Atheism : Love it or Leave it? - Part 2

[Franklin Richards]

What makes me more important than a salmon? They live a complex life of struggle and strife. And finally win or lose in their journey to do what some would consider an ethical act of procreating.


You sound arrogant.

 

[Knight Rise]

you dont feel more important than a salmon?

 

[Ghostvirus]

Without knowledge what kind of purpose could we of acheived?

 

[Franklin Richards]

Not at all.

 

[Knight Rise]

Without knowledge what kind of purpose could we of acheived?

exactly. which is why i feel that was planned to happen, to test us on good or bad, right and wrong.

 

[Knight Rise]

Not at all.

then i shall say no more

 

[Ghostvirus]

exactly. which is why i feel that was planned to happen, to test us on good or bad, right and wrong.

In that case most of us are failing horribly.

 

[Franklin Richards]

I don't think anyone is more "important" in a giant ecosystem.

 

[Bubonic]

exactly. which is why i feel that was planned to happen, to test us on good or bad, right and wrong.

to test us! see, you do like my chart.

 

[Knight Rise]

In that case most of us are failing horribly.

well, theres people who try and change that for the sake of humanity. and of course there are people that will stick with what they have. its natural. people change. there are good people out there in the world. are they perfect? no and they dont try to be.

 

[Knight Rise]

to test us! see, you do like my chart.

yes i did find myself back to that point t:

 

[Bubonic]

I don't think anyone is more "important" in a giant ecosystem.

Especially not a noob species like us, we've hardly been tested.
The masters of the universe are germs and such.

 

[Bat-Mite]

you do realize Satan is defeated in Revelation? if Adam and Eve had not eaten the Fruit of Knowledge, there wouldn't be evil. its knowledge that separates the connection to God. not saying you're wrong, but that chart is a bit offensive

I've always been perplexed by that scenario in Genesis. God tells Adam and Eve not to eat from that tree because it will bring about death, but since death has never happened in Eden, they don't know what that means. They can't possibly know that it is wrong to disobey God, because they don't yet have any conception of what "right" and "wrong" or "good" and "evil" are. They don't understand any of this until after they've eaten from the tree, and then God punishes them after the fact for basically being ignorant, as if it were their fault and not his.

im not saying knowledge is the core of all evil, but thats just where it seemed to start. i felt we were put on this Earth for a reason, not just for biological happenings. theres gotta be SOME reason we ended up here, and i understand some science does try to lead back to God.

Why does there have to be a reason for it? There are things going on millions of light years away (that have basically been going on since the origin of the universe) that we haven't even known about until recent history when we've finally had the technology to observe it. These things would be going on out there whether we were here to observe them or not. They were going on in the days of the dinosaurs... there weren't any people to see them then, thus no "reason" for them to be. Why is it so disturbing to you if these events are unscripted?

 

[hopefuldreamer]

im not saying knowledge is the core of all evil, but thats just where it seemed to start. i felt we were put on this Earth for a reason, not just for biological happenings. theres gotta be SOME reason we ended up here, and i understand some science does try to lead back to God.

Why? Why does there HAVE to be a reason.

And also, i'm reminded of one of my biggest reasons for my atheism.

Can someone explain to me the origin of God?

By your logic, we can't have just happened... something must have made us happen.

But what made God happen. He can't have just happened. Something must have made him happen, right?

How do christians explain this? That's what I don't understand.

I accept that things can just happen. With no reason, out of nowhere... because that is the only explanation. If you trace ANY belief or theory back to the very very beginning of anything, there has to be a start... and that start HAS to be something that happened randomly, with no reason.

Actually, whenever I think about the beginning of time I scare myself. The origin of time itself is something that gives me shivers and makes my brain tingle. Just the idea of it having not existed... it blows my mind.

Does anyone know of any good reading material on it?

 

[Bat-Mite]

The origin of time itself is something that gives me shivers and makes my brain tingle. Just the idea of it having not existed... it blows my mind.

Does anyone know of any good reading material on it?

I'd try A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I haven't read it myself, but I've heard that it covers topics like that.

 

[Ghostvirus]

Breif History is a good one. Books by Michio Kaku are good as well.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Actually I'd suggest the third book, "The Universe In a nutshell".

Also, the documentary series " Stephen Hawking's Universe".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd1tgLQg4ZU



Or Horizon's "What is Reality?"

http://movreel.com/8tjtsoqhu42d



"What Happened Before the Big Bang?":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bGx3UB-Slg



And Horizon's "What Time Is It?" with Brian Cox.

http://megavideo.com/?v=1E5R9Y6Y

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Cheers guys!

 

[Reikowolf]

Evil exists because of morality structured on faith. Evil is an abstract concept.

Who is to say what is evil? in the grand scheme of things.

Can evil be defined as being selfish? or giving into one's ego?

How does this relate to choice?

Maybe things just happen, evil or otherwise

OR maybe is evil is like pain, and designed to help us grow spiritually? either through acting it out or seeing examples of it.

If a man is evil, his example may lead others to "good" as they have made him the definition of what not to be?

 

[Saint]

im not saying knowledge is the core of all evil, but thats just where it seemed to start.

This is so unbelievably backwards; I can't fathom how anyone in the modern day could characterize the search for knowledge as evil. How could striving for truth, justice, and enlightenment be a bad thing?

 

[moviedoors]

That's exactly what I was argueing.

That being an Atheist CAN be something you love, CAN be something that makes you happy and comforts you.

But it's not something that you accept JUST BECAUSE of the comfort it provides.

Like I've said before I don't see being Atheist as a choice anyone makes, it just happens to certain people when their logical minds put all the information together and come to a conlusion that is then obvious to them... God doesn't exist.

Yes, it is possible to be happy about it, and to even find comfort in the reliability in science.

But it's not something you embrace in order to find comfort, which I think religion sometimes is.

Much truth here. It mirrors my story almost to a T. One moment, there was a god, then a certain order of thoughts went through my head, and it was gone. I can literally remember the moment when the whole concept fell apart in my head. At the time, having no faith was not a comforting notion. I made peace with having no faith when I was able to find awe in the cosmos just as it is and I think that's all we really need: some awe in our lives.

 

[moviedoors]

Ah, right. Sorry about that.

No prob.

 

[roach]

In my experience I find that I can deal with people of faith better than Atheists.

Generally and for the most part most people of faith keep their beliefs to themselves. Yes I know there are exceptions to the rule....however the few nutcases are a drop in the bucket to the mass thats dont try to convert everyone.

However Atheists feel the need to let everyone know they are atheists and belittle those who do believe.

Again these are my experiences

 

[TheIncredibleSk]

Im only tell people im a atheist if they ask. I will start to belittle a person's religion if their overbearing with their religion and put it in my face.

 

[roach]

Im only tell people im a atheist if they ask. I will start to belittle a person's religion if their overbearing with their religion and put it in my face.

thats kool but most of the ones I've met act as if they are superior to everyone else