Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolphin
I believe in God because it is the most logical conclusion I can make with the knowledge I have. However, even though I believe in God, I am in no way religious and do not have a personal relationship with God. This is because I reject religions on account of their contradictory scripture and the fact that there is such an abundance of religions. There is no evidence that God actually even knows humanity exists, nor is there evidence that he cares about us. He could well be malevolent, or perhaps completely powerless as he can not interfere with this dimension from his higher dimension.
|
Let us put aside the question of different established religions for a moment. After all, it is possible that all established religions are wrong (or at least, none is completely right), and yet that God is personal and wants to be involved in the world. It would seem to me that we ought to examine the question of which religion is right
after we discuss whether God is deistic or conceived as He is in traditional monotheism,
if we're taking it from the angle you are. It may be more profitable.
Quote:
|
Increasingly, however, it seems people come to a logical conclusion about the Universe the infers that God must exist and then assume that that conclusion comes with evidence that God can hear you. In the past, people may have been 100% certain that there was a mountain God, or that when humans got ill it was because they have been posessed by demons, but this does not make it true. God could exist, but the delusion that he hears your prayers and watches over you could all be in your head. Just like how a teenage girl speaking to someone over the Internet believes she is speaking to a teenage boy, when in fact she is speaking to a thirty-year-old man. Teenage boys exist in the world, but that particular girl's belief that she is talking to one is a complete delusion.
|
I have a few questions which may help us to think more clearly about this issue:
1. Based on the reasons which support your belief in God, what are the minimum attributes or characteristics which this God must have?
2. When God created, was the act of creation necessary or free?
3. Why did God create?
Quote:
|
This is why I'm a deist, but I'd be more than happy to see some rebuttals to my beliefs. If anyone thinks they have evidence for God being benevolent and being concerned with humanity, please post it.
|
This will probably take a long time to discuss, but I'm more than happy to enter into dialogue with you.
-Rob