Evolution/Big bang vs God? Faith vs Destiny?

I think God is real

 

I'm an agnostic atheist. Why? Hundreds of religions have come and gone and the idea that one is "right" when I happen to be living is highly unlikely. Why is it that people judge believers in Greek Mythology but it's not okay to call Christianity, Christian Mythology? I think the idea of a deity hovering over your life and judging you to be very creepy. Like what is there really a dude in the sky that cries whenever I eat pork or shave? Not to mention the fact that religion has been heavily tied to corruption. I don't believe any organization that has a history of manipulation (buying way into Heaven) and then acts like they're pro bono. Plus a lot of religious text directly contradicts itself and calls people live in a theocratic like society. And no i'm not concerned about what some book I don't believe in says will happen to me.

My beliefs are a combination of science, logic, sympathy and empathy. If something is backed heavily by the scientific community and there's no profit motive behind the science, I am bound to believe scientists. Having said that, I'm also ignorant when it comes to science so don't know much about the big bang theory. I will say this though. I do not truly think there is a way to know what theory or religion is right because I wasn't around when the earth was created. Regarding evolution, I don't think I know a single person that doesn't believe in evolution.

 

*Upvotes one thousand times*

 

I believe in God and in intelligent design.

 

I am a heathen and a Celtic Reconstructionist. Separate faiths that I am walking along side at the same time, separately. One of my creation stories is that there was Niflheim, the land of Ice, and Muspelheim, the land of Fire. In between them was was Ginnungagap, a giant abyss. One day a giant named Ymir came along, and the gods came, beat his ass, and made the earth out of his bones. While a simplified version, you get the point. That sounds pretty far fetched, but so does the Christian creation myth. Yet, it very well might not have happened that way, and probably didn't. But, I am a mere human. I will never know if my myths are fact, or if they are just representations of the universe and nature. Probably the latter, but thats not important. What is is that I will never know. I refuse to blindly follow anything, and will always question everything. I am also a satanic philosopher, and believe that science should be held higher than blind faith. Also , being a chaos magician, there is strange powers out there. I dont know.

Evolution is a scientific theory that almost every scientist agrees with. It is fact, as much as a theory can be. I do not believe that my gods are omnipotent and omnipresent, that they know everything and determine everything. If a higher power controls everything, then as Jellal said above, then said higher power is a sick bastard. My gods don't control anything, they embody something. I don't believe that my gods decide who I am, or what I do. I don't believe in this concept of "destiny". Someones path that they walk is determined by choices that they make and events outside or their control.

This is just my opinion.

 

I believe in what can be proven.

Evolution has been all but proven. There are mountains of evidence to support evolution. There is, however, absolutely no proof for the existence of a god, and the holy book of a religion's choosing does not count as evidence. As to the Big Bang Theory, I'll be open and say I have no idea what to think, but that I find it a more realistic explanation than "a god did it".

I don't believe in destiny, either. Don't really have much to say on destiny.

At the end of the day, I believe in what can be proven. That's it. I've got nothing more to say.

 

Well the science says that the big bang theory and Evolution are true so I'm gonna go with that personally. There really isn't a need for one or the other with god vs. science. I mean the bible changes all the time so cutting out a few more sections of it or taking the stories as 'allegories' is perfectly fine. For me though I don't really believe in anything that the bible has to say. It's like 90% Fear and obey, and then Jesus comes in and you get a lil less vengeance and mass murder.

I have faith in people I suppose, but Destiny is garbage. We aren't destined for anything. The universe doesn't plan things out. Unless you were born a monarch you aren't destined to do much of anything at all.

 

I like your first rebuttal, but the second point seems a bit specious. I would bring a comparison to aliens. Do we have much reason to believe any race of aliens concocted by our imaginations is the "real" ones who will contact us first? Only if you believe some people have met them through abductions, government research, etc. Just as whichever God/s is "real" depends on whether you believe the accounts of prophets. It's as likely that assuming an intelligent God or race of aliens is out there, we have never imagined what they might actually look like. The "why should one out of x particular humans be you?" idea doesn't quite work on the same logic because of the anthropic principle-- obviously one of the humans can be you, because you're here.

 

I agree that the second paragraph requires more assumption and explanation than that first sentence. But I wouldn't go as far as "specious".

I assume it's the bolded statement you object to. I can understand questioning it...it's not completely obvious (I didn't want to write a dissertation on the topic). But I also don't find it complete garbage.

It is certainly possible that there is one or more god, but they've never interacted with humans and have no real interest in us. But to me that condition is equivalent to there not being any god(s)...it's like talking about flying pigs: if nobody has ever seen one or interacted with one and nobody ever will, then whether or not they exist is a moot question. Such gods have zero impact on our existence, and there is no reason why we should mold our behavior or beliefs to accommodate such a god's preferences or existence.

