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[BocoDragon]

If people read The God Delusion this thread would only be on page 3

no.

And I'm a fan of the book and generally an atheist.

I can believe that, and that is what is scary and depressing. What if it IS all for no reason?

Even if there's a God. He exists for no reason.

Sorry at some level it is all for no reason! Life is a dance... pointless (because what is a "point"?) but beautiful.

 

[TheHeretic]

Like I said long ago, there IS evidence for God. Almost every (perhaps even every) human culture we've encountered has a belief in some type of divine entity or entities. Of course, it's extremely weak evidence. I'll be the first to admit that. The more likely explanation is that religiosity was, for some unknown reason, evolutionarily advantageous. Nevertheless, to claim that there is NO evidence (or even the same amount as for pixies) for some type of higher being is being a little dishonest.

That is absolutely not proof of any God. The fact that every culture has had different Gods with different rules is proof that man created God more than anything else. Even if the entire world today believed in one God, that would not be evidence of God at all. Big questions with no answers make people uncomfortable, thats the reason we invent Gods.

 

[Alien Bob]

Here's my theory: The purpose of human life is to find ways to do as little as possible, in the end that is what all technology is made for, to make things easier on us. However, being simple creatures, we still have to do a lot of things to survive at all. God, being the ultimate being, being beyond death, all knowing and all powerful, does not have to do shit. He just exists, but for no purpose. So the ultimate god would be absolute nothingness.

 

[cyclonekruse]

That is absolutely not proof of any God. The fact that every culture has had different Gods with different rules is proof that man created God more than anything else. Even if the entire world today believed in one God, that would not be evidence of God at all. Big questions with no answers make people uncomfortable, thats the reason we invent Gods.

Proof? Did I claim it was proof? No. And, yes, even if we took the evidence as solid evidence, we'd know almost nothing about the properties of the entity because no one can agree on what they are (except maybe being a creator?). That still provides more reason to believe in a God than your pixies, if only infinitesimally more.

Lastly, no, I don't think we invent Gods because of unanswered questions. I think religiosity is (or at least was) evolutionarily advantageous. Evolution usually is the explanation for any human universals. Even Neanderthals (who aren't human) might have had some type of religion.

 

[StormyTheRabbit]

I will just post a quote a member here posted in another religion thread that I found to be so true that I saved it, dunno who said it though:

The thing is, it doesn't really matter. If people were sitting around making snide, off-the-point attacks against the greek pantheon, viking mythology or Zoroastrians, nobody would give a shit. We moved one from those religions long ago.

We're in the process of moving on from Christianity just about everywhere besides the US, so to us non Americans, christianity is basically a non issue. It's something we can take the piss out of without really giving a shit if we're convincing anyone or not; it's for our benefit.

You wouldn't go out of your way to respect the beliefs of someone who believed heart and soul that the contents of Lord of the Rings were factual, neither do I have any respect for a Judean zombie lord or a four armed elephant god, it's all the same to me. It's all the same to anyone unless they are raised to positively discriminate their particularly cultures current folklore of choice.

Religion is as religion was: temporary cults that cling onto the gaps in people's education to survive long enough to fill the pockets of the clergy. Simple as that.

"Is there a god?" is not a serious question, so it does not deserve serious answers, it is comic fodder, nothing more.

 

[Agent Ghost]

I believe in the God of Death. She's omnipresent, omnipotent and Omnibenevolent. She cares for us all and she never fails to prove it.