God is Imaginary

TheRoadDog
TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

I can't make any better argument than this site does.

Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.
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Replies

  • tigerblood78
    tigerblood78 Posts: 416 Member
    I have no idea if God exists or not. One thing is sure. If he does exist he does not care what is going on here on this planet. However, I don't care what people believe as long as they don't try and shove it down my throat.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    I have no problem with people who want to have some sort of religion. Fortunately I don't live in an area where religion saturates all aspects of daily life and every interaction you have with people. My major problem is when it starts to negatively affect the population. I'm specifically referring to the rejection of science that doesn't agree with a person's religion. I think it's dangerous when religious ideologues are in charge of school boards or on science committees.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,979 Member
    Indoctrination starts young and the majority of people in a faith based system were raised on it and don't really question it or know any better.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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  • Bahet
    Bahet Posts: 1,254 Member
    I can't help but smirk when people say "God is all knowing, all loving, and all powerful." They actually don't see that it's impossible for that statement to be true.
  • alpha2omega
    alpha2omega Posts: 229 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.
  • wineplease
    wineplease Posts: 469 Member
    I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I don't see how people DON'T see the proof of God in all the ways he's revealed Himself to us. Why do some choose to discredit eye witnesses to the life of Jesus, to his miracles, to the things he told us about God, and to his resurrection and ascension?

    I read the bible and see proof of God.

    I know about science and have never found anything in science that disproves the existence of God. In fact, such scientifical theories about evolution and the big bang theory suggest there is a creator outside of our universe (you can't get something from nothing).

    I listen to theologians, I pray, I've done all those things in the article and all of it leads me to believe in the existence of God.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.
  • wineplease
    wineplease Posts: 469 Member
    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    You're assuming these are mistakes and not part of a greater plan about which we cannot fully understand.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    You're assuming these are mistakes and not part of a greater plan about which we cannot fully understand.

    So you are saying that a maladjusted species is part of a greater cosmic plan? This just seems to be a cop out answer.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member


    I read the bible and see proof of God.


    Why is the bible given more credence than the Book of Mormon, The Quran, the Vedic Scriptures or The Iliad and Odyssey?
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
    For the past year or so, I've started to wonder if some people's beliefs are much more similar to mine than we realize - that it's a matter of semantics and perspective and indoctrination.

    I believe in the innate "goodness" of man. I believe that love and kindness is part of who we are, how we are "wired." If someone else chooses to call that the hand of God, is it really a clash of belief systems? On some levels, yes. But we're still talking about love and kindness, right?

    An over-simplified example for sure. But I find far less anxiety and dissonance if I look for the similar rather than try to pick apart the different. That mindset keeps me from being dismissive when confronted with religious beliefs. I know there are intelligent people who believe in God (Patti is one). I didn't always think that way.

    And I think at least some of what people call God I call being human, or "evolved." If we are describing the same things, but using different labels, does that make either of our ideas imaginary?
  • wineplease
    wineplease Posts: 469 Member
    So you are saying that a maladjusted species is part of a greater cosmic plan? This just seems to be a cop out answer.

    There are so many questions I have about God's plan. Why do we have maladusted species? Why do we have diseases, starving children, pedophiles, rapists, homeless, poverty? These things that all seem so horrible to us should be "fixed" by someone who is all powerful. Right? So, I try to wrap my brain around this as best I can.

    My children help me do this. My daughter said when she's an adult and has her own money, she will buy all the junk food she can. She doesn't understand why parents, who have the ability to buy whatever food we want, would buy healthy foods. My son says when he has kids, they'll never be punished, they'll be able to watch whatever they want. There will be no "mean" things like grounding and punishments. He doesn't understand why parents who have all the control in the house would want their kids to be miserable.

    Then I think about the good in this world that comes from all the seemingly bad things. How would we be grateful for good health if there were no bad health? How would we have charity in our hearts if there was no one in need? What would this journey on earth be like if everything was perfect? Why have schools because God can just make everyone educated. Why have jobs when God can just make everything free? Why have homes when God can make the weather so perfect that we don't require shelter?

