OzSpen wrote: "Let's get back to the topic: Outspoken Christians will not be tolerated. You are outspoken in your comments against God on OLO. Why are you not attacked like Israel Folau has been?"

Please cite any comment I have made against God. I have never said anything against fairies, unicorns, Santa Claus, elves, griffins, Satan, God, Harry Potter or any other creation of the human imagination.

Dear OzSpen,

You wrote to davidf;

“I know what THEY mean. I suggest you come up to speed with your knowledge of the various types of Ad Hominem fallacies.”

No you obviously don't know what they mean otherwise you wouldn't be attempting to flag them where they don't exist. How about you stop posting links to sites listing these logical fallacies and instead clearly state why you think davidf is using them within his arguments.

This should be good.

Banjo,

One could call Lourdes a miracle of job creation!!

OzSpen, don't be precocious and petulant.
You know full well your question has no objective answer.
It therefore leaves the way open for a subjective answer.
And that is, as you well know, throughout the ages, and if you have done any reading, you will find that what I have described in my post is merely repeating what has been in the public domain for as long as that guy called Jesus made his bid for the office of 'the son of God', people have been discussing God.
Then there's the other tiny little detail that you seem to conveniently overlook, and that is, if you're going to believe in God, as a Christian, you may recall 'he made man in his own image'.
Now I know little to nothing about religion, and I'm ok with that but I think you will find those out there who are a little more bulked up on the subject than both of us and would give you a verbal hiding for your opinion/comment.

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Dear OzSpen,

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You wrote :

« You misrepresent what I've stated. I've NOT given the Bible as the sole evidence of the existence of God. I've referred you to the intricate creation and sustenance of the universe. 'The Earth would become uninhabitable if its average distance from the Sun was reduced by as little as 1.5 million km – which is only about four times the Moon’s distance from Earth!', http://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-much-closer-to-the-sun-could-earths-orbit-get-and-still-be-habitable/ »
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I just re-read all your posts to me on this thread but I can’t find any trace of the post you quote above. Would you kindly indicate the reference so that I may locate it, please ?

I note that you consider that “the intricate creation and sustenance of the universe” is “evidence of the existence of God”. I think it would be more accurate to say that it leads you to “believe” there is a God”.

What seems “evident” (obvious) to you, does not necessarily qualify as “evidence”.

Belief is not evidence. Belief is subjective. Evidence is objective, i.e., independent of ideas concerning it.

Belief based on nature is close to the pantheistic philosophies of the Italian Dominican friar, Giordano Bruno and the Jewish-Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza. The former was burnt at the stake for heresy in1600 and the latter was excommunicated in 1656.
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The Bible was written over a period of time covering more than 1500-years, from 1450 B.C, to almost 100 AD. It was written within the context of the historical events of the day. If it is to be considered accurate and true, the events recorded in it should correspond with the recorded historical events outside of it.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence outside any of the so-called “holy scriptures” of any of the monotheistic religions, of the existence of a monotheistic deity, nor that Jesus of Nazareth was the son of a monotheistic deity.

If you are aware of any such evidence, I should be grateful if you would be so kind as to let me have the corresponding references.

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Banjo Paterson wrote: "Belief based on nature is close to the pantheistic philosophies of the Italian Dominican friar, Giordano Bruno and the Jewish-Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza. The former was burnt at the stake for heresy in 1600 and the latter was excommunicated in 1656."

You are right. Belief based on nature is close to the pantheistic philosophy of Baruch Spinoza but not quite the same. Spinoza did not base his belief on nature. Basing belief on the wonder and intricacy of nature can imply a creator God outside of nature. Spinoza's God was coterminous with nature. Spinoza denied 'narrative' religion - the stories of God's actions in the Jewish Bible and the New Testament.

Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa had many of same ideas that Bruno (1548 – 17 February 1600) had and was quoted by Bruno. However, Nicholas was a cardinal, and Bruno was only a friar. Apparently, rank has its privileges, and cardinals can get away with ideas that a mere friar cannot express without being burned at the stake.