Dear NNS,

There is much evidence that traditional religion
is being eroded; this in itself is hardly surprising,
because social change alters all institutions over
time.

There is little evidence however, that public belief
in some super-natural, transcendent reality is
disappearing. Recent polls show that many know their
astrological "sign"and that many also believe that
their lives are governed by the stars.

Many believe in one or more of such practices as
fortune-telling, palmistry, numerology, tarot-card
readings, and even seances with the dead. Many people
believe in reincarnation.

All these beliefs and practices run directly contrary
to the teachings of the established churches (except
perhaps for re-incarnation). Yet they seem to thrive.

Many people also adhere to the "invisible" or "silent"
religion, acknowledging a supreme but unknowable force
in the universe.

It is I guess all a matter of choice - in what one
chooses to believe. Or not.

Dear Foxy,

It's all about how people order their belief systems and this can be different depending on time, space and number.

Dear NNS,

You ask;

“I don't know why some people fight so hard against the possibility of God existing.”

I'm afraid that is projection on your part. You certainly fight hard enough against the probability that he doesn't exist, which is of course your prerogative, as is evidenced by how much your posting on this topic will attest.

I do not completely discount the possibility that God exists, that would be silly, even if I do consider there to be scant evidence that he/she does.

The fact that you have to go to God as a requirement to fill gaps in human understanding rather than presenting him/her as a manifestly evident entity speaks volumes.

Once you admit you don't know about life on other planets as you have done, and that no one else does either, you can't then claim there is an emptiness of life in space, or that it is so rare. Abundant life may well be a feature of planets within the Goldilocks Zone. Without having visited a single other planet within this zone we can say nothing definitive at all.

But think about how prideful you are being to consider that the whole of not only the observable universe but the vast untold billions of galaxies have been created just for our species. Why do you think that is even a remote possibility?

Look you are perfectly welcome to create your own God as most do, even if it means plagiarising other's versions as most do. But just as a Helios-centric world view was so resisted by the Church for so long, there will be a time when religious folk accept we are spinning around a rather ordinary sun, out on an outer arm of a fairly ordinary galaxy and nurturing the mental health challenges which come along with such a realisation I contend shall continue to be a significant role for our religions, let's hope they are up for it.

I thought David Hume had put the question of God to rest about 250 years ago. Surley I'm not the only one on OLO to have done Philosophy 101 at uni?

To Foxy. You said:

"It is I guess all a matter of choice - in what one
chooses to believe. Or not."

Should the search for what's real and what's true be tossed aside then? Two great things to search for, for anyone, are 1) what's true; and 2) what's right. In all of our beliefs, philosophies, and everything else these two elements should filter out of our beliefs the things that are wrong. Tossing them either because they are untrue, misconception or lies; or tossing them because they are not right and cause more harm then anything else.

That said I get the impression that you do not approve of my stance on the matter of how the world is. That, or you disapprove my sharing my views on this matter. Is it out of disagreement? Or out of feeling that I am forcing my views on others? Think about this before you reply. Why does discussing about God publicly create this sense of animosity? Why should the search for God only be a private one instead of publicly discussed and encouraged? I greatly disagree with the stance that faith should be a hidden secret, instead of a bursting joy. It should be both private and public.

(Continued)

(Continued)

You already do believe in God, and agree with my position that God came first, and created mankind. Why rob anyone else of this realization instead of challenge them away from false arguments (such as the false dichotomy of "did God make man, or did man make God"), or encourage them in the richness that comes from finding God?

This is what I am pointing out in this topic. God is real, he made the world as it is. Not because the bible says so, or because any other texts say the same. But because based on our own observations a world like our own doesn't just happen any more then a wrist watch left in a forest is confused with being a natural part of that forest. The complex nature of a watch shows that it is man made. Does not the same thing looking at the rich complex life on earth in the context of a hostile background in space convey the same thing? That our world is crafted, designed to fit together, engineered and built by God?

In the same stance I also give a challenge. Show me a better understanding of the world if it can be explained how it is without God involved in it.