Sorry didn't see Admins message of a last concluding post. I could play run around and around with Bertot but I know this is pretty much futile (on both are parts, nothing against you Bertot).
However, I just want to say this:
Science and religion are not mutually exclusive. My lack of belief in the Christian God is only due to the lack of evidence and the moral inconsistencies in the scripture which support this belief. That's it. If Christians can rationally show me how these moral inconsistencies are not inconsistencies and point to uncontrovertable evidence of God's existence, I would become a believer (again).
However, the arguments I have seen thus far are IMHO lacking (though some arguments are stronger than others).
I hope that Christians and other people do not think that agnostic atheists (no those are not mutually exclusive terms, look it up) are not holding this position just because they don't like Christians or hate the Christian faith. Nothing could be further from the truth. I admire many Christian tenants and doctrine (though not all) and much (though not all) of our present Western culture owes its moral structure to the Judea-Christian worldview.
Where I differ is in its source. Having studied religion, history and culture and having actually visited many of these places i.e. Europe, the Middle East, Eastern Asia and the like has opened my eyes to understand how much of our western culture originated. I do not claim to be an expert and am always on a quest to learn more about the universe and the human journey. My beliefs have changed and will continue to change. All I ask is for evidence to back up claims of a supernatural origin.
Above all, we should be humble enough to acknowledge that we do not know it all or are the single source of understanding and interpreting religious scripture. My advice for any open-minded individual is to continue learning, gather and analyze the evidence and search for the truth.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.Dr. Carl Sagan
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