Reply With Quote
einstein himself said that the universe is so complexly organized that there must be a greater force involved that we cannot fully comprehend...not to mention that a catholic priest proposed the big bang theory.
People who tell me to believe and just trust them without supporting evidence are often trying to con me.
How so? Man is all knowing? Then explain how gravity works.I know many things exist beyond what man knows because new discoveries are happening. To believe anything else would mean that man is presently all knowing and there is no more that can be learned. Do you really believe that?
Of course I believe something doesn't exist until someone shows me decent evidence that it does. I don't believe in bigfoot or the loch-ness monster either even though tons of people insist they exist.Is it then possible there are other dimensions beyond what we know? Of course there is. to someone like you nothing exists until it is proven to exist. I say it still exists even though you may not have definite proof that it exists.
Nope. The simplest and most likely explanation is nothing, since the physical processes that create my consciousness will have stopped.Do you know what you will experience at death? Of course not because you have not experienced it yet.
Sailors believed the world was spherical because they could see ship's masts in the distance before their hulls were visible, and a spherical earth was the simplest explanation. That was real evidence that pointed towards a spherical earth; not blind conjecture.Was the world not round before it was proven to be? if you lived backed before it was proven to be round you would be have believed it was flat. But others with greater insight believed what it really was and set sail to prove it.
einstein himself said that the universe is so complexly organized that there must be a greater force involved that we cannot fully comprehend...not to mention that a catholic priest proposed the big bang theory.
Where do you get that I don't believe that I have to account for my actions? I am one of the most moral people you will ever meet. Like I said, I realize that we are all only here for a finite period of time and as such, I am going to make sure that I don't harm anyone else's one shot at life
There's nothing wrong with believing in a greater force. Nothing at all. If it works for you, it doesn't bother me in the slightest.What is wrong with being open to believing that there is a greater force beyond what you see? Isn't there something in the Bible regarding people like you who don't believe because they don't have proof or cannot see it first hand? blessed are those who believe who don't see. Something like that. The exact words might be off because I am not literally into the Bible but I know the general message.
I don't believe man is all-knowing. To the contrary, I think there is much out there that we don't know or that remains to be discovered. I believe that there are some questions that we can never find answers to, like why we exist or what's the best life to lead, etc. What does this have to do with my non-religious beliefs?I know many things exist beyond what man knows because new discoveries are happening. To believe anything else would mean that man is presently all knowing and there is no more that can be learned. Do you really believe that?
It is entirely possible that there are other dimensions. Why does that mean that I should believe in a supernatural deity that created the Earth in 7 days, hears out prayers, interferes in human actions, punishes sin, etc.?Is it then possible there are other dimensions beyond what we know? Of course there is. to someone like you nothing exists until it is proven to exist. I say it still exists even though you may not have definite proof that it exists.
I haven't experienced it and neither has anyone else that can comment on it. Again, why does this mean that I should believe in a supernatural deity?Do you know what you will experience at death? Of course not because you have not experienced it yet.
Yes, science and exploration have revealed a lot things about the world to us. Again, why does this mean that I should believe in a supernatural deity?Was the world not round before it was proven to be? if you lived backed before it was proven to be round you would be have believed it was flat. But others with greater insight believed what it really was and set sail to prove it.
Einstein also didn't believe in the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Great minds are often wrong. Aristotle is one of the most brilliant people to ever live, and his model of the universe was dead wrong.
This diagram shows why we were pretty certain the earth was spherical long before Columbus:
Einstein often expressed awe about the questions that remained unanswered and the complexities of the universe.
Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.
- Albert Einstein, Response to atheist, Alfred Kerr (1927), quoted in The Diary of a Cosmopolitan (1971)
However, I don't think you should try and cast this in the light of traditional religion (i.e., prayer, afterlife, personal god, etc.) because he certainly didn't confuse the two.
I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.
- Albert Einstein, The World As I See It
Nice. Did you create this?This diagram shows why we were pretty certain the earth was spherical long before Columbus:
well, after being exposed to science, ive come to believe that a metaphysical force must have shaped the planet, which could not have created and sustained itself for all these years. its incredible to look back on the way earth was formed and the processes it went through until we came along.
im not saying that traditional religion is right. God was never meant to be thought of as a being in the sky but rather an intangible force that connects us all. note emerson's Oversoul. i personally think the bible is an ingenious metaphor that you can peel behind the text and find worthy. too many people take it for what it is, and its saddening.
Yeah. I threw it together in Paint and compressed it in Photoshop. Man, I need to spring for Illustrator.
If that's the definition of god that we are using, then I would have to rethink my proclamation of atheism. I assumed we were talking about the Judeo-Christian god of the Bible.
So, how do you explain stigmata and the crying virgin mary?
I explain that as bull , right there with the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich.
You want evidence of a creator as you stated in a previous post, else you have no reason to believe.
I struggle (as many honest believers do) with this very question.
I actually have gone to one of Einstein's proclamations to help me think this is more than just wishful thinking, opiate, etc. etc...
That is that things ARE.
Einstein said, and it is widely understood that matter or energy can neither be created or destroyed. What is always has been, and always will be, in whatever form it takes at that moment.
Then, THAT begs the question; WHERE did it all come from? If it can't be created or destroyed, where did it come from in the first place?
Also watching NOVA this week; Einstein had his great revelation for E=MC2 by recognizing that "Light" (specifically the speed of it) was the key to everything - all existence; Going back to Genesis, right after forming the Heavens and the Earth God said "Let there be Light". Just a coincidence, I know, but an affirming one for one such as myself looking for reasons to believe, and not reasons not to.
I don' think there's any way to account for those phenomena other than to admit that God does indeed exist.
So basically some guy stabs himself and gores himself until he makes holes and cries "Im the stigmata!"?
I don't know. It must be God. But then where did God come from? D'OH.
Peabody walked right into that trap. pwnt.
That's one reasonable explanation.
In about 99.99% of all reported cases I bet. You--you're good, you!
How could I possibly deny it? I've seen the crying Virgin Mary on TV, so I know it exists.
hmm lol, sadly that is an acceptable answer.
Man, if I only had some kind of reference book to help me explain all of these philosophical notions......
ehh. einstein was jewish. emerson was a pastor. the judeo-christian god has actually been a very intellectually debated god, which has sprung denominations who sought to dumb-down the ideas that only confused the uneducated. if you look back into church history, islam was primarily created for this reason. these denominations have grown to the extent that they have influenced the publics opinion on what the judeo-christian god is -- a heartless monster that casts you into for all eternity
http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dc...18555&aid=frg#
btw--I bet you can get it cheaper at Barnes and Noble
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions