This is not directed at everyone, but I've seen a lot of comments on here that seem to be of the thought that religion as a concept is stupid. Now frankly, I don't get this. People have been philosophising about the existance of God for the past several thousand years, and the conclusion is pretty much that all that can be said has been said. There is no way to definite way to prove that the universe is Godless or any definite way to prove that the univese has a divine entity of some kind. Now I know that religious people of all afiliations say some rather stupid things on occasion, but then thats not a charateristic thats limited to religious people. It seems to me that the world for some reason looks down on religion as a concept as somehow childish and immature. Since its a concept which encourages us to be the best people we can possibly be, amoungst other things, I struggle to see the stupidity there. So this is really a question to all those with a negative attitude towards the concept of religion (not religious peoples occasional stupidity/hypocracy etc, the concept). Why do you think religion is stupid?
Alright, but you must consider the time in which they lived. I completely agree that they were great men and great thinkers, but science was not at the level it is today. Darwin had yet to develop the theory of evolution by natural selection, for instance. At the time, a deity was the only known mechanism by which "life, the universe, and everything" could have formed. Yet as science developed its own creation story, a deity became a prerequisite for less and less of the universe. Now, all that is left is the cause of the big bang and the writing of nature's laws. Yet even these can be given naturalistic explanations. So it seems agnosticism remains the best position.
Hmm, Well I concede the point regarding the lack of modern day science in their time period, but I haven't yet cast my vote regarding the rest of it.
Directed Evolution seems much more feasible.
I would also say that quite possibly the greatest part of the Big Bang is the cause of it, and we have no answer for that.... Of course I have heard of the Particle Collider being used to try to recreate the Big Bang, and All I have to say about that one is; Two Particles colliding requires massive amounts of energy, and what could have providing that energy before anything existed?
My argument in this case is it must have been God, or something to that effect....
"This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, ‘This is an interesting world I find myself in—an interesting hole I find myself in—fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!’ This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it’s still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything’s going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise." --Douglas Adams, from his "Four Ages of Sand" speech that I urge everyone to read. Actually, the paragraph right before this one is the really important one.
People don't need religion to be good people, but if that's where you need to look to for guidance to be the person you want to be, so be it. Isn't it only fair that we accept what other people believe? I know that a lot of the time religious people do not want to accept that some people don't want or need religion in their lives, but it's like being excited about giving a friend some book you loved or something -- if it did something for you, then you want those you care about, and even those you don't, to try it, because as people we want to spread the word about things that we are passionate about. I think that if people who lived their lives without God were passionate about there not being a god, etc, then we wouldn't have these problems. There would be arguments and debates, rather than just religious zealots pressing their beliefs on the masses.
I don't think that religion is stupid (I happen to be a spiritual person myself), but I don't think that it should be pressed on anyone. I think that because those who are agnostic or don't believe in God simply complain about the religious people pressing their beleifs on them, we see the crazy bible thumpers and the unwilling victims instead of two opposing parties. That's just how it works out in the world, and I think that the sooner we accept that, then the sooner we can put a lot of issues revolving religion to rest.
...in my opinion. But what do I know?
I don't believe in God, yet I don't consider myself an atheist. Really, I find the Christians I know to think that THEY are always right about everything philosophical. Or at least that's how they act around me. My science teacher (while we were learning about the Big Bang theory) even had to say "I'm not telling you what to believe, this is just the science behind us" because of all the Jesus-freaks in my school. They kinda tick me off, too.