“… the greatest detractor from high performance is fear: fear that you are not prepared, fear that you are in over your head, fear that you are not worthy, and ultimately, fear of failure. If you can eliminate that fear—not through arrogance or just wishing difficulties away, but through hard work and preparation—you will put yourself in an incredibly powerful position to take on the challenges you face" - Pete Carroll.
Gadget (fmr Marine)
Don't speak unless spoken to......slimeball!
WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot....They don't know what they are doing?
Dude - do you realize it's a logical fallacy to use Appeal to Ridicule? Each time you and others simply try to make YOUR point look better through ad hominem or red herring (trying to shift the convo so people have to prove GOD as well), you actually look WORSE.
“… the greatest detractor from high performance is fear: fear that you are not prepared, fear that you are in over your head, fear that you are not worthy, and ultimately, fear of failure. If you can eliminate that fear—not through arrogance or just wishing difficulties away, but through hard work and preparation—you will put yourself in an incredibly powerful position to take on the challenges you face" - Pete Carroll.
PRAIRIE FIRE by William Ayers: Obama's guide to destory America
"Maybe I missed that part of the Constitution"--Joe Steel
You can't spell Liberals without Lies.
...but in the book of Genesis, God said, "Let there be light...." etc....I am not insulting or attacking, just saying that I picture the story as a Grand Wizard waving his hands and "making it so."
I don't care how you percieve me, that is not what this discussion was intended to do. It was intended to provoke thought, and discuss in a civil manner. BLIND Faith (in anything) without thought and challenge is a pretty empty shell, and a very dangerous place to stand in my opinion.
Gadget (fmr Marine)
Don't speak unless spoken to......slimeball!
WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot....They don't know what they are doing?
I don't know how it all came to be....all I know is that this physical realm exists (due to whatever reason you need to explain it) and when we die the physical realm continues, and as sentient beings we have many diffferent ideas of what happens afterward.
The hypocrisy comes in, when one belief calls the other blasphemous, and to challenge the popular belief of the culture, time or populace typically labels one as a heretic.
Gadget (fmr Marine)
Don't speak unless spoken to......slimeball!
WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot....They don't know what they are doing?
Oh come-on now. You know you are poking-fun by using the term Grand Wizard.
Again with the red herring. Nowhere before your last reply had ANYONE spoke of 'blind faith'. Now you're trying to shift the discussion.
If you want to discuss 'faith' maybe a thread called "how much faith is okay?" where we can talk about how we ALL use faith, day to day.
“… the greatest detractor from high performance is fear: fear that you are not prepared, fear that you are in over your head, fear that you are not worthy, and ultimately, fear of failure. If you can eliminate that fear—not through arrogance or just wishing difficulties away, but through hard work and preparation—you will put yourself in an incredibly powerful position to take on the challenges you face" - Pete Carroll.
Honestly, not.....It is just how I picture it.....in my mind's eye as I imagine it happening.
It requires faith to have any belief in religion, and the basis must be complete and whole, or, as I have heard it in the past, condemnation to hell is the result.
Of course, I am no expert, just voicing my opinions and looking to engage in some thought provoking conversation.
Gadget (fmr Marine)
Don't speak unless spoken to......slimeball!
WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot....They don't know what they are doing?
Oh please, your tone throughout this entire thread has been hostile to any idea that isn't yours. I have no reason to believe that you're actually sharing anything serious when even the title of the thread is a taunt.
As for my weighing in:
1) I do, in fact, believe in God.
2) I do not believe in evolution.
3) The two have nothing to do with each other, as I once believed that evolution was true, but was a process guided by God.
I simply find the idea of complex cells, such as nerves, retina cells, bone, or even sperm having enough beneficial mutations occurring at once, even given however many billion years it's had, rather far-fetched. DNA alone leads me to believe that someone or something created us.
I just can't get there. It seems more probable to me, taking into account that every other occurence in our reality is guided by natural forces, that natural rather than supernatural forces led life to where it is today. And it seems simplistic to me to write-off the existence of a complex system by attributing it to a supernatural creator, of whose existence there is zero proof, when we are completely capable of full understanding.
Sorry if you have taken my opinions as hostile...I do not intend for it to be that way, I am only questioning, and I understand how it can be uncomfortable to justify a position without truly knowing, except from a position of belief, and no tangible evidence.
I appreciate everyone's thoughts and in no way have meant to demean or belittle anyone's position....actually, I have been very complimentary....it is nice to hear everyone's position....even when not something I can embrace.
As with your last paragraph, I am on the opposite side of the fence, finding it very far fetched that a deity created DNA and everything else that surrounds us....again, not condemning your belief, just pointng out that I cannot accept it as the truth for certain.
Respectfully,
Gadget (fmr Marine)
Don't speak unless spoken to......slimeball!
WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot....They don't know what they are doing?
So, you admit you don't know. Well if you don't have a clue about how it did begin, why are you giving anyone else shit for their beliefs?
Also, what makes it hypocrisy if someone calls you a heretic because you don't believe in what they do. Thats what a heretic is, someone that says or does things that are an attack on your religious beliefs. My question is why would you care what people of certain religion call you if you don't belong to it? I'm sure Muslims would think I am a blasphemous pig because I call the prophet Muhammed a warmongering pedophile. The fact that they might call me that isn't what makes them hypocrits.
PRAIRIE FIRE by William Ayers: Obama's guide to destory America
"Maybe I missed that part of the Constitution"--Joe Steel
You can't spell Liberals without Lies.
This is why I think we were created.
For a long time, we had no idea who made the Easter Island statues. However, we saw the complex nature of the statue and assumed that they had been created by someone, rather than the result of 'natural forces,' such as erosion. Therefore, we began the search for the creator and eventually figured out how it was done.
Stonehenge is similar. Last I checked, the Celts who occupied Britain at the time it was made had no known technology capable of lifting stones of that size. Now, having ne evidence of any kind of a creator for Stonehenge, we looked at the structure and thought that it was highly improbable that rocks had just broken and fallen in that formation. That being the case, we assume somebody made stonehenge and work from there.
Now, the odds of the Easter Island statues or Stonehenge being created randomly by 'natural forces' is astronomical, but is still nothing compared to the odds of a randomly occuring flagellum, much less something as complex as a rudimentary eye. Therefore, just like Stonehenge, the craftmanship of the creation is evidence of the creator.