Oh...and of course, it's also possible that there are gods who exist and *do* care about humans and what we think, but have never interacted with us. But again...if they've never interacted with us or even let us know they exist, they don't really have any business getting upset with us for not believing in them or for not worshiping them in whatever way they deem appropriate.

I also include every god humans have *ever* believed in as "one of the thousands humans worship". I think that's within the spirit of Em's comment.

So yeah...perhaps the word "probably" was poor phrasing...I should perhaps have said "if gods exist, then any god that should matter to humans is one of the 1000's that humans worship. That one just happens to be the right one."

 

Alright, I've got you there. I just wouldn't say the chances that God is exactly like one or more religions has explained is probable. Possible? Sure.

And if there are real gods who don't interact or show themselves to us, I'd still want to find out about them for pure scientific curiosity, but at that point, you're right. We shouldn't make a stink about them.

 

Evolution is a fact, Big Bang is a nice looking hypothesis, and God's existence and your stance on the subject is irrelevant to the person next to you. Focus on what can affect and what you can know about life before thinking about the afterlife.

 

Science science science for me.

 

I believe in the rainbow marshmellow space unicorn theory, which is a series of different theories. Marshmellows, unicorns and rainbows are the 3 conventionally accepted fundamental forces of the known universe and combined describe the whole universe.

Physicists in the field of theoretical quantum rainbow marshmellow space unicorn metaphysics are working on uniting the forces to form one grand "theory of everything". Researchers are hopeful that the recent erection of the donut sprinkle combiner in Charn will give them the necessary information to develop a solid theory to explain the connection between the splendiferous and ostentatious forces.

The rainbow marshmellow space unicorn theory is not to be confused with any kind of spirituality. Spirituality bare no relation to the real world and it's only really a way for people to give meaning to their existence. Don't ask me why, I personally don't find any reason to deem such figmentation as necessary.


....... ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽

 

Hold on, hold on.

I never said or implied that any "god is exactly like one or more religions has explained." That would be virtually impossible...humans simply can't conceptualize a divine being at that level...I've never even seen a description that seemed to be *attempting* to exactly explain a god. I was arguing that *if there is a god [that we should care about]* then it is one that humans worship [or have worshipped]. That's quite a different statement. I don't make an assertion about how accurately humans construe that god or its wishes...just that they [attempt to appropriately] worship it.

 

The way you said "But if there is one, then it's probably one of the thousands that humans worship" says to me that, for example, if the Abrahamic god is the correct one, that we'd determine if all the little extras were true too, like Jesus vs. Muhammad or if they both heard God's word, if Catholic rites were necessary or a simpler Protestant worship style still kept one out of purgatory, stuff like that.

Unless you just meant generally, like it's a monotheistic God which defies physical form vs. something like the elephant-headed Vishnu among dozens of others. At that level I see what you were saying.

 

No clue how you pulled that out of what I said (or "the way I said it"). But no. The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim deities are all one and the same (hence "the Judeo-Christian deity")...even they mostly agree on that. Those religions simply interpret appropriate law and behavior, God's will, etc., differently...but it's the same god under consideration.

I am in no way suggesting that if a god exists, then we have a good handle on its nature and what it intends for or desires of us...completely different kind of statement from the one I'm actually making.

This whole thing came up because Em said hey, with all the thousands of gods that humans worship, why should one be right. My point was that *if* one exists at all, then (at least) *one* of them *must* be "right"...in exactly the same way as you'd say that since you exist, one of the humans on the planet must be you. If you heard anything beyond that point coming from me, it was your invention, and not mine.

 

I do believe in science, and that the Big Bang, evolution, and everything is true. I want to believe in fate or destiny, but I don't think that there's any realistic proof. And don't let the Futurama gif make you upset, I meant it ironically.

 

As much as I think of God as a jerk, I still believe in creation.
However, I don't get pissy or offended whenever people bring up evolution.
I think it's a fascinating and far more logical concept, I just don't believe in it.
Lets just say that life experiences drove me to my belief.

I believe that there are things in existance that go beyond what science can explain.

 

Honestly I hate that people think that you have to be either religious or scientific. The way I see it, science is divinity. The beauty of the way nature works, space, chemical reactions. I think that religion is just primitive humans' way of trying to make sense of the world. Maybe God isn't a personified figure. Maybe God is just the workings of nature. I would say I am a believer of science, but I am still spiritual. But if it came down to whether I believe in miracles or science, I would choose science. At least when new breakthroughs are realized, science changes and adapts. If religion could do this as well, there may be more believers.

 

Evolution is a scientifically proven fact.
God is a fairytale invented by primitive minds thousands of years ago to try and explain what they didn't understand.
An expansion event as described by the Big Bang hypothesis appears to be the most likely activity of the early universe based on the available evidence. The trigger event is merely speculation and no conclusive answer can be given.
Faith is not a pathway to truth or facts and only a fool would use it to reach a conclusion, especially when it runs counter to reason and evidence.
Quantum mechanics negates the possibility of destiny.

Happy days