On 2005-06-02 15:52:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Greg, I am glad that you state that you are not closed to the learning of new information when it comes to God. Neither am I. When we quit looking, asking, seeking, that is when we become closed and dogmatic. I believe many Christians and atheists are this way. Unfortunately, they are the ones that give everyone a bad name. There is no way anyone can prove or disprove the existence of God. It has to be a proponderance of evidence and your decision of faith has to be based on probability. No, I should say, your decision of faith SHOULD be based on probability. I do know some real head cases that believe in some very out there stuff that has NO evidence other than their great imagination. Anyway, I am a Christian, but still learning, seeking, studying, and not closed to anything when it comes to God. By the way. Hope you had a great trip!"
Thanks! Actually, had to rush back due to a death in the family, but all is well. Just got back to my house today.
I am open to new evidence for god. So far unfortunately, the evidence I have reviewed keeps pointing me in another direction. I could be wrong,however at this point I suspect I am not.
Love your post. I only wish to point out one thing...
"no one can disprove god"
Your statement here. The answer is of course your statement is true because no one can prove a negative. I cannot prove god doesn't exist, because in the supernatural realm, you can just adjust and adjust ad nausem.
For example, suppose I believe that bigfoot exists. you cannot disprove that either.
Bigfoot exists.
How do you know?
I saw him.
How do you know you werent mistaken?
I just know
How come there are no fossils?
They just haven't been found yet.
How come no bodies have been recovered?
They have, the government is hiding the evidence.
And on and on.
Now, what happens when I endow him with supernatural powers? It gets impossible to argue the negative...
How come so few have seen him?
Because he chooses who he comes to.
HOw come no fossils?
He is a spirit?
How do you know?
He told me.
ad nausem
Go ahead and try it, it is a fun exercise in logic and skeptical thinking. You absolutely positively can take both sides of the argument and argue into a draw every time.
From this vantage point then in order to arrive at weather something is likely or not likely to be true, one should dismiss this idea offhand and adopt a more rational way at arriving at the truth, and the scientific method gives us a clue on what is reasonable.
That is, always allow for new information and before you believe something fantastical or supernatural, require strong evidence.
What is strong evidence? That is up to the individual to decide. Personally, I throw out testimony, I throw at anecedotal evidence and the more outrageous the claim (supernatural bigfoot) the more evidence I require.
This works for me. Others just choose to be credulous. Evidence of that attitude exist in this thread, the constant adjusting of the position to keep the foregone conclusion intact.
Anon, thanks for your participation in this thread. I absolutely love discussing religion with people who are open to listening to other people, even when they disagree. On the other side, it is an exercise in frustration discussing religion with most dogmatic people because they either bail to intelectual dishonesty or get mad or frustrated.
