I need an answer

Hello RyanVanGo, welcome to EvC! You won't get any, there isn't any evidence. I'm intrigued by this statement, tell me, in what way are your sanity and spirituality at stake here?

Well, even I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a complete fabrication, and I'm an atheist. there are probably some true things to the stories, though I do think all the miraculous stuff has no basis in reality whatsoever.Would it be possible for you to view Jesus as some kind of teacher with some pretty good ideas? Well, what I think it basically comes down to is this:Do you care if what you believe is true?If you just want what you believe to make you feel comfortable, then there really is no point into all these questions. However if you care about your beliefs being true, then you might be in for a shock, because what makes you feel comfortable might not be true. And why does this scare you? Since I'm an atheist, and I do follow morals, perhaps you should talk to me (and other atheists) why we do follow morals. I'll give you a small hint: We don't think life is meaningless beyond self preservation. Only, we supply our own reason. In fact, realising there is no after life makes me want to live this life to the fullest, making sure I contribute to that wonderful species that is humanity, and I am privileged to be a part of.

Free tip: Use the "peek" button on the bottom left of this post to see how I did those neat little quote boxes. Don't worry, I didn't. I know that coming from a belief in god to a non belief in god doesn't change the "fundamental" person. I used to believe in god, and like you went to catholic school for 8 years(my little brother even went for 13). Although, I'm guessing that here in the Netherlands they might be a bit different, I was never taught by nuns or priests, for instance, although a priest did use to come along one hour a week to talk about Catholicism. In fact, when we discovered the earth was round (the ancient Greeks and Egyptians already knew this, for example) there were still people refusing to believe it. But why be frightened of being wrong? I'm probably wrong about a lot of things, I am not afraid to be wrong however. You know why? Because every time I find out I am wrong, I will have learned a thing that is actually true! Bear in mind that not many people say that there absolutely is no god. It's just that,, we see no evidence for his existence, and so, we question why we should belief in something that has not been demonstrated to exist. For example, If I were to tell you about aa nice little leprechaun, that does my dishes and cleans my house, and all I offer you is that story, yet when questioned further, I reply: It's my faith that he does, I have never actually seen him, I've never spoken to him, I just like the idea of him cleaning my place up.Does that sound convincing to you? This is the position I am in regarding god.Also, would't god standing in front of you telling you there is no god be a little bit contradictory? It would make my head explode, that's for sure. No, I don;t think you're stubborn. It's a fase I went through myself (although admittedly, I was younger than you). Also, I like your attitude. A whole lot, actually. You're welcome mate. Let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.Oh, and let us know how the talk with the priest went, if you are so inclined.

You could try looking into Deism. This seems to suit your way of thinking. The Deist believes god can be known by studying the natural world.

But thinking like this will get you nowhere. Sure, everything we see and experience can be an illusion, but why entertain that thought if you have apparently no way of telling? Until you can show that this is an illusion, it's merely a mechanism to postpone facing that which you basically (apparently) already know. That there is no evidence for what you believe. But because letting go of your beliefs scares you, you make up stuff like "well, it could be an illusion!" to try and hold o to them, even though you know there's absolutely no reason besides your preferred beliefs to do so.It all comes back again to the question I asked earlier:Do you care that what you believe is true?Your answer is, apparently, "no". Since you made up this "cop-out", because you are scared of a reality without your deeply held beliefs. So, instead of waiting for evidence to determine what is or is not the case, you grasp at this "we could all be wrong!" straw to try and maintain the beliefs you do not want to let go of just yet. Of course we could all be wrong, which is why my beliefs are held tentatively. You on the other hand take this one step further.Because we could all be wrong, you argue, I am going to go on believing what I do, despite the fact that there is no evidence for it. I live my life on every other level by looking at evidence first and drawing conclusion after, you say, except in this area. Here I prefer to just take my beliefs, and run with them, even though there is no evidence for them, after all, we could all be wrong, and I could actually be right!I'm sorry Ryan, but that seems a bit silly to me.

Oh, but there is a reason. Early man did not know what we know. He did not understand lightning, the tides, the day/night cycle, the seasons, anything you care to mention. In an effort to gain some control over it all, he invented gods/ghosts/sprites/fairies/whatever. Beings he could pray to, sacrifice to, appeal to, so that he could gain a measure of control over this nasty evil world out there that seemed bent on killing him, even if it was a fake control. Why do you think "The lord moves in mysterious ways"? Because it is a fake control and it doesn't always work ou the way people want it to. But if you think about it, it really hasn't has it? Every god concept so far (except perhaps the Deist/non intervening god) has been proven to be wrong. Lightning? Not from Thor, but from negative charges in clouds. Tides? Not Poseidon but the moon. And so on and so forth. Nothing has been refined, in fact, everything that was come up with was wrong. I like to think I'm Napoleon, that doesn't make it so. What might feel "nice" "cosy" and "right" might be completely wrong. The only way to tell is with evidence. So far, there is none for god, sorry to say. I don't tinker with creation anymore, all is as it should be.

The "religious community" objected to his theory because it didn't fit in with their precious little book.

'Tis the truth, however. Fair enough. But they're still opposed to evolution when it comes to "making" new species. Well yes, denying such an obvious reality is one step to far, even for creationist.