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Drew B
New York, NY
United States

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Why don't people believe in God?

if it were even the slightest possible chance that there is a hell and its a place of everlasting torment and hate wouldnt you want to make sure there isnt one by checking every possible source of information and proof that God does not exist or does?

And why do most people who ask themselves this question and go search for answers come back a christian?

yeah the whole idea can be denied with logical reasoning but you got to look at where this idea came from and how much we can trust this information. When you search for those facts they cant be denied and once you experience what God does in your life you will know its real. If you dont believe in it you should have proof andt the strongest possible evidence of everything that cant be denied.

I want to look at what you guys think and why you guys don't. Please dont attack other peoples ideas and thought and be open with every ounce of reasoning you can come up with.

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Topics: religion

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Bill Davis
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Mar 30 2011: Having experienced dozens and dozens of God-incidences in my life, I know God is real. I will be glad to share truth as I have learned it from God in my life with anyone who is interested.
- Jimmy Strobl 30+
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  Mar 30 2011: Having experienced the scientific method hundreds and hundreds of times in my life, I know science is real. I will be glad to share the truth i have learned about science with anyone who is interested..
  Also i will supply evidence.
  - Bill Davis
    
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    Mar 30 2011: I too am a scientist with a BS in Biology and MD. There is absolutely no contradiction between science and faith as I know them both.
    - Jimmy Strobl 30+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: @Bill: I know them both as well, I only believe in one though...
    - Harald Jezek 50+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: Bill I suppose it depends what your religion is. If yo have a biology background and you are a christian, you should find that there are contradiction between current scientific views and religious views (e.g. abiogenesis, how long humans are around, age of the universe, creation vs. evolutionary biology, etc.)
      How do you handle these different views ?
    - Jimmy Strobl 30+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: @Harald: I think the answer will be that those are not problems since he does not believe in THAT part of the holy scriptures... that usually is the answer when i ask such things...
      @Bill: Please say that I am wrong!
    - Harald Jezek 50+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: Jimmy, I know that this is the standard answer and it's easy, because the scriptures give a lot of room for interpretation anyway. However, that makes the scriptures even more questionable.
    - Jimmy Strobl 30+
      
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      Apr 1 2011: Harald, I fully agree!
  - Drew B
    
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    Mar 30 2011: I agree with science but science explains reality and God further explains reality to a deeper understanding and explains what happens after reality
    - Nicholas Lukowiak 50+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: What happens after reality? Dam, I missed that philosophy class.
      
      No, science can and will explain EVERYTHING.
      
      God (in the Abrahamic religion explanation), if he exist, proves that their are beings of super natural abilities. Like Men in Black at the end with the marbles.
      
      HISTORIC LITERATURE DOES NOT HAVE ANY ANSWERS; BUT MORAL STORIES.
    - Jimmy Strobl 30+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: @Nicholas: I thought that "what happens after reality" was a cheap shot so I didn't want to ask it... Still I'm glad you did!
    - Nicholas Lukowiak 50+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: @ Jimmy, I am all up for god being love, even made a conversation about it. But most people are really making god into an existing being in the universe and not an abstract philosophy of positive morals.
- natasha nikulina 50+
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  Mar 30 2011: Bill and Jimmy you are both right! Science doesn't contradict to the idea of God, science is the empirical observation what believers call God's creation.
  - Comment deleted
    - Jimmy Strobl 30+
      
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      Mar 30 2011: I am sorry Natasha but I think that Birdias statement is more accurate...
    - natasha nikulina 50+
      
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      Mar 30 2011: Birdia and Jimmy, I believe it is that simple- science and sacred tradition are different, but not separate, it's divergent paths to the same summit. It's searching for truth,ultimate truth and itis one, by definition. The methods, tools are differnt, but the aim is the same- to comprehend the whole.
    - Jimmy Strobl 30+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: @Natasha: Tradition is one thing, religion or the belief in god another... I always ask myself: what do they base it on? Cause surely it can't be the bible...
    - natasha nikulina 50+
      
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      Mar 31 2011: Hi, jimmy, I ask myself too ''what do they base it on?" I think it's part of our human necessity to be animated by some sense of common purpose , of shared meaning, we need the story that bound us together. Without it we find it hard to experience enthusiasm in the true sense of its original meaning - being "en" /in/ theos/God/ And nothing is apart, everything linked, religion and sacred traditions is a deep insight into the knowing our minds cannot penetrate. A mystery. Think how the old myths of creation tell their story. The Bible says it like this: In the begining ... the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the faceof the waters. And the creation myth of the Maoris of New Zeland like this;Io dwelt without the breathing space of immensity: the universe was in darkness, with water everwhere. Those two creation stories appeared so far apart, in cultures which had no contact with each other and yet so similar. Science has its own creation story, it says that everything came from nothing, which is also true. But as for me I really don't know.
  - Bill Davis
    
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    Mar 30 2011: There is no contradiction between science and God's Good News through Jesus, as you say. Science is theory. God's Good News through Jesus is reality. I know this personally to be true.
    - natasha nikulina 50+
      
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      Mar 30 2011: Sorry, Bill, It is not exactly what I ment, I don't practise any religion, that allows me to respect all human beliefs, and I view sacred traditions as noble attempts through rituals and intuition to catch the glimps of truth, I was not specific.
    - Peter Maynard
      
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      Jul 6 2011: Bill what a load of ignorant tosh is spoken by religious adherents.
      
      Firstly science is not just a theory (although it is made up of many many very powerful individual "theories" that explain how the physical world works).
      
      Second, do you even have a glimmer of an understanding of what a scientific theory is is? Its not just an IDEA that someone thought up and cannot be substantiated - thats what religion is. Religion is based on faith and an awful lot of superstition that we know cannot possibly be true because the evidence tells us that.
      
      To be called a scientific theory a theory must
      
      (a) explain all known characteristics of the phenomenom its trying to explain and
      
      B) be contradicted by none of those characteristics. Nor can it be contradicted by the evidence.
      
      A scientific theory has to be able to be tested against the evidence using very careful tests and then the facts / evidence must be published in the key journals of the relevant branch of science where it is open to anyone who has better evidence to knock it down. A scientific theory is something VERY VERY rigorous indeed and every year many theories are thrown in the waste bin because the facts do not support them.
      
      By your definition the theory of gravity is only a theory and is not worth believing. Perhaps this is how fundamentalist christians plan on being raptured up to heaven - by disbelieving the theory of gravity.
      
      Look, if you are going to criticise science at least make an attempt to understand what you are criticising. It is becasue of science that you can hop in your car and drive to church or go on the interent to make claims about religion. It is because of science that TV and radio can publish information including info about your god and its because of science that many people alive today have food on their tables. If we relied on religion we would still be burning witches and believing in demons that cause illness. Perhaps you still do. If not, then thank science.

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