Answer the most unique question of our time! This is applied generally, to whatever religion you happen to be, no matter your belief. Decide once and for all, today, if god exists or is merely a fantasy created by man. Explain the reasons for your faith or lack of it, and also mention the other ideas / thoughts you've been hiding from your friends for fear of ridicule!
I had no choice, but to correct my stance. I'm an atheist, that is I don't believe in the assertions of theist, of their deities, of their scripture, and I also include in all forms of mysticism. However, to simply state, that a god does not exist, puts me in the same position as a theist, when we ask for evidence of his deity. What evidence can a theist offer for his god? None, that is why most atheist are atheist in the first place. But to make an absolute statement "god does not exist" puts the burden of proof on my shoulders. I rather have it on them. Claiming that an entity does not exist, is claiming I know what that entity is, and that I know that it does not exist. Well I don't know what god is, and sure as hell I can't claim that it exist or not. However do to lack of evidence, it's very unlikely this entity exists. As for the onus of proof, empirical evidence, it's in the shoulders of those whom make bold statements. Let the ignorant theist, make the bold absolute statements "god exists" That there he claims, that he/she knows what god is, and believes that it exists. Thus the burden is on their shoulders! as It should be.
in other words your argument is tentative since someone could say I think atheism is a fantasy created by weak minds for the purpose of feeling better. (its the nature of tentative arguments to have a very malleable foundation that can be used by a party of any view - for, against or neutral)
I think there is a god which has set the checks and balances of this universe for us to explore. Why - i dont know. I say this because there is far too many coinsidences, and natural wonders here let alone in the universe to say it was all random. I alson think however that religion was created by man to manipulate populations and hold them in check.
WOW That sounds a lot like the bs churches and cults use to control the mass's! You are unqualified as a student to possibly understand...????!!!
Don't worry, ladyhawk. They're just using LighGigantic's own argument against him. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! LG says that unless you are qualified in, and apply, the right processes to see God then you won't see him - so all atheists must therefore be unqualified - as they can't see God. So they're merely using this same argument to say that LG is unqualified in atheism to see the truth of it - and by doing so show LG's weak argument for what it is.
And I'm also with Godless on this one. I make no positive assertions about the existence or otherwise of a God.
Whatever you think is true. If you think god is just a fantasy created by those looking for something to lean upon, then you are right. But you are only right because all you see when you think of god are those people you have witnessed who evidence your opinion. That is your motivation as a limited person, like the rest of us. We all see bits and pieces of the puzzle, and we're all right about what we do see, but most of us try to see more than we're adequately motivated to. The problem with god is that we are all trying to attribute different properties and aspects of the universe to one single term. We're overloading our associative capacities by trying to put all cause of everything into one term. Our minds simply can't handle it.
It was a copy/paste exercise showing the futility of tentative arguments rather than an attempt to debunk what passes for adroit presentations of atheism on this site If it is sufficient for an atheist to say he thinks there is no god is it sufficient for a theist to say he thinks there is? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! hardly the requirements of empiricism are certainly not exclusive - and even your average empirical atheist (at least in the academic arena as opposed to the sci-forum upper echelons) will have the common sense to fall a mark short of making an absolute statement regarding god's non-existence, its not clear what is the exclusive nature you are alluding to does that process result in direct perception of god's non existence, or is it one of the numerous half- spurious arguments offered by a bitter atheist?
Every now and then, our little mystic LG gets a hold a of a word, and don't let it go, this time it apparently seems "tentative" Wow, how our little mystic has grown! He's using big words now!
So you only THINK that there is a God? - "think" as in... not really 100% positive? But I thought you had direct evidence/perception of god as granted to you from your beloved epistemological process? And yet you only "think" that there is? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Or are you using the word "think" with a different meaning?
You could buy one of those "headache tablets" off some fraud salesman and end up with a lot more than a headache. Again, which one? Accepting any will ultimately do more harm. So.. which one?
Yes , God does exist and thousands of proofs are there on the horizon .... only Blind hearts don't see it .. there is only 1 God ( only one ) not so many Gods as so many Atheists think .