So you grew personally from your belief...that's wonderful. Not to impose but you can grow much more with lsd and dmt. Because that's all that god is to those who feel him, it's a rush, a bit of a trip. It's been proven by many neurologists. Science never ends...I don't think you understand that even if any theism is true...it would then stop being a theism and it would become science. Science is truth. That's all that it is.
I agree with (what I assume is) the overall point, that religion was created originally as a way to explain the things that people weren't able to understand or explain. It's human nature to try to understand and explain everything around us. To people who had no knowledge of physics, biology, chemistry etc, their best guess was some kind of more powerful being that just put everything together and makes everything work. They had no other way to explain it, and that's what they came up with. Over time people began to put so much stock in these religions that it defined who they were, and now people are terrified to consider the possibility that they may be wrong. Religious leaders do a great job of keeping people afraid and keeping them faithful, telling them it's wrong and sinful to question anything. You're supposed to accept it blindly, and anytime anyone says anything that contradicts it, you stick your fingers in your ears and close your eyes and scream until they go away.
lol....I have done my share of LSD.....probably more than my share....and although I had several extremely profound experiences with it.....doing it with others....I do not refer to those as my source of personal growth....although it has contributed. Personally....although I am intrigued by DMT, I do not feel compelled to use it.....as I have had more than enough experience with the outer limits....Not necessarily in a bad way...much the opposite....Lets say that I am 'satisfied'...lol *Also...science is as close as humans can come to objective Truth.....that doesnt necessarily mean that there aren't other Truths....imo...of course.
I find these threads interesting. I find it even more bizarre how intellect seems to creep into the equation. I know a professors who is one of the world leaders in his field of medicine who believes in a God - In fact talking to him he states quite a few doctors do have some sort of belief (not just Christianity) - if that is just a survival tool with dealing with death on a daily basis who knows. I know on the flip side some real idiots who believe in a God and use it as a tool. Just as i know people who are atheists who can run rings around me mentally and others who are not so bright. I find it offensive when religious leaders condemn non believers or other faiths just as much as i hate people like Richard Dawkins who are just as extreme. I understand with science you can test a theory - and after all God is just a theory that cannot be tested. I think most of the people throughout history who had visions of God etc had some sort of mental illness but who isn't to say that mental illness allows them to see what others cannot see and is just another step of evolution. I like to think there are still wonders in the world and unexplained things we just don't have the ability to understand and grasp. I don't see why i should remain closed minded and chose one way or the other that just isn't a scientific approach
nope. Are you open minded about whether the earth is round or flat? are you open minded about whether or not the body is made up of cells, or that matter is made up of atoms? Keeping an open mind in some ways is very important in science, but so is knowing when something is simply wrong.
"Are you open minded about whether the earth is round or flat? " as they would say on skeptoid or Septics guide to the universe this is a straw man argument.- taking what i write out of context - I am not stupid even though to you i maybe.
I think the main reason it makes since to not believe in a deity, is because there is no evidence of any interference in the laws of physics. Hawking is fond of saying that if there is a god, he doesn't do anything. I don't exclude the possibility that there may be something, just because the big bang brings to question our existence. SO many religious people hate the idea, but it's probably the greatest thing that science has ever given them. Before that, the solid state theory was much more common, and there is no room for a god in that theory.
Call it a straw man if you want, but I didn't take anything out of context, and it's a perfectly valid comparison. And nobody's calling you stupid. I was just pointing out to you that in some cases, "keeping an open mind" is really just ignoring the facts.
It is weird as i do look at the world with a critical view - i don't believe in Naturopathy, anything beyond the physical (I know an oxymoron) and as 'Poverty Flats' states in the understanding of the Universe and evolution there is no need for a God to start time and matter rolling. When i sleep i am basically dead (unless i dream) and that could be what it will be for eternity when you or I die. Then again when i look at my daughter, some people, animals or nature I do feel some sort of spiritual thing or flashbacks of events if it's just chemical abnormality of my mind I don't know. I understand that if I look at a God like sentient being sceptically it makes no sense but in an infinite universe(s) and dimensions why cannot there be infinite possibilities and something conscious that is bigger than us is there. I think everyone struggles with Faith/life/meaning and people devote their lives to it. I cannot force myself or anyone to have faith and most times I don't but maybe I just want to find meaning and comfort as I get older and hopefully wiser I become more open to the idea as the world gets harder and more disconnected to nature and other people. I think my understanding of God is the Universe as a living thing that we come from (as we are stardust after all) that gave us consciousness – (was that a good idea is another debate) for whatever reason.