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Author Topic:   Thoughts on God and belief
compmage
Member (Idle past 5179 days)
Posts: 601
From: South Africa
Joined: 08-04-2005


Message 1 of 16 (40052)
05-14-2003 7:31 AM


There is nothing that stipulates that a belief has to be rational or logical. A person is entitled to believe whatever they want, for whatever reason they find sufficient and no one has the right to tell them differently.
However, any being worthy of being call a God would be capable of providing the evidence needed to convince me.
If such a being exists and it has not provided the evidence then we can conclude the following:
1) The being doesn't care if I believe or not and will not judge me either way. In this case my lack of belief has no bearing what so ever.
or
2) The being doesn't care to provide the evidence and will judge me based on how I live my life. In this case my lack of belief has no bearing what so ever.
or
3) The being doesn't care to provide the evidence and will judge me based on if I believe or not. Such a being is not worthy of worship.
or
4) The being doesn't care to provide the evidence and will judge me based on an unknown criteria. This group consists on endless possible variations (I am noting going to list them all). Those that I have considered result in such a being not being worthy of worship and/or my lack of belief will not having no bearing what so ever.
I therefore conclude that the lack of evidence for any god or gods means the either that there are no beings worth of the title, or that my lack of belief has no bearing, or that any beings worthy of the title are not worthy of worship.
Points 1 - 3 cover most of the god claims I have heard. Point 4 is a blanket statement for all other possiblities I have been able to come up with.
If you find any faults in my logic I will be more than willing to discuss them. Also if anyone has a God claim that falls into the blanket category we could discuss that individually.
------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Replies to this message:
 Message 4 by Paul, posted 05-14-2003 11:51 AM compmage has replied

  
compmage
Member (Idle past 5179 days)
Posts: 601
From: South Africa
Joined: 08-04-2005


Message 3 of 16 (40063)
05-14-2003 9:43 AM
Reply to: Message 2 by dinoflagulates
05-14-2003 8:35 AM


dinoflagulates writes:
aaah but u are forgetting the treacherous misleading influence of the Satan chap
Not really. I'll apply the same logic to him.
Seriously though. If Satan existed and was able to prevent God from convinging me of his existance then God would not be a being worthy of being called God.
------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2 by dinoflagulates, posted 05-14-2003 8:35 AM dinoflagulates has not replied

  
compmage
Member (Idle past 5179 days)
Posts: 601
From: South Africa
Joined: 08-04-2005


Message 13 of 16 (40187)
05-15-2003 4:00 AM
Reply to: Message 4 by Paul
05-14-2003 11:51 AM


Paul writes:
Either way, personally sufficient beliefs are irrelevant when it comes to God, God exists or God doesn't, and what we view at the personal level as evidence, has no bearing as to whether God truly exists or not.
Correct and if you had read my entire post you would have noticed that I mentioned some instances where God would exist, despite the lack of evidence and the conclussion I can draw from those instances.
Paul writes:
The fact of the matter is that, regardless of our personal beliefs in life, we are held accountable for them.
This is your belief, not fact. However, as mentioned in point 3, if this is the case, then such a God is not worthy of worship.
Paul writes:
Having the right to be wrong is a right owned by all. The right choice is vital when it comes to this matter. God exists or he doesn't. I wouldn't want to be wrong on this one.
And what if we are both wrong? What if we get to heaven and there is a god but it isn't the one you believe in? And what if he is seriously pissed off that you had the capacity to believe and choose wrong?
------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 4 by Paul, posted 05-14-2003 11:51 AM Paul has not replied

  
compmage
Member (Idle past 5179 days)
Posts: 601
From: South Africa
Joined: 08-04-2005


Message 14 of 16 (40188)
05-15-2003 4:01 AM
Reply to: Message 5 by Spud
05-14-2003 6:54 PM


Spud writes:
The Bible is all the evidence one needs in order to believe there is a God. So read it, learn it, study it. Please don't sit there and say it's wrong without having read it (properly) first! I look at as much evolution stuff as possible, I hope evolutionists do the same with the Bible.
I have and truth be told it reads like a badly written fantasy book.
------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by Spud, posted 05-14-2003 6:54 PM Spud has not replied

  
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