Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every phenomenon we have investigated so far has a natural explanation. There is a complete lack of credible, testable evidence for any specific supernatural claim. Therefore, the most rational conclusion is that a supernatural entity is unnecessary for explaining reality.

+1

The OPs statement does not hold up under logical scrutiny.

You are equating an opinion with a factual claim. If I said, "blue is the best" and you say, "red is the best," both are equally valid because they’re subjective preferences. However, the existence of God is a factual claim about the universe. Either a deity exists or it doesn’t. Since those two things can't both be true at the same time, the two positions are not equally valid.

You are also making a positive claim = there is a God. The burden of proof lies with the positive claimant.

It is also a relativist fallacy. Valid means a conclusion that follows from evidence or sound premises. A belief based on faith (believing without evidence) isn't logically "valid" in the same way a conclusion based on data is.

Truth is not a matter of one’s opinion, as reality doesn't actually change based on what we believe about it.

This is how I know that when I meet someone who is a believer, I know there are deficiencies in their critical thinking abilities.

Not really - It could be that they're not really thinking about it much and that in their mind, believing in God is the reasonable, accepted stance. That was the case with me when I was a believer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

You clearly never read the word of God. It perfectly describes all the sufferings and death, and crimes... God never said these things are not going to happen.

Really? God never said that there wouldn't be mass shootings in churches? Is that one of the reasons that you believe in him?

Anonymous wrote:So many posts stating that people should face reality, there are no gods or God.

This is not a settled question.

Whomever posts this is stating their opinion, which if correctly stated, they personally don’t believe in gods or a God.

They claim something that no one really knows.

So if you don’t believe in gods or a God, great, that’s your opinion.

But other people do believe in a higher power, gods, a God, or God. Their belief is just as valid and acceptable as not believing.

This is you being incredibly dishonest. You know full well the vast majority of atheists do not say there is no god. They say there is insufficient evidence to believe in one. It's not an opinion. It's a position.

The belief in a thing for which there is insufficient evidence is not "just as valid and acceptable" the same way believing that magnets cure cancer is not "just as valid and acceptable". You also know this, and I would guess that you take that same stance with everything except your god belief.

You are entitled to your belief, but please stop misrepresenting the position of others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

You clearly never read the word of God. It perfectly describes all the sufferings and death, and crimes... God never said these things are not going to happen.

Does the Word of God say that heinous crimes will happen in Churches?

Of course. He warns you exactly about this. Why don't you read a Bible just once to avoid so stupid questions?

Since most Christian don't want to read it, it doesn't seem very important.

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

Two responses:

First, really on the first example, just because we can’t think of the reason doesn’t mean there isn’t one. My dog doesn’t understand 95% of the things that I do during the day — and yet there is a perfectly rationale reason for why that’s the case. The dog just can’t see it. I believe that we relate to God in a similar way.

On the second example — we live in a fallen world where there is sin and evil. The fact that people do horrible things doesn’t disprove the existence of God — in fact the entire Bible is premised on the fact that sin has corrupted the world; that because of this separation between man and God everyone needs a savior; that the gulf is so wide between us and God that we cannot bridge it ourselves no matter how “good” we are; that rather than destroy the ugliness of humanity, God sent his own Son into the world to pay the ultimate price for all of our sin; that He did so on the cross, which was the most humiliating way for anyone to die at that time; and that he was then resurrected to prove that he was the Son of God; and we are all saved not because of what we do but because of our faith in Him. Because he was the perfect substitute, through faith, you get the perfect record of Jesus and are reunited with God.

I know lots of people don’t believe that. OK. But it is at least a system of belief that absolutely acknlowdges the premise of evil, explains why people do truly evil things, and yet also offers a path of redemption for everyone who engages in evil. It certainly makes more sense to me than the world is just a random place and bad things apparently happen for no reason at all. It also makes a lot more sense to me than the traditional view of every other world religion — be good, do good, follow the rules, maybe it balances in the end and you make it to heaven (sadly, this is what many Christians think too).

You can say — well, I’m not a child molester, I’m not truly evil. But if you take an honest inventory of your life, there are all kinds of ugly things you have done. Everyone has. All of us are a hot mess. There is very little that separates priests from prostitutes when it comes to the motivation of the heart.

I say this as someone who was in fact the subject of highly inappropriate sexual contact when I was in high school through the husband of a trusted teacher. Despite a surface that looked highly successful, the incident left me very confused, hurt, and angry for a long time. It was also a contributing factor to my own behavior that hurt other people as an adult — an affair in my first marriage, a tendency to lie out of shame, a draw to addictive behaviors and compulsions to escape uncomfortable emotions including the trauma from high school.

It was only as my second marriage was on the verge of collapse and I realized that my successful career was not going to change my heart that I started to look into deeper places for real answers.

