"God can't be good. Why create a hell for unbelievers?"
TC already covered this one, but I would just like to point out that God is granting you what you wish- seperation from him.
"I don't need confidence because my assertion was not absurd."
As I will show below, some of your assertions were absurd.
"How is it irrational to have to see a god to believe it? Please tell me."
It is entirely irrational to require sight of God in order to believe in him, in the same was as it is irrational to require sight of electrons in order to believe that they exist. As with many concepts in science, indirect evidence is satisfactory in order to come to a reasonably likely conclusion. I wasn't aware that you hated science so much..... Thus, your statement was absurd.
"You can say that 'this' or 'that' proves a god's existence but the only way to prove the existence of a god, outside faith, is through the actual seeing of him/her/it."
You are using the word "prove" in a totally unsatisfactory manner. There is no way to "prove" anything. In fact, even if you DID "see" God, you could still claim that it was hallucination. Thus, even your own definition of what you require as "proof" is unsatisfactory. This statement is thus absurd.
"Find a definition of faith. Here's one for you:"
None of those definitions state that faith is irrational/blind.
"Faith is not a reliable method of acquiring knowledge."
Faith was never claimed to be a reliable method of aquiring knowledge. However, one can obtain a particular faith becuase evidence may lead him/her to a "Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing." Thus your statement is a strawman/absurd.
"So if rational is 'having or exercising the ability to reason', then irrational is the opposite--'not having or not exercising the ability to reason'."
Makes sense. So what?
"From these two definitions, we see that reason and faith are diametrically opposed."
You have not come close to showing this. One can be "rational" and use "reason" in order to obtain "Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing." Thus, your statement is absurd.
"The belief in a god is irrational."
This statement is absurd, as shown by my previous responses.
"I'd like to hear about this other way for a belief in a god."
You could believe the indirect evidence, as provided to you by William Craig in the debate you read.
"I deluded poor children into a belief in God."
Even assuming that you are correct in your assertion that there is no God, why is it so unfortunate that you assisted children into developing faith in God?
"I have to live with that for the rest of my life."
Don't beat yourself up pal. If I'm right, you've done those children a big favor. If I'm wrong (horror of horrors), they believe in God even though He does not exist.
"Since the day my eyes were opened"
What makes you so confident that your "eyes were opened"? Isn't there a chance that you are wrong, and your eyes have been shut? In fact, your posts seem to indicate that your eyes are shut- due to your use of logical fallacy and poor reasoning in order to reach absurd conclusions (in addition to your admittance of being a close-minded person.)
"I have been trying to learn everything that I thought meaningless in HS; physics, chemistry, calculus, and biology."
I'm not sure why you thought that these hard sciences were useless as a Christian, but it is good that you are learning important scientific concepts.
"I am commited to the unswerving use of reason in all my endeavors. I have no use for the concept of faith."
As I have shown above, faith and reason are not "diametrically opposed" as you claim, but can actually be mutually advantageous. Thus, although you don't NEED faith in order to use reason, it is in no way out of bounds for you to develop faith.
I hope you will consider my comments. Take care.
[This message has been edited by Cobra_snake, 06-18-2002]
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