Even Mother Theresa struggled with this. To my way of thinking, the idea that there is no God… makes no sense when I look at the world and all of the creatures including ourselves.
Really? Scientists have developed a much better theory than yours for how all the animals developed to where we are now. Your theory: “God did it.” It is simplistic and largely based on a lack of understanding. You see something you don’t understand - like how animals got there - and assume that some divine super-powerful being created them.
Also, the fact that the incredibly polar opposites… GOOD and EVIL exist just reinforces the idea that God and Satan probably exist. Most of all, the teachings of the Catholic Church, while they are hard to abide by, make pretty darn good sense.
Man’s notion of good and evil, too, has a simple, natural explanation. Being “good” is advantageous to the continuance of the species. Cooperation, charity, and love towards fellow human beings are very good attributes for the survival of our particular species - which has a big brain and special organs for complex thought and communication. On the contrary, killing other humans, stealing, and hatred are very bad attributes for survival. It might work well for solitary animals like lizards or spiders - but for complex social animals, “good” and “evil” have totally natural causes.
Only those who are pre-disposed to believe, probably through being raised in a religious household, would be persuaded by this argument.
Also, if God doesn’t exist, then all religion is one big hoax. No hoax has ever even come close to lasting this long!
Really? What about the failed ideas of racism and sexism? Those ideas were held just as strongly as religious faith throughout the years. Besides, you’re assuming that we think religion is a “hoax” - not necessarily. Religious belief may have come about naturally - but that doesn’t mean it’s right.
None of us can know for sure that God exists, but that is what “faith” is all about. “Faith” by definition is an intellectual CHOICE to believe without actually seeing.
This is a total cop-out. You’re basically saying that we ought to believe in something “just cuz.” Because you said so? Okay, if this is a valid way of thinking - doesn’t this make faith in Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormanism, or any other of the countless other religions out there, equally valid? Why not believe in all of them, if having “faith” is something that should be encouraged?
I suggest that the kind of faith you’re talking about is totaly bankrupt and should be completely tossed out. Belief in unbelievably extreme claims without evidence - in any socially unpopular belief - would be viewed as a mental illness. I could “just believe” that I’m Elvis Presley. It would have just as much validity as your belief in Catholicism. I have just about the same evidence as you do. Yet, one is viewed as a delusion and the other is not. It’s ridiculous. Faith is ridiculous.
And that brings me to another point - Christians (and the Bible they believe in) only encourage “faith” because there simply is a huge lack of evidence. You don’t see scientists holding hands and assuring eachother that Gravity really exists. “Oh, that we may have faith - that what goes up, must come down. Oh, we believe it my brothers and sisters. Don’t shake in your faith!” Why not? Because it’s based on an idea that’s actually grounded on strong evidence. “Faith” is only needed when that evidence isn’t there.
Faith is dishonestly. It’s choosing to agree with some extreme statement - when you know darn well the evidence is extremely thin.
God and Satan are both infinitely smarter and more powerful than us. I think that one of Satan’s most powerful weapons is making people believe that HE doesn’t exist!
Ah… Of course. The satan card. If I can’t convince someone that God exists with horribly flimsy arguements, or try to appeal to the idea of “faith” (a.k.a., believing in something when you know darn well it probably ain’t so), you appeal to fear of demonic influence and the hell it represents. “You better not disbelieve - it’s probably the Evil One working on you - and you know what happens to those who follow Satan.” It’s the perfect lock for a mind venturing into freethought. Make him believe it’s not his own curiosity - make him believe it’s a demonic super-power doing it. This is even more intellectually bankrupt than appealing to “faith.”
Try this: Say this quietly in your mind once a day… every day… “God, if you are out there, please hear my prayer that I can resolve to make the choice to know you better and seek your will for my life”.
If God doesn’t exist, then no harm was done. But my prediction is that you will be blessed with a strong faith and an incredibly fulfilling life! Peace~
Of course that’s your prediction. You’re asking someone to pray to a God they don’t believe exists. You’re asking them to have faith - in order to have faith! That’s begging the question. It’s like you’re saying, “Hey, just believe in God. I have a feeling that you’ll believe in God.
” It’s completely bogus.
Besides, hundreds of thousands of atheists have done just that - and guess what? Nothing happened. No God showed up. But, of course, you’re not going to value those non-theistic experiences. Why? Well you’ve got your firm faith, which is just another way of saying that you *already *believe when the evidence is super thin, and you’ve got your fear of Satan. Both of those will keep you from taking an atheist’s lack-of-God-experience at his word. You’ll say he’s ignoring the call of God, or come up with some other explanation - but the reason isn’t logical - it’s faith and fear.
Faith and fear: The backbone of God-belief. It’s flimsy and bankrupt. I’m glad that more of us are starting to wake up.
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