Exactly. Believing in a higher power? That's cool. Believing in the god, etc. of the bible? reminds me of a hold up problem I used to give grad students. &, I told them there are currently no satisfactory solutions. Guy throws out a solution & I say, nope. He sez, if there is not a solution, how do you know mine's wrong.* I said, one does not need to know how to cook to know when food tastes like shit. * which should be grounds for being thrown outta the prg.
Dude, that's insanely clever! Like a dog eating its own shit clever! El Maestro. Sensai. Zen master! Dolly llama brah!
I know. What next? A speck is going to explode and a vast universe of laws and order will just happen from it? My point is things only seem impossible to an unbeliever. Crazy things (to our little minds) are very common. Whats less likely? A few literal Bible stories that defy what we have seen in our tiny time on earth or the odds of the universe lining up just as it has over mullions of years? (And no. I am not a literal 6 day Genesis "creationist") I believe those passages have been misinterpreted. I am pointing out that in a vacuum that seems insane in the brain too.
The 'laws' of the universe were made up by people, just like religion. There is no natural order to things, just what we apply to it to make sense of it in our limited capacities. Our explanatory powers have advanced quite a bit since Christianity was invented. Belief may persist but the order to things once imposed by Christianity isn't coming back. "God is dead" like Nietzsche said.
I have an irrefutable proof of a higher moral order, greater than humanity, and a model for virtuous human conduct. Dogs. All answers are provided in the love of a dog.
William James definition of generic religion. There is an unseen order, and our Supreme interest lies in harmoniously adjusting ourself to that order
It's interesting, the specifics you mention here are not matters that I've ever gotten hung up on one way or the other. It's funny to me that some people believe in UFO stories that involve logic defying activities; must be aliens they say; or even time travelers. I certainly don't *know* that they are wrong; but I recognize the faith and desire to trust in something bigger that what we have otherwise come to observe. I would venture to guess that many/most people on here have probably observed something at some point in their life that they can't quite explain...some may even not bother sharing with others because nobody would believe them. Or maybe somebody else gave an account of something that we are torn between trusting the individual that shared with us and thinking they must have misperceived the event that they are sharing. To be clear, what you are effectively saying here is that there can be such a thing as an all powerful God, one that is capable of designing the universe in such extensive detail, but it is impossible that said God could do or allow for any of the things you mention above. That belief, too, takes faith. Objectively speaking; he is describing a possibility. If he's presenting it as a fact, he's putting a limitation on God (based on what?)...without evidence to support such a limit, this view requires faith. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
We all have different taste buds; the idea that you might not like the taste of something doesn't inherently make the chef "wrong." If the chef did something more perceivably wrong (overcook based on intention, too runny based on desired consistency, etc.) it should be easy to objectively identify what mistakes were being made, not just "I didn't like it, so you can't cook." It puts you on the same level as the religionists you despise. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
No no no. I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just saying those specific claims are most likely bullshit. Occam's razor. If some person came up to you off the street and claimed to be born of a virgin and was the son of god would it require faith on your part to dismiss his claims as preposterous? I'd guess not.
What's more likely - that Jesus was a conman/illusionist cult leader or that he was actually the son of god? Get real.
Do you hold this view with everything? If you were sheltered from the truth wouldn't the mere life cycle of the human embryo seem insane? Many facts seem incredible to believe if you had been sheltered from them. The formation of the universe is the craziest story ever told to a 31 year old waking up from a 30 year nap. Most people would tell you water cant freeze and boil at the same time. Yet it can. In a group of just 23 there’s a 50% chance that two of them will have the same birthday even though there are 366 possible birthdays There are millions of "off the street" things that would seem impossible, but yet...
