Poll: Do you believe in a higher power?

[MindBullets]

I'm an atheist, and here's my reasoning for it:

Consider all the gods that all the different societies (Romans, Ancient Greeks, etc) have believed in. These days, it's pretty much goes without saying that none of them existed. So what exactly makes God any different?

 

[Thaius]

I'll try not to start a war here, but honestly, I think it takes more blind belief to think that God doesn't exist than it takes to believe that he does. If you stop looking for proof that he exists and start looking for any other logical explanation for... well, everything, then it becomes obvious that there has to be a God.

And, being a Christian, I am against organized religion: religion is nothing more than rules made up by man to get to God. No man-made means can get you there: only God himself can. As such, religion is bull, in my opinion: a personal relationship with God, however, is the best thing that can happen to a person. Believe as you wish, but this is what I believe with all my heart.

 

[PurpleRain]

I don't believe in god. It's not god's fault exactly, just orginised religion really put me off.

John Galt, your complaints are both common and worthy of discussion, and I'd be happy to offer another perspective but it's currently half past one in the morning so... I'll get back to you tomorrow, once I get back from Mass

-Nick

Dude, you're messing with a guy that's read Atlas Shrugged. You've already lost.

God is in His Heaven,
And all is Right with the World.

Ohh I know that one! I know that one! It was the motto for Nerve in Neon Genesis: Evangelion. They took it from that poem which i forgot its name. Damnit. Ok, I don't know it.

 

[Yan-Yan]

The Big Bang is: In the beginning there was nothing...which exploded.

I know a couple people have said this, but I want to point out that there seems to be some misinformation going around. The Big Bang doesn't go about saying the universe was created from nothing, but that everything in the universe was, at one time, condensed into a single point prior to expanding out and cooling into what we see today. Just wanted to clarify this.

I'll try not to start a war here, but honestly, I think it takes more blind belief to think that God doesn't exist than it takes to believe that he does. If you stop looking for proof that he exists and start looking for any other logical explanation for... well, everything, then it becomes obvious that there has to be a God.

I honestly could not disagree with you more then I do right now. I really can't understand the logic behind this paragraph. The second one I'm behind you 100% though.

 

[Spacehouse]

im devoutly atheist, however i am extremely interested in the concept of things that 'exist at a higher form' than all of us like the lovecraftian fanboy i am.

Needless to say, if Cthulhu knocked on my door and told me to go off with him to destroy all of humanity, i would definitly say yes. Not because i hate everyone but it would be one hell of a ride.

 

[Yan-Yan]

Yea, but where did all that stuff that was condensed into a single point come from? Nothing? Exactly.

Erm, no, not really. Science is still working on the theories of that. Several abound, including the 'constant collapse', in which the universe alternates between expanding and cooling, then collapsing back in on itself to do it again. Tell me, how much of The Big Bang [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang] do you really know, or have read?

 

[PurpleRain]

Yea, but where did all that stuff that was condensed into a single point come from? Nothing? Exactly.

Look, noone knows exactly. That's why they call 'em theories. From what we can scrap together it looks to be the most notable one:

-Observational evidence for the Big Bang includes the analysis of the spectrum of light from galaxies, which reveal a shift towards longer wavelengths proportional to each galaxy's distance in a relationship described by Hubble's law. This suggests that space itself is expanding.

-The existence of heat radiation that is the suspected "afterglow" of the Big Bang.

-The abundance of chemicals that correctly account for the hot dense stage that followed the Big Bang.

From what we've learned, this is what we think happened from the evidence we have:

1. Time: 0
Matter and energy are created in the Big Bang.

2. Time: 60 secs
Temperature: 1 billion °C.
Protons and neutrons join together to make nuclei, the central cores of atoms.

3.Time: 300,000 years
Temperature: 3000°C.
Electrons combine with nuclei to produce atoms of hydrogen and helium.

4.Time: 1 billion years
Temperature: -250°C.
Matter clumps together to form galaxies, where stars form.

