10 Questions for Atheists and What do Atheists Believe:

[Sangamon]

Well at some point you believe life 'sprang' into existence also, without anything like it coming before.

yes it must've started sometime. But we have discovered complex organic molecules in outer space, so the 'without anything like it coming before' part is highly unlikely...at least if you speak of life on earth.

how the first live in the universe came to be...i don't know

 

[John99]

You think nature exists to accommodate a species and all these thing just fit so perfectly by accident? If that were the case there would be no way to fit perfectly into an ecosystem and any fit would only be temporary. Nature does not think it exists as is. Sorry. Of course living organisms can adapt but there is a limit to that also.

 

[Sarkus]

You think nature exists to accommodate a species and all these thing just fit so perfectly by accident? If that were the case there would be no way to fit perfectly into an ecosystem and any fit would only be temporary. Nature does not think it exists as is. Sorry. Of course living organisms can adapt but there is a limit to that also.

So you honestly believe that the Earth was created for us, and that because we fit it so perfectly that it must have been made for us?



Seriously???


The idea that something merely adapted to the environment is not something you consider more likely?

As Douglas Adams once stated in an address:
"This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in - an interesting hole I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise."



I suggest, sir, that you argue from a lack of understanding of evolution.

 

[John99]

I suggest, sir, that you argue from a lack of understanding of evolution.

It is not that hard to understand. I dont make an issue of it too much any longer because it is like taking someone's religion from them. If i blow away evolution theory it seems to hurt peoples feelings but come on shed the indoctrination.

I think Charles Darwin was bent on finding an answer and he drew the simplest conclusion. He must have had a lot of influence because if most people drew that conclusion they would be in an asylum.

 

[SnakeLord]

You think nature exists to accommodate a species and all these thing just fit so perfectly by accident?

Indeed. It is a miracle that the puddle fits perfectly into the hole in the ground. Why, the puddle argues that the hole was made just for him. What the puddle does not realise is that he adapted to fit the hole.

Now, as for fitting so perfectly.. I don't think so. Two thirds of the planet is uninhabitable by man, many regions on earth are either too cold or too hot to sustain life for very long. Just take a look round at some pictures of starving Africans. Etc etc etc etc.

[edit] Bah, Sarkus beat me

 

[Sarkus]

Indeed. It is a miracle that the puddle fits perfectly into the hole in the ground. Why, the puddle argues that the hole was made just for him. What the puddle does not realise is that he adapted to fit the hole.

Now, as for fitting so perfectly.. I don't think so. Two thirds of the planet is uninhabitable by man, many regions on earth are either too cold or too hot to sustain life for very long. Just take a look round at some pictures of starving Africans. Etc etc etc etc.

[edit] Bah, Sarkus beat me

Ah - I see we both dip into the same pool of rationalism.

 

[John99]

Indeed. It is a miracle that the puddle fits perfectly into the hole in the ground. Why, the puddle argues that the hole was made just for him. What the puddle does not realise is that he adapted to fit the hole.

Oh yeah, it is a miracle alright.

 

[Sarkus]

It is not that hard to understand.

And by your own words condemn yourself to being a fool?

I dont make an issue of it too much any longer because it is like taking someone's religion from them.

An issue of what? Your lack of understanding. It is true that it is better the fool be silent than display his ignorance to the world.

If i blow away evolution theory it seems to hurt peoples feelings but come on shed the indoctrination.

Not really a logical sentence structure here, I'm afraid.

"If" I do something it "seems"?
"If" is a conditional - conditions haven't occurred and thus the effects of that condition must be in a future tense... such as "it would"... and the correct future tense is determined by the tense of the condition.

But enough of the English lesson.

I think Charles Darwin was bent on finding an answer and he drew the simplest conclusion.

Yes - ever hear of Occam's Razor?
Or rationality, for that matter?

He must have had a lot of influence because if most people drew that conclusion they would be in an asylum.

Anything that went against the church did indeed have a struggle on their hand... until reason won out.