    Because I can't grasp all of God's plan/intentions, as my children cannot grasp mine, I have to trust. I trust God to know what's best for this journey, just as I ask my children to trust me in what's best for them.
  • alpha2omega
    alpha2omega Posts: 229 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    Again, your point neither proves or refutes the existence of God.
  • wineplease
    wineplease Posts: 469 Member
    Why is the bible given more credence than the Book of Mormon, The Quran, the Vedic Scriptures or The Iliad and Odyssey?

    I've read them all. Christianity makes the most sense to me. When I finally decided to educate myself on what I believed instead of just believing because I was born in to a Catholic family, I found Christianity and Catholicism to be truth. For me.
  • MudRunLvr
    MudRunLvr Posts: 226 Member
    I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I don't see how people DON'T see the proof of God in all the ways he's revealed Himself to us. Why do some choose to discredit eye witnesses to the life of Jesus, to his miracles, to the things he told us about God, and to his resurrection and ascension?

    I read the bible and see proof of God.

    I know about science and have never found anything in science that disproves the existence of God. In fact, such scientifical theories about evolution and the big bang theory suggest there is a creator outside of our universe (you can't get something from nothing).

    I listen to theologians, I pray, I've done all those things in the article and all of it leads me to believe in the existence of God.

    A. Hi everyone, neat group. Glad to be a member and cards on the table I am an atheist in regards to the debate at hand.

    B. Regarding your post, I just find the source of the Jesus story, the Bible, to be a very poor piece of evidence. It's contradicts known facts and it's own self. The story of the resurrection has many different versions in the Bible itself. It wasn't like Jesus rose and accurate details were kept. It's a story passed down again and again and a long time later written down. Thousands of years ago. By a poorly educated people. It literally states that the dead rose from the grave, not just Jesus. Forgive me but even as a zombie fanatic I find it hard to take seriously.

    C. At this point I'm abandoning using letters.

    Now it's true, it can not be proven that there is no God. But you can't prove that Scientology isn't correct about the space titan Xenu either, you wanna believe that one? Saying "You can't prove it's NOT true" is kind of a cop out. You're (royal you) saying this is the way the universe operates. Well you better have some evidence to back that up.

    And regarding "something from nothing"... well where does God come from? He was always there? With the ability TO create something from nothing? It all gets very hard to comprehend because our minds really just can not comprehend concepts like eternity or infinity. We understand them as abstracts, but in a concrete way we just don't understand.

    This argument can get ugly. I really hope it doesn't. I enjoy debates like these as a chance to learn from people who think differently than I do.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    So you are saying that a maladjusted species is part of a greater cosmic plan? This just seems to be a cop out answer.

    There are so many questions I have about God's plan. Why do we have maladusted species? Why do we have diseases, starving children, pedophiles, rapists, homeless, poverty? These things that all seem so horrible to us should be "fixed" by someone who is all powerful. Right? So, I try to wrap my brain around this as best I can.

    My children help me do this. My daughter said when she's an adult and has her own money, she will buy all the junk food she can. She doesn't understand why parents, who have the ability to buy whatever food we want, would buy healthy foods. My son says when he has kids, they'll never be punished, they'll be able to watch whatever they want. There will be no "mean" things like grounding and punishments. He doesn't understand why parents who have all the control in the house would want their kids to be miserable.

    Then I think about the good in this world that comes from all the seemingly bad things. How would we be grateful for good health if there were no bad health? How would we have charity in our hearts if there was no one in need? What would this journey on earth be like if everything was perfect? Why have schools because God can just make everyone educated. Why have jobs when God can just make everything free? Why have homes when God can make the weather so perfect that we don't require shelter?

    Because I can't grasp all of God's plan/intentions, as my children cannot grasp mine, I have to trust. I trust God to know what's best for this journey, just as I ask my children to trust me in what's best for them.

