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Permalink Reply by Johan Fruh on September 21, 2011 at 5:41pm

I don't agree.

Something out of reach from any rational analysis, would be something that we couldn't see, hear, taste, smell, or detect in any way...

In other words, we would have absolutely no reason to believe in it. (The teapot that orbits saturn falls into this category).

 

But god does not fit in this category... every single religious scripture affirms that god interacted with our "natural" world, so he is not out of reach of any rationality. Simply seeing him, or one of his miracles, would be a rational method of proving him.

 

However, it is a fact that divinity, god, miracles and related terms, have all been invented at a time where we had no idea of how the natural world worked.

Now we know better, and these ancient terms simply have no more reason to exist.

 

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Permalink Reply by Jan deBoer on September 22, 2011 at 7:41am

"Something out of reach from any rational analysis, would be something that we couldn't see, hear, taste, smell, or detect in any way...

In other words, we would have absolutely no reason to believe in it. (The teapot that orbits saturn falls into this category)."

Or, Dark Matter.......

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Permalink Reply by mistercliff on September 21, 2011 at 6:43pm

Yes, but I would prefer to word it this way: I am 100% sure that there is no reason for me to believe a god exists. Since the God hypothosis is inherently flawed the need for concrete proof is meaningless.

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Permalink Reply by Becca on September 21, 2011 at 9:37pm

I'm 100% certain that there is no evidence in favor of any god or gods existence therefore I am 100% sure that it is absolutely insane to believe that a god or gods exist. God is just as likely to exist as red licorice men on mars.

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Permalink Reply by Napoleon Bonaparte on September 22, 2011 at 12:07am

Science will never discover a supernature* so I can be certain that any god ever imagined by anyone in the short history of our species does not exist. The supernatural does not exist. I am certain that nothing happens beyond nature.

 

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Permalink Reply by Natalie A Sera on September 22, 2011 at 8:13am

Because I can see no proof either for, or against, I can't be sure there is no god. There IS a problem with that, because if there was a creator, even if all he did was start the Big Bang, then who created the creator? The concept of eternal existence is hard to wrap my mind around, which is why I have to say I just don't know.

On the other hand, I AM positive that there is no god who sticks his finger in our affairs and meddles with them. There is too much horror, both natural and human-made in this world for me to believe that god cares about the sparrow who falls (a Christian concept). It is obvious to me that prayer is useless, although enough coincidences happen that I can accept that people believe their prayers have been answered. I also think that belief is a security blanket for people who desperately hope that nothing bad will happen to THEM.

I also understand that our human religious heritage comes from our primitive ancestors who had no scientific way to view the world, and were afraid of things that go bump in the night. I understand their desire to explain how the world came to be as best as they knew how, and their desire to see bad events as punishment from their gods, because then, if they were good enough, maybe god would treat them better. Too bad they could never be good enough.

The only sad thing is how those primitive beliefs have persisted into the modern world. And that otherwise intelligent people truly DO believe them. But it's clear that they have never managed to banish that primordial emotional fear response, and so, need to manage it by sucking their thumbs and holding on to that blanket for dear life.

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Permalink Reply by TNT666 on September 22, 2011 at 11:07am

If the available evidence (let alone proof!) leaned 50-50 "either for, or against" as you say, you'd be deciding based on rationality. Problem is, up to date, everything (100%) of things ever studied have demonstrated natural cause and nothing (0%) all all things studied have shown supernatural cause... not exactly a 50-50 situation is it? If the question being asked was a completely new one that researchers had never before considered, and society was looking its very first studies, then we have reason to be "open minded" about it... but people have been "studying" this "controversy" for a over a thousand years... and the evidence fails to show up... that's a 100% fail.

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Permalink Reply by Squirrel on September 22, 2011 at 8:38am

100% positive if you round it to the nearest integer.

 

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Permalink Reply by Kelly M on September 22, 2011 at 12:34pm

Exactly my feeling!!

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Permalink Reply by Kelly M on September 22, 2011 at 10:06am

Am I ever so arrogant as to say I know anything that hasn't been proven to be false but very unlikely, is 100%...nope.  I'm basing my opinion on the information at hand, and that information overwhelmingly tells me that there is no god.  If there were evidence discovered to the contrary, I would have to change my mind, but until then, I'm not loosing sleep over this question.  I don't deal in absolutes, and quite frankly, I'm not sure that's a good way to be.  I accept as fact, that, that has been proven via Science and Math, and I'm open to anything it may prove in the future.  I'm not willing to tell anyone I'm a 100% positive without that type of proof, only what I  believe based on the facts at hand.  Truth is relative I guess.  Not always rational for sure, but rationality is something I wish more people counted on.  To me it's highly more likely there is no god based on the information I've seen, and that is what I'm comfortable believing.  

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Permalink Reply by Johan Fruh on September 22, 2011 at 10:56am

I don't think it's a bad thing to be 100% sure, just as long as you admit your mistake if proven wrong.

 

I have an idea of the world that seems quite logical to me, and there's no room for divinity, ghosts, or green furry marshmallow men that walk around at night hiding my car keys.

So I am 100% sure they do not exist. (but this doesn't stop me from being open-minded)

 

If someone were to show me proof of one's existence, or a compelling reason to believe in one's existence. Then I'd be happy to turn around and modify my world-view so that nocturnal green car-key-hiding marshmallow men have a place in it...

though it would be quite awkward... me having no car keys...

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Permalink Reply by Karl on September 22, 2011 at 10:32am

You can never really prove a negative.  However, there are some concepts so ridiculous you really don't have to disprove them.  One of those silly concepts is magical, invisible people or creatures.  Most children as they mature shed their emotional need for imaginary friends, Santa Claus and the like.  Reason takes over.  Kids realize one person from the North Pole can't deliver gifts to all the children of the world in one night.  Some less rational individuals simple substitute one magical person for another, let's say Jesus.  In so doing they have substituted a belief that believing in one magical person will get you presents for a belief that believing in another magical person will get you ever lasting life at a destination resort in the sky.  Just like we don't have to 100 percent disprove Santa Clause we don't have to 100percent disprove Jesus or any other magical deity

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