A question for athiests

To me, I feel like "born from the unknown" sounds like faith.

People often have trouble not filling in the unknown with something that makes them feel good. But this belies the value of simply being comfortable with the unknown.

Amen!

Never been able to embrace that 'comfort'. Lots of ways to get it if you want it though. Chasing the bottom of a whiskey bottle can do it.

I'll just live with my curiosity.

Well, people who can be comfortable with not knowing wouldn't need to chase the bottom of a whiskey bottle, would they? That would be the people who needed anesthesia when faced with the unknown. Like, an opiate of the masses...

Yep, they embrace the 'unknowable mystery' as well.

Not for me. I'll stay curious.

You seem pretty sure of your god answer. That's not very curious. That's a knowledge claim. Despite the lack of credible evidence. Quite a leap and a lot of word wrangling required to keep it afloat...

You really think the story ends at 'there is a God'?

There is so much more to be curious about once you get beyond that.

The claim begins at "there is a god," and until you've substantiated that claim, everything beyond that is imagination.

Saying that one can be comfortable with the unknown...is not an indication of a lack of curiosity about the Ultimate REALITY.

Not at all.

In fact...to truly show curiosity about "what is" and "why is it", one has to stay divorced from blind guesses like "there is a GOD" or "there are no gods."

Accepting that "we do not know" rather than "therefore there had to be god" or "therefore no gods can exist"...is a huge part of curiosity.

Being comfortable with "I don't know" doesn't mean that you need to stop trying to figure things out. Continuing to study and explore is the scientific way.

Jeez! You and KBM are a scream.

So my question is - Will you let me know when you guys find God in your microscope, telescope or test tube?

Nobody ought to be "looking for GOD."

What everyone ought to be looking for are insights into the REALITY of existence.

If those insights lead to a GOD...FINE.

If they don't...ALSO FINE.

Unfortunately...if one looks hard enough for a GOD...(or a god or gods)...

...most likely one will find what is being looked for so desperately.

I honestly don't understand you at all.

You know what Frank, If I spent my money on $5000 a night whores, I'd feel like I got a better deal than spending my time replying to this post of yours.

Thanks ros, that's most honest reply I ever got from an atheist.

Or agnostic for that matter.

Edit: WTF, include holy rollers in that too.

At $5000...I would hope so.

Anyway...if you really, really, really, really "look" for Zeus...eventually you would find him.

Get over it.

Anyone "looking for god" is engaging in self-deception.

By the way...the reply you are dissing...was actually agreeing with what you said.

But....

That's funny because while I often feel that way about Frank's posts, I think this one was pretty astute. (I think he must have ripped it off from something I wrote previously )

When you think you already have the answer to a question, there's a damned good chance that's the one you'll find.

I don't think anyone can truly put the notion of God out of their mind when they search for "the meaning of life," but it does make sense to begin the search with an open mind. If you end up with God you can at least feel like the result wasn't pre-programmed.

These discussion about God seem to me to be pointless, unless the point of participating is to hone one's own beliefs. I would hope everyone realizes that the chances of convincing a theist that there is no God or an atheist that there is, are about as close to nil as can be. Neither side can prove they are right so it usually comes down to:

"You're foolish/cowardly/arrogant/naive/self-absorbed etc for believing what you believe. If you were smarter/deeper/more learned/less rigid etc you would believe what I believe."

I try not to criticize anyone for what they believe relative to God. That is unless they are putting forth the message that God wants us to do horrible things to one another or, for that matter, that because there is no God we are free to do horrible things to one another. A lot of what people believe makes no sense to me, but I've no doubt the same can be said about what I believe.

I will stick my two cents in when one side or the other uses what I consider specious arguments to disprove or criticize their "opponents'" beliefs, eg the whole God can't exist because babies die and puppies are brutalized argument.

Eventually though I realize these threads are far more about fundamentalist Christian beliefs (or those that come close) than the broader spectrum of belief in God/A Supreme Being/The Creator of All Things, and this makes me even less inclined to participate.

No offense intended to you or any of the other believers who regularly participate in these threads, but someday we may be joined by a Jesuit theologian and these threads may become interesting. Having said this, I don't think such a person is going to convince me or anyone else of anything on this subject but I'm assuming that they all have heard just about every standard argument made by atheists and have come up with some clever responses.

Nonetheless...Simply being comfortable with the unknown, is an excellent definition of faith.

I wonder what your reasoning is for that claim.