Science, Religion, and the Surrounding Confusion.

[DanaC]

Well DanaC if you are an atheist you have too much faith that you know everything
Stick with us agnostics, have a bet each way and admit there just might be things out there you have not seen or understood

At what point have I suggested that there are not things out there which I have not seen or understood? I do not believe in the supernatural, because if something exists then it is natural. I do not pretend to know what does or does not exist, with the sole exception of a human-conceived fantasy creature. Are there more things on heaven or earth than are dreamed of in my philosophy? Most assuredly, yes.

But I no more feel the need to remain open to the possibility of God and the supernatural, than to the possibility that the River Styx flows somewhere beneath. I have no way to know for sure that gravity will not one day desert us; yet I have enough experiential evidence and access to scientific reassurances that this will not be so. This does not make me closed minded, it makes me a pattern recognising, expectant human being.

Have a bet each way? Oh please. That particular fence must be groaning under the weight of such intellectual indecision. The God of the Gaps has already been mentioned in this thread. It is, to me, one of the most compelling single arguments against the existence of 'God'. Humanity keeps encroaching onto the divine and finding nothing but nature. Whilst you are keeping your bets so thoroughly hedged (and if the God most people are praying to does exist, I doubt he'll be much impressed by that little act of inconstancy) on the existence of God and his ineffable plan, do you also keep in mind the possibility that the sun won't rise or that the moon might inexplicably fall from the sky?

Agnosticism. I have little time for it. Have a bet each way? Dear God, give me a fire breathing priest over that watered-down philosphy any day.


[eta] *reads that back and winces, realising she's insulted every agnostic on the Cellar*