>I'd like to see you try to get through a day without hope, belief or faith.
>If you can do it, then I'll believe in Athiests. Otherwise I'd have to say
>an Athiest is just someone who's scared of what they can't see, and so hide
>like a child would.
Right, so here's a Christian telling us that because we don't believe in God,
we're like children! I don't mean to sound nasty, but it's a reaction I've come
to expect from Christians over the years. If you don't like what they say, then
you're either stupid, childish, misled, pretending to be cool, or anything
else they can think of to belittle you - I've put up with it for a number of
years, as many of my friends are Christians, and when put on the subject of
religion, all of them turn round on the few of us that don't agree with them,
and insist that everything we argue against them is untrue, "because the Bible
wasn't meant to be taken that way," - yeah, well why didn't they write it the
way it was meant to come across then! I have every respect for people's
beliefs, as long as they don't try and shove them down my throat. I'm always
interested to hear someone else's point of view, because it fascinates me as
to why people believe in God. If someone engages me in an intelligent argument,
then I'll argue my point as rationally as I can, because if an argument is
totally rational, then another rational being is FORCED to accept that it is
right. The problem arises when - as I have said before - a point is reached
when the argument cannot be wholly rationalised because of lack of information.
I think, therefore, that every rational being, at this pont must make an
intelligent guess as to whether there is a God or not. But the decision could
go either way at this point.
I do have another theory, though, regarding the existance of God, and the
coming about of God, as mentioned in some of the early messages in this thread.
I have to warn you all now, though, that this is purely THEORETICAL, and has
no basis in fact or evidence at all - at least not hard evidence, but rather
circumstantial.
In the early ages of mankind, we were a predator race, hunting and killing our
food (we're far more refined now :)). As you may know, current predator
races on the planet, seem to be very in tune with their surroundings, and
other members of their pack (assuming that they are pack animals, which for
the case of this argument I'd like you to do, as early man was). It would
suggest, that there's some kind of feeling among the group as to what they
do next. Now, let me hypothesise that there's some kind of telepathic link
going on between the animals. (this is the bit where people are going to say:
"Hang on, we don't believe in telepathy." Well, that's fine, but I'd have to
point out that as a scientifically advanced race, we know what very little of
the Human brain actually does, and therefore there is the scope to say that
it may transmit brain waves just like radio waves, which can be picked up and
read by recievers in other brains - it cannot be discounted, because we really
don't know - just like we cannot discount the existence of God, although we
may BELIEVE that he doesn't exist).
If there's a telepathic link between hunting packs, then it would be safe to
assume that it was the same for Humans, and as we have reduced our role as that
kind of predator, evolution may have taken it out of our system. But just
suppose that evolution's taken an awful long time over it. Perhaps that
ability still lies in the Human brain, waiting to be totally erased. This
means that at the point when religion really became a very big thing - I'm
guessing, but I figure it must have been about 10 - 15 thousand years ago -
then this ability may have still been functioning.
Okay, we've got this far, are you still with me?
Now, if we allow God to be the personification of all good, and Satan to be the
personification of all evil, then we can begin the next part.
There are all kinds of people in the world, some naturally good (Everyone smile
and wave at Mother Theresa), and some naturally bad (how about Saddam Hussen!).
If all of these kinds of people were subconsciously broadcasting their general
demeanour accorss the brain-radio then people recieveing would be aware of
forces of good and evil. This may also explain many religios "miracles", such
as astral projections, speaking to God, divine visitations, warm glows, cold
spots, and all the usual religious phenomenon.
So, if people have seen the images, experienced the miracles, and felt the
brain-radio patterns, then it wouldn't be surprising if they attribute it to
a higher power. After all, why should they figure it was themselves, if we
don't know in this day and age. In the end, therefore, it is possible that
we are the Gods that we worship!!!!!
Just a theory, hope you liked it,
Drakir
-----------------------
Richard Jones
jonesr@gatwick.geco-prakla.slb.com
----------------------------
"Never will I see you, lurking in the shadows, Unbenign the hands of God"
-------------------------