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How does an absolute belief in an unprovable concept make you see things more clearly?
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In much the same way as knowing that pixies, santa , his elves and the toothfairy dont exist helps keep my mind clear to concentrate on stuff that does.
I have looked at the evidence as best I can given my lack of education in the fields of physics and theology and I have read books writtenby scholars on both sides of that divide and frankly I am more convinced by the evidence put forward by the physicists than those put forward by the theologians. Can it be proven without a shadow of a doubt? Well if you ask Professor Dawkins he would probably say no. If you ask the Archbishop of Canterbury he would probably say no. But thats because its not provable. Neither is the existence of Pots of gold at the end of rainbows. Just because nobody ever found one doesnt mean theyarent there right?
It strikes me that at some point you have to accept a default position. If something is unprovable then you look to the next level and ask yourself is it really likely? I think God is as likely as the devil and both are as likely as self propelled flying pigs. I have yet to hear a single theological academic or theological physicist (I was surprised to find they existed...) put forward a theory that didnt run up against my "thats bullshit" filter.
Throughout history scientists have searched for answers and the church has warned them back saying "Nay nay this far and no further.....From this point on you have strayed into heaven" yet the scientists pushed forwards and forwards, and the sun ceased to revolve around the earth and the earth ceased to be flat and again the men of God said "nay. Nay ths far and no further. We said God existed at the edge of our sight and you have pushed forwards into heaven and found only sky. This far and no further. For after this point we trespass on Gods' house" but further we went.....at each major push the men of God have bid us cease our pushing. They have insisted that God exists at the edge of our knowledge. Each time we push forward and find no evidence of God. Next we are told he exists beyong the big bang....But then we learned to see through and beyond the big bang and saw no God. Then we decided....Maybe God is the spark that gave us sentience....the more we find out about our genetics and our physicaldevelopment the more the answer seems to come back that God had no part in our awakening.
I accept that those with religion have the right to that belief. But....I also think that religion ( of every brand) is a dangerous thing, a conservative thing and a block to human understanding and scientific progress.
Imagnine we were talking about pink elephants and the default position was that we should all respect everybody's right to believe in herds of pink elephants despite nobody in living memory ever having seen a pink elephant ....thats fair enough ...but would the marker be set for all generations of scientists to come that they must test all their evidence with the assumption that pink elephants are all around them, unseen and integral to the workings of th universe?
For any of you who do believe in a God, then just dismiss this as the ramblings of an atheist and pay me no heed :P