Atheism & the Creation

Atheism rejects the existance of "God" or "theism".

There was initially nothing, from nothing there was a force which created the universe.

However you wish to put it, there was a creating power.

Well at the end of the day, with all our modern science there are still two alternatives, there is a God or there isn't, if you claim their isn't you'll have to proove it, for those that believe they have faith.

You can only be right or wrong, laughing at somebody who believes is as silly as thinking somebody who doesn't believe is rational. From a scientific viewpoint, its actually hypocritical.

 

Edited by Zagros - 09-Aug-2007 at 18:33

Originally posted by Paul Such as the theory, the placebo effect, explains why reiki works.

The very existence, or at least nature of placebo effect is disputed.

Originally posted by Bulldog Well at the end of the day, with all our modern science there are still two alternatives, there is a God or there isn't, if you claim their isn't you'll have to proove it, for those that believe they have faith. You can only be right or wrong, laughing at somebody who believes is as silly as thinking somebody who doesn't believe is rational. From a scientific viewpoint, its actually hypocritical.

You are forgetting a few points: the main difference between science and religion is not toward what is known but toward what is yet unknown and unthinkable. The strength of religion is to refuse to ever say "I don't know", but to asses "God doesn't want me to know".
To questions such as where the universe comes from, where is it expending to, what puts life in what wasn't alive science answers "I don't know but I hope one day someone will find out". Religion thrives where science is unsure.

The main argument against the reality of the corpus of beliefs shouldering the institutionalised religions is whatever you do can be explained. Many times a myth has been traced back to some petty event or a lie turned into an archetype (the bandt turned king David). History is also a very good observatory to realize how precisely historical religions are while they should be for ever. Only because the men are short sighted religion can thrive. Thirty centuries ago an Egyptian could have asked you "what proof do you have that the god with the head of a hawk and the goddess that welcomes the dead in the other world are un-real". Yet these gods are dead now. Realizing that christianity was once only one of the numerous little cults thriving in Judea after the Roman conquest is an excellent way to see religion in a more relative way. And this goes for all of them and all their myths.

Every single of these myth is related to some physical or psychological cause. Short meditations such as prayers have proved to be excellent for your heath. And the religions' emphasis on family, the ban over murder and the respect of the superiors are the basics of life in society previously guarantied by the taboos. Some religious obligations are plain stupid but most are over all useful or used to be useful (the ban over pig meat in the desert).

Faith triggers something in hour brain and I'm not far from believing that we evolved to be religious. That brings us back to your initial point: laughing at a believer is stupid not because he is right but because that is just proving he is human. For centuries religions have provided people with hope to cling at, social norms and a sense of identity. Religion is a short cut in the human mind (faster to say "God forbids" than "considering A, B and C despite D I think you should not do E, but it is up to you to decide"). Now the question is: do we still need that many short cuts if at all?

No.
Mysticts become Scientists when they figure out how it works. Like AlChemists becoming Chemists. Its really just a matter of dropping the definite article

Originally posted by Paul Such as the theory, the placebo effect, explains why reiki works.

reiki works on animals

Originally posted by Bulldog There was initially nothing, from nothing there was a force which created the universe.

In ancient writings the idea of God is the state of nonexistence, from there arose a general consensus - life came from non-life, existence from non-existence. The Hindu texts began to be compiled about 1500 years before Christ. The early "Creation Hymn" (Rig Veda X 129) concludes: "Whence this universe came, whether it was created or uncreated, only He who dwells in the highest Heaven, He alone knows it, or perhaps He doesn't know either."

This passage is popular among educated Hindus of today as a candid answer about existence from their ancient body of knowledge. In the Rig Veda VIII, 100.3, the priest, referring to Indra, the most powerful, muses; "Chant unto Indra, if indeed he exists. One says to another: Indra does not exist, who has seen him, hence whom do we praise?"

The object of worship was not a Supreme Being, they looked for an order in life that flows through the universe to all. As their religion sought to find realities more questions arose. The writings are not smooth and continuous because many answers arose in the quest for universal truth. The passage of time came to represent a cycle of cosmic events that eternally repeats in the growth, decay, and renewal of the universe. This infinite cycle of the ages is briefly reflected on earth with the finite cycles of the year. Man progresses through his many empires going through stages of growth, decay and then renewal in thousand year cycles.

A thousand years later the Buddha became a member of a philosophical movement still searching for ultimate reality for they hadn't found it. The Vedic system had gone into a decline having lost its initial practicality and a multitude of sects endlessly argued. Buddha searched and while sitting under a tree, the message which changed history came to him.

Buddhists neither confirm nor deny a creator. Their way of life strives for peace through cleansing of thought and action from desire. A materialistic way of life alone can never be satisfactory. Whether people believe in a deity or not they can work towards "enlightenment". Buddha challenged the widespread belief in Brahma, the God said to be responsible for the creation of the universe. He explained to the Brahmans that Brahma may be a possibility; other gods existed only in speculation. "Among lesser people it is agreed that gods exist."

Dharma. (Sanskrit) The universal laws of nature that sustain the operations of the universe, therefore the manifestations of all things. It has reference to the code of conduct for the individual soul, which produces virtue, morality, or religious merit.

Abhasana or Abhasa. (Sanskrit) Shining forth. The process that takes place as the One becomes the many.

Abhava. (Sanskrit) Non-being, non-existance. A means by which correct knowledge is measured (from nothing).

Mahat. (Sanskrit) Great principle. The cosmic intelligence.