    The part in bold may be where we differ in world view. I explain why I make these decisions to my children rather than tell them to just trust me. I want my children to question and to understand. If we are God's children, why give us brains to contemplate these issues when he is just going to punish us if we come to the "wrong" conclusions? Seems kind of sadistic at worst and poorly conceived at best.
  • wineplease
    wineplease Posts: 469 Member
    I believe in the innate "goodness" of man. I believe that love and kindness is part of who we are, how we are "wired." If someone else chooses to call that the hand of God, is it really a clash of belief systems? On some levels, yes. But we're still talking about love and kindness, right?

    Indeed we are.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    Again, your point neither proves or refutes the existence of God.

    But it does seem to fly into the face of Intelligent Design.
  • wineplease
    wineplease Posts: 469 Member
    The part in bold may be where we differ in world view. I explain why I make these decisions to my children rather than tell them to just trust me. I want my children to question and to understand. If we are God's children, why give us brains to contemplate these issues when he is just going to punish us if we come to the "wrong" conclusions? Seems kind of sadistic at worst and poorly conceived at best.

    God has explained to us- in the bible and through the words of Jesus. You may attempt to explain it to your children, but they won't fully understand until they're adults themselves. I believe we will understand fully when we are in eternity. To me it comes down to trusting our parent/creator.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    The part in bold may be where we differ in world view. I explain why I make these decisions to my children rather than tell them to just trust me. I want my children to question and to understand. If we are God's children, why give us brains to contemplate these issues when he is just going to punish us if we come to the "wrong" conclusions? Seems kind of sadistic at worst and poorly conceived at best.

    God has explained to us- in the bible and through the words of Jesus. You may attempt to explain it to your children, but they won't fully understand until they're adults themselves. I believe we will understand fully when we are in eternity. To me it comes down to trusting our parent/creator.

    Where is the answer to Why in the bible? I seem to remember a lot of do as I say and you will be rewarded but very few answers. Even Job was told to be quiet and not ask why after God let the devil destroy his life in a bet with the devil.
  • MudRunLvr
    MudRunLvr Posts: 226 Member

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Ah Intelligent Design...

    Here's how you handle that.

    Do you believe that aliens could have seeded Earth with the necessary components for life to arise on our planet? Because that would be intelligent design.

    If you just believe God created everything then say you're a religious person who believe in the creation story from the Bible and stop hiding behind pseudo-scientific terminology.
  • alpha2omega
    alpha2omega Posts: 229 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    Again, your point neither proves or refutes the existence of God.

    But it does seem to fly into the face of Intelligent Design.

    So does the biology of the human eye with regard to evolution.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    Again, your point neither proves or refutes the existence of God.

    But it does seem to fly into the face of Intelligent Design.

    So does the biology of the human eye with regard to evolution.

    Explain. There are many writings on how the eye appears to have evolved.
  • MudRunLvr
    MudRunLvr Posts: 226 Member

    So does the biology of the human eye with regard to evolution.

    The biology of the human eye, as well as the eyes of all different species, is fairly well understood and makes perfect sense. Light receptors adapting and improving over time, different for each species, it all works.

    Or are you saying it's not as rock solid and proven as your "women came from a rib" theory?
  • SwannySez
    SwannySez Posts: 5,860 Member
    A. Hi everyone, neat group. Glad to be a member and cards on the table I am an atheist in regards to the debate at hand.

    B. Regarding your post, I just find the source of the Jesus story, the Bible, to be a very poor piece of evidence. It's contradicts known facts and it's own self. The story of the resurrection has many different versions in the Bible itself. It wasn't like Jesus rose and accurate details were kept. It's a story passed down again and again and a long time later written down. Thousands of years ago. By a poorly educated people. It literally states that the dead rose from the grave, not just Jesus. Forgive me but even as a zombie fanatic I find it hard to take seriously.

    C. At this point I'm abandoning using letters.

    Now it's true, it can not be proven that there is no God. But you can't prove that Scientology isn't correct about the space titan Xenu either, you wanna believe that one? Saying "You can't prove it's NOT true" is kind of a cop out. You're (royal you) are saying this is the way the universe operates. Well you better have some evidence to back that up.

