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'The "Best Arguments for God's Existence" Are Actually Terrible'

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Jan 19, 2014.

  1. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member


    Why? Who is to say that something had to start? You are clinging to a belief -- that the universe had to begin at all -- derived from long-standing scientific theories that more modern thought are eroding.
     
  2. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    I'm not clinging to anything in that regard.

    Something either happened, or something didn't happen. I haven't hitched my star to either wagon.
     
  3. Here me roar

    Here me roar Guest

    This cracks me up. Seriously. Who is he to declare this is no god? He is him. He is living his life and in his life and his experience and his world view, there is no god. So be it.
    If, in your experience and world view and life, there is a god, so be it.
    But this is really the fricking, frakking point. People who believe in god think they can spout it from the highest point, whenever and where ever and it's valid. Um, no. To you maybe.
    Who hell are you to declare there IS a god.

    Get a fucking grip.

    His non belief is no less worthwhile than your belief. One of Christianity's greatest failing. You only believe in freedom of religion if it's your own.
     
  4. inkstainedwretch2

    inkstainedwretch2 New Member

    I shall remain a practicing agnostic
     
  5. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    Don't take the wrong way or nothing but I don't give a half-shit about your religious beliefs.
    Or lack of, if such is the case.
     
  6. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Can you still hit at least two octaves in a half-shit?

    Just wondering. Also, what do you do with the other half?
     
  7. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    I have a good GI tract, dude.
    You have to, to hit the high notes.
     
  8. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Can you do "Love to Love You, Baby"?

    From Johnny to Rosalita. Thanks, Fart!
     
  9. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    How beautifully intertwined nature is did not just happen. You can say there is not a God as it is defined in 2014, but all this shit just didn't happen by itself. We just don't know the answer to why and how everything came together.
     
  10. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    I'm happy to talk about how atheism interacts with Christianity, arguments for God, all that, but this particular article, it's pretty clear, is a pissing match between a small circle of people who'd I'd probably enjoy knowing.

    I laughed a bit at this logic:

    <i>"And does Burkeman realize that I spent several years reading theology before I decided that it was a mind-numbing and largely worthless exercise? It’s not like I haven’t heard their Best Arguments."</i>

    Coyne's saying "since I've done the research, and I'm right, don't bother, because I'm telling you it's a waste of time."

    I mean, I'm sure inquiring minds appreciate the advice, but I'm not sure Coyne has to scamper around the Internet, barring the door.

    Anyway some other points:

    Coyne's right when he says that most Christians have an anthropomorphic view of God, and that's because of Genesis and the Gospels. We're made in God's image, and God's constant interaction in the OT suggests being supreme but also down to size in relating to man's earthly experiences. When God sends Jesus to Earth to receive the punishment for all sins before, during and after his physical existence, it deepens the notion for believers that God is more than His creative/scientific disputed properties. He is, simply, the author of love. Or at least how Christians view him to be, or other adherents of other faiths view their Gods to be, etc.

    Coyne's definition/insistence on evidence -- or Hitchens, before he passed -- is a notion that's long bored me. OK, you're unswayed, good for you, let's talk about music or the NFL. As a Christian, I'm not closed off from relationships with atheists but I also don't have to "win the argument," either. I don't even need to have the argument. If I share my worldview and you reject it, I'll pray for you and continue to be your friend, insomuch that our interests align, like any friendship does. I don't make friends for the purpose of witnessing to them, nor am I, at this point in my life, unsettled about where I stand intellectually.

    I agree with Coyne that many theologians' views on God don't differ significantly from the layperson's view. Of course, he counts that against the poor, unknowing layperson. I don't.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Yeah, I can't imagine the kind of sad little person who would make something like this their's life's work.

    I can believe whatever I choose to and you can believe whatever you choose to, and let's agree not to shit on each other's beliefs as long as nobody is getting hurt?

    Life is really too short to worry about such things.
     
  12. TrooperBari

    TrooperBari Well-Known Member

    Sure, if you can guarantee the bolded bit, but that's one hell of a caveat.
     
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