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Dear ttbn,

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You wrote :

« Atheists have no more proof that there is no God than do believers that there is a God. The existence of Jesus Christ on Earth, and the Christian message is enough for me. »
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Quite right, ttbn, if there is no proof, there is no proof for anybody – whether it be the butcher, the baker or the candle stick maker ( Rub a dub dub, three maids in a tub)

As for the biblical narrative of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, I find it quite tragic and very sad.

I don’t blame his parents for bringing him up in the belief that he was the illegitimate son of God. The social mores at the time were extremely harsh on couples who gave birth out of wedlock and Joseph and Mary were only teenagers at the time. They courageously decided to keep the baby.

Jesus faithfully assumed the role assigned to him by his parents, but it led to his tragic death in the most cruel and excruciating circumstances that his loving parents could not possibly have foreseen.

It’s a story that has inspired so many people around the world for so many generations. It’s quite amazing – thanks, essentially to Saul of Tarsus (Saint Paul) who seems to have been its principal promotor.

It has done some good, some bad. That’s life.

As long as you are happy with it, ttbn, that’s fine.

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I don't know why we allow ourselves to be drawn in to these discussions just because a total stranger wants to talk about his hobby horse. Nothing better to do perhaps.

No religious belief is required in Australia. Less than half the population now calls itself Christian. Non-Christian religions are not big. The main fascinations are climate change, race-baiting, shutting up people we don't agree with, transgenderism, homosexuality, money, and heaven knows what will turn up next - as sure as hell it won't be another Moral Rearmament, that got a brief run in the days of Billy Graham. What people believe or don't believe is private. But, Christianity and a belief in something better than we have now, on Earth or somewhere else, seems to be a good idea.

Showing how corrupted Christianity has become - the Catholic version at least - the Catholic Plenary Mass held this month featured an aboriginal smoking ceremony, "purportedly a religious practice dating back to the 1970s". Plus didgeridoo music, of course, and apologies (for being white and Christian, and here at all).

Along with the current Pope being 'more Communist than Catholic', this branch of Christianity is, fairly quickly now, ridding itself of congregations and forcing them make other arrangements.

Several things, either we believe in intelligent design by an overseeing intelligence, i.e., a creator. Or magic!

From nothing one gets nothing. I e.g., started with nothing and still have lots left.

We know for a fact that energy cannot be created or destroyed. And that everything in the visible detectable universe is a unified field of energy vibrating just a tad under the speed of light. And that all this measurable energy had to exist in some form before it became our detectable universe. Can the universe think, dream or plan? Well you and I can and we are an intregral part of it!

I be believe our universe existed as dark matter that was transmuted to visible matter (let there be light) by some force with the power to make that happen, as anti natter reacted with matter to produce all we know today. And that leaves with just two choices as belief, either intelligent design or magic! From nothing comes nothing!

Primitive and medieval man had to explain their existence with myth and legend. Given the level of science that prevailed then and for some (the jgnorant and the brainwashed from birth devotees) that still works for them.
Alan B.

Burn the rainbow flag, Dan? What needs to be burnt is this ignorant and arrogant primitive and totally unproven brainwashed belief that there is some element of actual choice in ones sexual bias.

Moreover, who gave you the right to peep into the bedrooms of consenting adults then judge their morality of a falsehood.

Morality is founded on telling the truth, not on forever repeating the lie you have been brainwashed into believing. You'll have a nice day now y'hear.
Alan B.

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Dear Alan B,

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You wrote :

« … either we believe in intelligent design by an overseeing intelligence, i.e., a creator. Or magic! »
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I doubt that either of those two exist, Alan B.

As I see it, accidents occur sometimes – the unintentional. Pure chance exists too, in my view.

Superstition and religious dogma aside, the most plausible explanation of the genesis of life appears to have been provided by the ancient Greek philosopher, Democritus (460 BC – 370 BC) who is reported to have observed that “Everything in the universe is the fruit of chance and necessity”. Jacques Monod, the French biologist, a 1965 Nobel Prize winner, later accredited and developed that theory in his book “Le hasard et la nécessité” (Chance and Necessity) published in 1970. From this it is deduced that “Life is a spontaneous, evolutive, sensitive and reproductive process triggered by the fortuitous encounter of complementary elements of matter and energy in a favourable environment”.

Chance in this context should be understood as meaning a “random variable” and necessity an “inevitable” event.

The next question, of course, is how did matter and energy come to exist ? Did they emerge (as you suggest) from dark matter and dark energy ? If so, how did that darkness come to exist ? We don’t know … yet.

I guess it’s about 5 billion (or so) years ago that you and I may possibly have emerged from all that darkness floating about in the universe. Though it seems a long time ago to us earthly human beings, Alan, I think we’ve made quite remarkable progress – and, after all, it’s only a fraction of a second on the cosmic scale.

So, patience, my friend, perhaps in another 5 billion years or so our brains will have evolved a bit further for us to comprehend a little more.

See you in the darkness !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0nmHymgM7Y&ab_channel=LeonardCohenVEVO

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