And if you now claimed to hear the voice of God in your head... where would you end up?
How times have changed!

 

[John99]

You really think that humans popping out of a mud hole is rational? Because at the end of the day that is what it all boils down to. Its science fiction thats all.

But go ahead and present an argument without attacking me. I believed it al too once.

Oh no, now we found those ocean vents so of course that must have had something to do with it. And then for some reason these creatures were morphed into highly intelligent, extremely complex beings.:shy:

 

[SnakeLord]

Oh yeah, it is a miracle alright.

Not really.

I would be interested in hearing your ideas concerning the fossil record and why you do not find humans at the bottom and trilobytes at the top. It is a case of less complex to more complex, other than "morphing" :bugeye: why do you think that is?

 

[Sarkus]

You really think that humans popping out of a mud hole is rational?

As rational as expecting a cat to give birth to a dog.

Because at the end of the day that is what it all boils down to. Its science fiction thats all.

No - it's about the first building-blocks of life developing in a "mud hole" (as you put it) and then evolution taking it from there to here - through mutation, fitness for the environment and other theorised mechanisms.

But go ahead and present an argument without attacking me. I believed it al too once.

An argument for what, exactly? For why evolution should be "believed"? Here's one: because it takes the observations (fossil record, observed instances of mutations and speciation etc) and arrives at the rational conclusion of evolution.

Oh no, now we found those ocean vents so of course that must have had something to do with it. And then for some reason these creatures were morphed into highly intelligent, extremely complex beings.:shy:

Morphed? Come now - you expect us not to insult you and yet you appear to deliberately goad through displays of ignorance and naivety. Shame on you.

 

[Myles]

That is what puzzles me the most. I really think that time will lay this delusion to rest. Common ancestor is magic, it is the anti-Science.

I would love for the consensus to be - WE REALLY DONT KNOW SO WE ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE STUFF UP ANYMORE. That would be the best press conference i ever saw. The easiest way to see it is false is that there has never been even the slightest proof that intelligence has evolved. That is the holy grail of evolution, you can take everything else, the morphing shapes and the similarities amongst species is window dressing. I can prove that the human brain functions as it did from day one, i would love to see anyone attempt to prove otherwise but that will never happen.

And what was it with that reptile brain stuff? What a farce.

Please enlighten us. How do you know that the human brain functions as it did from day one ?

 

[Myles]

You really think that humans popping out of a mud hole is rational? Because at the end of the day that is what it all boils down to. Its science fiction thats all.

But go ahead and present an argument without attacking me. I believed it al too once.

Oh no, now we found those ocean vents so of course that must have had something to do with it. And then for some reason these creatures were morphed into highly intelligent, extremely complex beings.:shy:

Who told you that humans popped out of a mud hole ?

 

[Why?]

Atheist member benefits?

So, you're an atheist. You've got your sparkling new atheist membership card. What are the membership benefits?

 

[draqon]

burn the card. No insignia shall label me for I follow no belief other than my own

 

[Enmos]

So, you're an atheist. You've got your sparkling new atheist membership card. What are the membership benefits?

lol this is so telling..

 

[SnakeLord]

So, you're an atheist. You've got your sparkling new atheist membership card. What are the membership benefits?

If this isn't the clearest indication that you are only a theist because you want the payout then I don't know what is.

Anyway... some benefits, no benefits, many benefits.. That doesn't change there being no evidence for the existence of gods and thus my lack of belief in them.

 

[spidergoat]

We get to play with a full deck.

 

[glaucon]

So, you're an atheist. You've got your sparkling new atheist membership card. What are the membership benefits?

Freedom of mental movement: one is not shackled with the requirement of having to entertain belief in fantastical and/or mythic entities to excuse and define one's behaviour as well as serving as an emotional and metaphysical 'safety blankie'.

 

[Crunchy Cat]

So, you're an atheist. You've got your sparkling new atheist membership card. What are the membership benefits?

Truth.