Foyle

you have been reading to many fairytales. Science is something that can observed, tried and tested. Unfortunately your nonsense is accepted by to many who could not be bothered to think. It is true that when you ignore the obvious to need to come up with a lot of mumbo jumbo to keep the funding.

wobbles "can't see the logic in creating a entire universe just for the purpose of holding some sort of competition to see who gets to win the "Big Prize"”

Isn't that exactly what evolution is?

“And some dismiss the mere theory of evolution outright because they say it's nonsense.”

Some dismiss the theory of divine creation, blah blah blah.

“Isn't it a bit arrogant to believe that of all the Gods over all the centuries, we have stumbled onto the real one”

...of all the scientific theories, blah blah blah.

Wobbles, you are same as those you accuse.

David G “why has it continued into an era where we have space travel and MacDonalds restaurants?”

Why has the modern industrial world produced Romanticism, Surrealism, Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy?

Our clockwatching lives in concrete boxes make our soul/mind/heart *scream* “Get me out of here! This is not enough! Where has the magic gone?”

Why are God(s) so bad? Is that any worse than an obsession with zombies, mermaids or Jedi knights?

Rationalism is not enough for humans.
It's useful in practical endeavours like building a ship, but it won't give you a reason to *board* the ship.

That requires desire, dreams, hopes, fantasies!

“perched on the edge of nuclear extinction all over mythical, anachronistic religious beliefs!”

And? We were perched on the same edge due to political ideology too, the supposedly rational ideologies of capitalism and communism.

When people aren't fighting over Gods, it'll be something else.

warmair “Why create such an impossible huge universe just for humans?”

Who says? Does the Bible or any other scripture exclude or deny life elsewhere?

“What was the problem with dinosaurs? After being around for a few hundred million years they got knocked on the head”

It happens. So? This is somehow disproof of God/gods?
Did God/gods intend anything to be permanent?
Change is everpresent in the universe.

Robert Putnam - prominent political scientist says God Believers are NICER people. Also author of "Bowling Alone".
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/gods-truth-believers-are-nicer-20110908-1jzrl.html

Play video
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (full movie)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1091617/ Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" is a movie about the freedom of speech suppression to which Intelligent Design proponents are being subjected to by…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5EPymcWp-g&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Shokadelic

I can't stand the atheist bigotted bullies either.

Aga

You're right.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I really am realising more and more how hateful, ugly and dodgy these people really are. A colleague recently brought this to my attention why there were so many bad smells in my workplace, ie corruption, narcissim, self promoters who are so ungenerous, fake and unfriendly. He said to me "you know most of the people in the department are Atheists".

These people just ain't got no soul!

… continued

This continuation had to await the passage of 24 hours.

Pericles also wrote: <I'm beginning to sympathize with Ricky Gervais, who in a recent New Statesman interview said: "...there shouldn’t be a word for atheism: it shouldn’t exist, it’s ridiculous. If people didn’t keep making up supernatural deities, I wouldn’t have to deny they exist.">

Correct. But they do, and you apparently agree with Gervais (and the many before him who pointed out that speaking of "atheists" ought to be as unnecessary as speaking of "afairyists") that while people keep making up supernatural deities, it is necessary for others "to deny that they exist." So why did you get so upset with my little paper which just does what you now applaud Gervais for doing?

<If atheism means anything, it is the right not to believe, without having militant soap-box orators claiming to speak on your behalf.>

Perhaps you have an idiosyncratic understanding of atheism? Whatever, I can say that the many atheists I know would feel no need to mount soap boxes if those who believe the Christian story would keep their faith to themselves. It's when, through political pressure, they secure not only the approval of the government to engage in proselytizing but its material support by way of public funding, tax breaks and being granted exemptions from laws they find inconvenient, that the rest of us have not just a right, but a duty to cry, "Enough".

Constance wrote: <A colleague recently brought this (sic) to my attention why there were so many bad smells in my workplace … He said to me "you know most of the people in the department are Atheists".>

Do you have evidence to support this or are you happy just to spit out mindless, childish insults about the way atheists smell without bothering about their truth? And do you not see the implication of your admission that atheists are already a majority in workplaces like yours?

Ooo-errr. Three posts, just for li'l ol' me. Can I conclude that I touched a raw nerve somewhere, GlenC?

>>You seem very pleased with your conclusion that I framed my question with a sneer but you've not demonstrated that I did.<<

Expending so much energy on defending your tone of voice probably means that you now feel just the teensiest bit ashamed at the "how can anyone possibly believe in all that rot", cheap shot of an article that you wrote.

But then again, perhaps you don't. If this is the case, then it will take someone far cleverer than I to convince you.

>>So why did you get so upset with my little paper which just does what you now applaud Gervais for doing?<<

Again, if you cannot see the difference between Gervais' logical, inoffensive exposition of the use of the English language, and your "little paper', then it is clearly going to be beyond my capability to explain it to you.

So, you are on your own with that one, I'm afraid.

>>Do you have evidence to support this or are you happy just to spit out mindless, childish insults about the way atheists smell without bothering about their truth?<<

And with that, too.

Have a great, preferably non-bilious, weekend.

God was a good idea, and maybe still is: someone to thank when things go well, the crops have succeeded, and there will be food for the winter; a hunt went well, and there is food for all; seal or otter skins to trade for a knife, axe or cloth; a healthy mother and child: and, someone to beseech when the going is tough, or to blame for it.

When we are troubled now, who can we call upon for relief or a turnaround - Mother Julia? Family or neighbour perhaps? Or someone wise - a doctor, academic or philosopher?

We wouldn't necessarily send our thanks to God for a promotion, or for doing a good job on the barbecue, but perhaps when our house is still standing, unscathed, after a bushfire, or, when a loved-one recovers from a serious illness. We may send thoughts aloft to passed parents, in thanks for our being, or perhaps for inspiration or intercession in dealing with a problem; we may pray for those who have lost a loved-one, and for the lost. Can it help them, or us? Can it hurt - anyone?

A soul may be a sense of self, and of conscience, of caring; caring for the well-being of others, and of the planet, our home. We are not merely sentient, but also intellectual and passionate: draw, paint, laugh, cry, love, hate, empathize and possibly revere. We have a 'heart'. Elephants also appear to have a 'heart', but I doubt they think of God - but then, who knows?

In our individual isolation it is a comfort to have an invisible 'friend' - one who is supportive and understanding (for who knows us better than ourselves), but who is never vindictive or untrustworthy. (And may not be much help, of course.) Quiet introspection, and no harm done.