island because many scientists studied the birds. But have any of us personally studied them?

well for one thing on a tiny island you're not going to have much genetic diversity which makes significant differentiation a bit wonky sounding and secondly unlike most religions science inherently allows for falsifiable ideas to be proven false i.e. anyone who was skeptical of these many scientists could go to gilligan's island and see for themselves

To take this perspective further, maybe I'm the only human in the universe and everyone I've met is an alien lifeform technologically disquised.

maybe you've watched too many movies 

It sounds stupid and I can't prove it, but I can't disprove it either.

you could kidnap one and perform a dna test sure you'd probably have to do it yourself since their testing technology could just be part of the trick but it's doable 

but more seriously it's not the business of science to disprove claims that are offered without evidence

[Thyme]

ITT Thyme shows that he yet again learned new words on Wikipedia.

It seems I'm Ignostic. I can't discuss about the question of the existence of God if the definition of God isn't clarified first. I'm agnostic (yet mostly apatheistic) about some possible definitions and atheistic about some others.