God? gods? Does it even make sense?

[MsSparkie]

If you were omnipotent or beyond, like "Q" from Star Trek, would you do the following:

Create life BUT

First make a dark frigid vacuum

Make lots of balls that float around in the dark frigid vaccum (planets)

Have these balls full of energy in stages of growing or dying

Put some HOT balls interspaced amongst them (suns)

Create worm holes and sun spots just for fun

Have pieces of the those balls fly off and hit other balls (meteors)

Make one (or more, but far apart) planet suitable for something called life

Put dinosaurs on it. Kill them all.

Have the center of the life ball full of molten rock that spills out and kills

Have the surface of the planet crack in places (earthquakes) that kills.

Have most of the living planet under water

Create creatures that cause havoc and kill

Have all living creates "consume" and "expel" nutrition

Have some creatures be the nutrition for others

Have storms and lightning that kill

Have droughts and floods that kill

Have extreme temperatures from roasting on the equator to frigid at the caps (not considering greenhouse stuff now)

Have bacteria, viruses, germs, diseases that kill

Set all living things to die after a period of time, slowly weakening and dying

Have animals that kill people; people that kill animals

Create hatred, hormones that are not controlled, minds that are either too strong or too weak

Create lust, greed, envy in hearts of man

Have people who harm others, mostly males, fighting, attacking, abusing, dominating, tryrants, dictators, thugs, thieves, murderers, rapists, liars

Have toxic poisons to consume, that twist the minds even more...alcohol, drugs.

Have the weaker women and children in need of care at the mercy of male dominated society

etc etc

Why would a god who can do anything want to put us on balls floating in a cold dark vacuum?

Is that the best idea he/she had?

And if they did make it all like this, why didn't they ever change their minds and try something completely different.

Did he/she look and say: it's perfect?

Is this the best we could expect?

ARE WE SUPPOSED TO WORSHIP HIM/HER/THEM FOR THIS?

We are stuck here on these balls.

Our ball has too many problems, including us.

Why not a different configuration for the universe?

Why balls? Why disasters, diseases, hate?

Is this fun for him/her to watch?

Is god sadistic?

Is god really a bad guy?

Is he/she a sicko?

Why is it that men claim to be holy, grab power and money? Men who say they are blessed, but just take and take and take. Wouldn't they give and give and give?

Why isn't there any improvement in the Universe? If you build something, don't you tweak it? Fix it up?

How much/little imagination could these gods have?

If YOU were god, would YOU have made these balls? Would YOU have made so many dangers, evils?

IS THIS JUST A SICK SIM CITY EXISTENCE?

Not likely huh? therefore....
Obviously, I feel there is no god, never was, never will be.

This is what I believe:

"Science based: Anthropologists, evolutionary biologists and other researchers have reached a near consensus that humans of the species homo sapiens evolved from a species of proto-humans who originated somewhere in Africa. (This statement probably upsets any white supremacists who are reading this essay. That can't be helped; scientists consider the evidence to be conclusive; ultimately, we are all descended from Africans.) These proto-humans walked upright, and had an opposing thumb and little finger. Their internal brain structure represented a major advance over those of previous animals in terms of its flexibility, its ability to reason, and its ability to plan for the future. This gave proto-humans an improved ability to pass on their accumulated knowledge to their descendents, to form more advanced societies, and ultimately to create religions.

The following essay will deal with the science based theories of the origin of religion. If you are interested in faith-based theories, we suggest that you do a search on Google with a search string like: origin Christianity

horizontal rule
Science-based theories of religion:

The developing abilities of proto-humans were a double-edge sword:

- On the one hand, they aided their chances of surviving in a cruel and unpredictable world. They helped each successive generation of proto-humans to build upon the knowledge base of their ancestors.

- This increased mental ability led to a terrifying piece of knowledge: personal mortality. For the first time, individual animals on earth became aware that their life was transient; they would die at some point in their future. This knowledge produced an intolerable emotional drain.

During their evolution from proto-human to full human, they developed questions about themselves and their environment:

- What controlled the seasonal cycles of nature -- the daily motion of the sun; the motion of the stars, the passing of the seasons, etc.
- What controlled their environment -- what or who caused floods, rains, dry spells, storms, etc?
- What controls fertility -- of the tribe, its domesticated animals, and its crops.
- What system of morality is needed to best promote the stability of the tribe?
- And above all: what happens to a person after they die?

Living in a pre-scientific society, people had no way to resolve these questions. Even today, with all of our scientific advances, we still debate about the second last question, and still have no way of reaching an consensus on the last. But the need for answers (particularly to the last question) were so important that some response was required, even if they were merely based on hunches. Some people within the tribe started to invent answers based on their personal guesses.

Thus developed:
- The first religious belief system,
- The first priesthood,
- The first set of rituals to appease the Goddess,
- Other rituals to control fertility and other aspects of the environment,
- A set of behavioral expectations for members of the tribe, and
- A set of moral truths to govern human behavior.

These formed an oral tradition which was disseminated among the members of the tribe and was taught to future generations. Much later, when writing was developed, the beliefs were generally recorded in written form. A major loss of flexibility resulted. Oral traditions can evolve over time; written documents tend to be more permanent.

Unfortunately, because these belief systems were based on hunches, the various religions which developed in different areas of the world were all different. Their teachings were in conflict with each other. Because the followers of most religions considered their beliefs to be derived directly from God, they cannot be easily changed. Thus, inter-religious compromise is difficult or impossible. Also, because religious texts are often ambiguous, divisions developed within religions. Different denominations, schools, or traditions have derived different meanings from the same religious texts. Thus were laid the foundations for millennia of inter-religious and intra-religious conflict.

horizontal rule
Evolution of religion:

The first organized religions appear to have been based on fertility. They were focused on the worship of the great Earth Goddess. Religion evolved to include male Gods who were gradually given increased importance by the priests. This development may have been caused by developing knowledge of the male's involvement in the process of reproduction.

Today, most people follow either:
bullet A monotheistic religion, in which a single male god is worshipped, or
bullet A henotheistic religion -- a religion which recognizes a single main deity, but which recognizes other gods and goddesses, heroes, or saints as facets or manifestations or aspects of that supreme God."

[MsSparkie]

And above all: what happens to a person after they die?

You rot and dissolve into nothing. Just like before you were conceived.

Ashes to ashes; dust to dust?

How about nothing to something to nothing. Period.

Therefore my philosophy is: we are here by a fluke, make the most of it, don't waste your life being mean and unhappy.

You will disappear for infinity into nothingness.....so this short time we have has to count, or at least, not be misused in an evil unpleasant way.

[MsSparkie]

Despite how bad all this sounds, I am content. :-)

I accept this all as fact.

I'm ok with it.

[MsSparkie]

The World is divided into armed camps ready to commit genocide just because we can't agree on whose fairy tales to believe.

In the end, Religion will kill us all.

-- Ed Krebs

[Aliantha]

But if all this is true, what will be the discussion at my next dinner party? You can't have 'lively debate' without a few grey areas can you?

I sill can't figure out why dude A cares why dude B does not believe in his god(s). It just screws with me.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

I sill can't figure out why dude A cares why dude B does not believe in his god(s). It just screws with me.

If you saw a stranger about to step in front of an oncoming bus, would you try to stop him? That's pretty much how dude A sees it.

[MsSparkie]

Who loves ya baby!!!!! LOL

http://cellar.org/showpost.php?p=246258&postcount=44

[Dr. Zaius]

The big theological question that always gets avoided. "Who created the Creator?" What inspired him/her/it to create?

Of course in science it's: "Who set off the Big Bang?"