And it was only after I became a Christian and accepted the above as truth that I saw a path for change, growth, and redemption — that was the moment when I actually began to get over what happened to me and became a new person. Not in therapy, not through reading self help books, not through sitting aimlessly in church services over the years. I did all of those for years to no no avail.

It was only when I truly studied Christianity (and NOT the messed up MAGA version that dominates today unfortunately in many churches) — and became a real Christian — that I discovered a transformed heart.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

You clearly never read the word of God. It perfectly describes all the sufferings and death, and crimes... God never said these things are not going to happen.

See post prior to this original one. Exhibit A for previous poster's point of mentally deficient.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many posts stating that people should face reality, there are no gods or God.

This is not a settled question.

Whomever posts this is stating their opinion, which if correctly stated, they personally don’t believe in gods or a God.

They claim something that no one really knows.

So if you don’t believe in gods or a God, great, that’s your opinion.

But other people do believe in a higher power, gods, a God, or God. Their belief is just as valid and acceptable as not believing.

You are so profound.

.

Sarcastic?

Of course.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

You clearly never read the word of God. It perfectly describes all the sufferings and death, and crimes... God never said these things are not going to happen.

See post prior to this original one. Exhibit A for previous poster's point of mentally deficient.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

You clearly never read the word of God. It perfectly describes all the sufferings and death, and crimes... God never said these things are not going to happen.

Does the Word of God say that heinous crimes will happen in Churches?

Of course. He warns you exactly about this. Why don't you read a Bible just once to avoid so stupid questions?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

You clearly never read the word of God. It perfectly describes all the sufferings and death, and crimes... God never said these things are not going to happen.

Does the Word of God say that heinous crimes will happen in Churches?

Anonymous wrote:If there were a god children would not die or suffer.

If there were a god, there would be no child molesters in church, which by the way is the number one place that heinous act happens.

You clearly never read the word of God. It perfectly describes all the sufferings and death, and crimes... God never said these things are not going to happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every phenomenon we have investigated so far has a natural explanation. There is a complete lack of credible, testable evidence for any specific supernatural claim. Therefore, the most rational conclusion is that a supernatural entity is unnecessary for explaining reality.

+1

The OPs statement does not hold up under logical scrutiny.

You are equating an opinion with a factual claim. If I said, "blue is the best" and you say, "red is the best," both are equally valid because they’re subjective preferences. However, the existence of God is a factual claim about the universe. Either a deity exists or it doesn’t. Since those two things can't both be true at the same time, the two positions are not equally valid.

You are also making a positive claim = there is a God. The burden of proof lies with the positive claimant.

It is also a relativist fallacy. Valid means a conclusion that follows from evidence or sound premises. A belief based on faith (believing without evidence) isn't logically "valid" in the same way a conclusion based on data is.

Truth is not a matter of one’s opinion, as reality doesn't actually change based on what we believe about it.

This is how I know that when I meet someone who is a believer, I know there are deficiencies in their critical thinking abilities.

Anonymous wrote:Every phenomenon we have investigated so far has a natural explanation. There is a complete lack of credible, testable evidence for any specific supernatural claim. Therefore, the most rational conclusion is that a supernatural entity is unnecessary for explaining reality.

+1

The OPs statement does not hold up under logical scrutiny.

You are equating an opinion with a factual claim. If I said, "blue is the best" and you say, "red is the best," both are equally valid because they’re subjective preferences. However, the existence of God is a factual claim about the universe. Either a deity exists or it doesn’t. Since those two things can't both be true at the same time, the two positions are not equally valid.

You are also making a positive claim = there is a God. The burden of proof lies with the positive claimant.

It is also a relativist fallacy. Valid means a conclusion that follows from evidence or sound premises. A belief based on faith (believing without evidence) isn't logically "valid" in the same way a conclusion based on data is.

Truth is not a matter of one’s opinion, as reality doesn't actually change based on what we believe about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many posts stating that people should face reality, there are no gods or God.

This is not a settled question.

Whomever posts this is stating their opinion, which if correctly stated, they personally don’t believe in gods or a God.

They claim something that no one really knows.

So if you don’t believe in gods or a God, great, that’s your opinion.

But other people do believe in a higher power, gods, a God, or God. Their belief is just as valid and acceptable as not believing.

You are so profound.

.

Sarcastic?

Anonymous wrote:So many posts stating that people should face reality, there are no gods or God.

This is not a settled question.

Whomever posts this is stating their opinion, which if correctly stated, they personally don’t believe in gods or a God.

They claim something that no one really knows.

So if you don’t believe in gods or a God, great, that’s your opinion.

But other people do believe in a higher power, gods, a God, or God. Their belief is just as valid and acceptable as not believing.

You are so profound.