    And regarding "something from nothing"... well where does God come from? He was always there? With the ability TO create something from nothing? It all gets very hard to comprehend because our minds really just can not comprehend concepts like eternity or infinity. We understand them as abstracts, but in a concrete way we just don't understand.

    This argument can get ugly. I really hope it doesn't. I enjoy debates like these as a chance to learn from people who think differently than I do.
    Welcome.

    God hates you and is going to smite you. REPENT!
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    I can disprove gods existence six different ways from Sunday mass at any time with logic. Its not even that hard.

    If your description of god is an omnipotent, all powerful, all benevolent being it just doesn't stand up to reason.

    I'll just toss out one easy example:

    God lets a child die in a fire. Why? he knew the fire would happen and could have prevented it. Is he teaching us a lesson or has greater designs? Letting a child die in a fire that you could have prevented in my book is an evil act. You can't assign different morality to god that allows for suffering and death when we are to aspire to the same morality. Logically, God either can not stop fires, meaning he is not all that powerful. He doesn't care, which makes him evil, or he didn't know about it, which means he doesn't know everything.

    That being said, I'm a catholic and I have faith in god. My faith is separate from logical reasoning and the sciences. Once you do that, everything works out ok and I have my god and my science too.
  • maab_connor
    maab_connor Posts: 3,927 Member
    ok - so this is my first post in the group - hi. and i'm going to mention right off that i'm a Pagan.

    i have no problem with anyone having a faith structure. i have no issue with that faith structure differing from mine. i have no issue with someone having NO faith structure, or putting their faith in man. i think that life is hard. it's hard for everyone. and whether you think that it's hard as a test, or for a reason, or just because this is a finite planet and we are a finite ppl, i think that everyone can agree that it's hard. and to that end, why would it bother you if someone finds a small bit of comfort in having faith? if wraping themselves up in words and traditions that have been around for a few thousand years makes life a little less like wearing steel wool? then ok.

    my problem is when other ppl try to dictate MY life and MY choices and MY personality by the rules of THEIR faith, or lack thereof..

    but if their faith is quiet and personal - as i happen to beleive that it ought to be - then i'm glad that they have a small bit of peace in a harsh world.

    you have your sky cake and i'll have my sky pie.
  • alpha2omega
    alpha2omega Posts: 229 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    Again, your point neither proves or refutes the existence of God.

    But it does seem to fly into the face of Intelligent Design.

    So does the biology of the human eye with regard to evolution.

    Explain. There are many writings on how the eye appears to have evolved.

    You explain the evolution of the eye. I'm on the side of intelligen design, remember?
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    I was just looking through this website: http://godisimaginary.com/index.htm

    I can't make any better argument than this site does.

    Why do people believe in a Fairy Tale that has no proof? The Bible? Faith?

    Reminds me of the Ghost Hunter shows and Bigfoot shows on TV. They might be going into their 5th season and still haven't produced a ghost or a bigfoot.

    Wake up. You can';t travel in time. You don't have a Guardian Angel. There is no proof that a god exists. It's a fairy tale.

    Science has not yet been able to prove the total absence of Intelligent Design so there is no proof a god does not exist either.

    Except that we have multiple cases of species going extinct due to it being unable to adapt to certain situations. One would think that an all knowing and all powerful designer would be able to avoid such mistakes.

    Again, your point neither proves or refutes the existence of God.

    But it does seem to fly into the face of Intelligent Design.

    So does the biology of the human eye with regard to evolution.

    Explain. There are many writings on how the eye appears to have evolved.

    You explain the evolution of the eye. I'm on the side of intelligen design, remember?

    You are the one making the claim. Come down from your sniper's perch and support your argument. Unless you really have nothing to stand on.
  • MudRunLvr
    MudRunLvr Posts: 226 Member
    Welcome.

    God hates you and is going to smite you. REPENT!

    Why? There's nothing for me to fear.