5.Time: 10 billion years
Temperature: -270°C.The sun and planets form.

(This is from a science project I had to do in year 12 science.)

You can't answer.

You expect him to work it all out in a single post. That would be prett damn sweet. We're all watching Yan-Yan. Come on. Tell us what happened?

(Folds arms and leans back on chair)

 

[Yan-Yan]

But there's nothing to say it all came from nothing either. I know that's the same logic used to describe most Religion. But at least science is working to find out where that speck of everything came from, right? Exactly.

I know all about the Big Bang and there's nothing that says where it all came from.

So instead of going, "well, the scientists who support the Big Bang follow the ideas of Einstein's Theory of Relativity (a supporting theory of the Big Bang) that 'something can not come from nothing'", you just claim that the Big Bang includes "everything came from nothing"? There's an ancient robot saying for this: Does Not Compute

EDIT: and half an hour later, I see a typo that shames my whole family...

 

[Yan-Yan]

We're all watching Yan-Yan. Come on. Tell us what happened?

Trust me, if I could pull that off, I'd be working in Black Mesa by now.

 

[PurpleRain]

We're all watching Yan-Yan. Come on. Tell us what happened?

Trust me, if I could pull that off, I'd be working in Black Mesa by now.

Meh. The pay there isn't that great anyway. All their equipment keeps breaking down.

 

[Yan-Yan]

We're all watching Yan-Yan. Come on. Tell us what happened?

Trust me, if I could pull that off, I'd be working in Black Mesa by now.

Meh. The pay there isn't that great anyway. All their equipment keeps breaking down.

It couldn't be that bad, right? Right? Where's everyone going? What's that alarm for? Are those sol- *BLAM BLAM BLAM* ARRRG!

 

[BlueMage]

"If there is a god then it is not a strict and caring father or a loving and nuturing mother but most likely a child who wanted to play."

-by someone.

I've actually reached that conclusion myself at times - God is a child. An incredibly gifted, brilliant child, but one who is playing with something it doesn't fully understand regardless. It has a good idea of what it's doing, and it's getting better at it with each iteration, but it's not perfect. And of course, you can't create something of greater quality than the tools you work with.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

OOC: when in an argument like this, use Hitchhiker's guide logic (i.e. no logic at all).

The way I see it, is that in the great expanse of nothing that there was before there was ever something, surely there was a chance something would happen? I mean, this is the universe we're talking about, something is always bound to happen.

So, we're talking, before time, a huge expanse of nothing. But surely it can't be utter nothing because it currently holds the universe? We're talking a great plane of everything, yet is technically nothing, but theoretically exists. We are talking the ultimate it, the allnothing, yadda yadda. And in this theoretical plane of non-existance, surely there must've been a tiny chance of something happening. It doesn't matter how small it is, because it had an infinite amount of time (even though time didn't technically exist) in which to gather its dice and wait for one to roll a twenty. Et viola, we have something happening in the nothing. And something like that is bound to bang. Be anti-climatic otherwise.

Yeah, no logic, proof, research, hell it barely makes sense. But I find it amusing to believe.

 

[PurpleRain]

Yeah, no logic, proof, research, hell it barely makes sense. But I find it amusing to believe.

Pastafarian makes about the same amount of sense. FSM for the win!

 

[AnGeL.SLayer]

You guys are missing the whole point of this 'religion' thing really...Your supposed to believe in FAITH. It's based off of believing what you can't just see. Having faith is a major part of religion and many people have a major problem with taking a leap of faith into the unknown. You don't want to feel duped or betrayed if you come out on the other side and nothing is there. It's easier to say you believe in nothing than have faith and believe in a higher power.


^_^

 

[Yan-Yan]

I have faith alright. Faith in science! The learning! The unknown! There's no missed point, I get that religion is all about having the faith to take someone else's word for granted. That's why I believe in the Theory of Relativity, even though I haven't gone out and tested it myself. I just happen to have more faith in beliefs that have been tested.