Atheists: Why does theism still exist?

[JimFit]

We don't know what properties god can or can not possibly have except they can be anything we wish.

Maybe we have to rethink even what time is...maybe time doesn't even exist.

 

[variant]

Maybe we have to rethink even what time is...maybe time doesn't even exist.

Maybe, but I'm not sure it makes things simpler.

 

[KCfromNC]

That doesn't remove from God that He is timeless and beyond space, if God wants to interact with our Universe He doesn't need to "touch" it.

Please explain in detail how this alleged interaction works, then.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Maybe we have to rethink even what time is...maybe time doesn't even exist.

When should we do that?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[stevevw]

Maybe we have to rethink even what time is...maybe time doesn't even exist.

Yeah I was thinking about this. Maybe time and light are more associated than we think. Maybe there is another element to light that is a true measurement of time. If in the beginning there was darkness and then God first created light this wasn't just about the light that we see with. He specifies that this light divided darkness and how we can see things with form. But it wasn't the same as the light from the sun which we measure the seasons by. So this light came into existence and time started. It also gave measurement to space so there is some sort of element to this light that we havnt understood yet that maybe the true measurement of time. Maybe the time we know of from our sun is one way we measure time in our reality but maybe there is another level that we can measure things with. Maybe something to do with the quantum world.

 

[BL2KTN]

Good grief...

 

[JimFit]

The problem i have with time is that it doesn't affect anything, its only for measurements. Lets take for example 2 pipes made from iron, one is placed outside and its exposed to weathering, the other is inside a special room secured from humidity and high or low temperature, 200 years later the one outside the house is rusted but the one inside the special room is exactly the same. time didn't "touched" it because there were no conditions to touch it, i think that time as something that bring changes is invalid.

 

[PsychoSarah]

I just view time as a measure of movement over distance in a sequence

 

[stevevw]

The problem i have with time is that it doesn't affect anything, its only for measurements. Lets take for example 2 pipes made from iron, one is placed outside and its exposed to weathering, the other is inside a special room secured from humidity and high or low temperature, 200 years later the one outside the house is rusted but the one inside the special room is exactly the same. time didn't "touched" it because there were no conditions to touch it, i think that time as something that bring changes is invalid.

But isn't that outside the normal conditions that everything is subjected to. At least here on earth anyway. Unless you take steps to protect something then time would decay things in ordinary situations. The time still goes by but the item protected is still subject to time. Its just that the decay process has been adjusted to slow it down or stop it. Its the same for mummifying bodies.

 

[JimFit]

But isn't that outside the normal conditions that everything is subjected to. At least here on earth anyway. Unless you take steps to protect something then time would decay things in ordinary situations. The time still goes by but the item protected is still subject to time. Its just that the decay process has been adjusted to slow it down or stop it. Its the same for mummifying bodies.

What if we can control every atom of the pipe to stay the same? It was a philosophical question, things doesn't change if there are no conditions to change.

 

[variant]

What if we can control every atom of the pipe to stay the same? It was a philosophical question, things doesn't change if there are no conditions to change.

Does it make much difference if time is an independent thing or just the culmination of the other forces operating?

 

[JimFit]

Does it make much difference if time is an independent thing or just the culmination of the other forces operating?

I argued that time doesn't bring any changed if the conditions aren't right so i talk about time as part of the Universe.

 

[ThinkForYourself]

I was reading some of the replies to madaz's thread "Ex-believers - what once convinced you of God's existence" and I didn't want to derail so I'll make my own thread.

I was struck by how many atheists responded by essentially saying, "Because my parents told me." Correct me if I'm over-simplifying, but it seems that most atheists on this site have never had anything that they would consider an "experience of God". They believed only because that's what their parents told them and, once reaching an age when they began to think for themselves, they didn't see any evidence for it and so gave it up. Is that a decent synopsis?

So, my question for atheists is then, why does theism still exist?

Everyone I know has had a similar trajectory: when you are a kid, you generally believe what you're told. During your teenage and young adult years, you question what you were told and reach your own, independent conclusions. Out of this questioning comes two groups: theists and atheists.

What is it that the theists did wrong to reach what is, in your view, the incorrect conclusion?

Theism exists because some people need a crutch to get through life.

 

[JimFit]

Theism exists because some people need a crutch to get through life.

Do you mean that Atheists don't need a crutch? Oh these heroic fearless Atheists! I can assure you that Atheists have their own crutches as they get old and they are weak. That's why some of them turn to religion because there is nothing more stronger than religious customs that were shaped for thousand of years. Spirituality is part of humans whatever you believe or not to religion.

 

[Sectio Aurea]

Science has been filling the gaps in our knowledge that theists once held on to. We are in a time where people are more skeptical of religious claims than ever before.

I predict in a matter of only a few generations we will see theism almost but diminished in the Western world. I doubt it will vanish completely as Islam a minority within the Western world is growing.

But it seems theism is deeply rooted in the Middle East and Asian cultures so I believe theism will exist for many more generations to come.

When theism is more a part of culture than just "religious" it will have a better chance of surviving.

Theism will exist as long as humans do.

 

[Colter]

Science eliminates the superstitious component of evolved religion leading to the mortality of false gods. While this may momentarily befog the spiritual vision, it serves to destroy the ignorance and superstition that so long obscured the Living God. Our world is on the brink of the greatest spiritual enlightenment to date. It's actually the atheistic scientist that is on the verge of near extinction.

 

[Sectio Aurea]

It's actually the atheistic scientist that is on the verge of near extinction.

What do you base this on?

 

[bhsmte]

Do you mean that Atheists don't need a crutch? Oh these heroic fearless Atheists! I can assure you that Atheists have their own crutches as they get old and they are weak. That's why some of them turn to religion because there is nothing more stronger than religious customs that were shaped for thousand of years. Spirituality is part of humans whatever you believe or not to religion.

I hate to break it to you, but many more are turning away from religion, than are turning to it.

 

[bhsmte]

Science eliminates the superstitious component of evolved religion leading to the mortality of false gods. While this may momentarily befog the spiritual vision, it serves to destroy the ignorance and superstition that so long obscured the Living God. Our world is on the brink of the greatest spiritual enlightenment to date. It's actually the atheistic scientist that is on the verge of near extinction.

Really?

What evidence are you basing this on?

 

[Eudaimonist]

I can assure you that Atheists have their own crutches as they get old and they are weak. That's why some of them turn to religion because there is nothing more stronger than religious customs that were shaped for thousand of years.

Some of them, perhaps. But I assure you that many atheists die atheists. Religious customs are not all-powerful.


eudaimonia,

Mark