Does God Exist?

Quote: NicksGamingStuff

Hey lets join this http://www.lasvegasatheists.org/ I signed up, I think it will be a fun group.

Godless Gaming. Cool....

Russel's Celestial Teapot is awesome.

Quote: EvenBob

Godless Gaming. Cool....

If you look at the pics on the Godless page, they don't
look any different than the WoVcon group that got
together this summer. Scary...

Quote: FrGamble

I am somewhat surprised to hear that the wizard and many of the people in this forum have a problem with a "Higher Power" or God. The interesting article you link to is about someone who believes that our life is just random and so there is no inherent purpose or meaning. For people who seem to know about probability I would think everyone here must say that the chances of us being just a random coincidence make the odds of a fire bet, your local progressive, or even Keno look like a sure thing. I like gambling because I am trying to get an advantage over random acts by counting cards, dice control, or just making good bets with low house edges. I think this is maybe what we are all trying to do - find purpose and meaning behind the actions and circumstances of life, even the losses. God is the ultimate way to know that what I do and how I live matter and to remind us that this life is not all there is. To not understand or believe that is to condemn ourselves to a sad conception of reality that nothing really matters and I am a cosmic accident - I'd rather play Keno that think that!

Actually religion is the reason this world is so screwed up. I don't believe in any invisible man in the sky. I do not believe in ghosts...holy or otherwise. I have no idea what there is if anything after death but one thing I'm sure of. If there is anything we will all have an equal shot at it and not just those who believe some carpenter walked on water and turned it into wine.

What most folks don't know is that dozens of stories began to go round N. Africa and the middle east involving virgin birth, son of god, saviour, crucifiction stuff 3000 years before the Jews wrote their story and now...they don't even believe it theirselves. I love what Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams, second president of the U S to the third:

"And the day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." --- Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, Apr. 11, 1823

Quote: Cammmpbell

What most folks don't know is that dozens of stories began to go round N. Africa and the middle east involving virgin birth

The virgin birth idea is in most major religions and
predates Christianity by thousands of years. Read some
of Joseph Campbell's books on comparative religion and
it will change your concepts of religion entirely.

I was just reading a bit on the LV atheists website and the regular atheists.org and a huge daddy long legs spider descended from my ceiling onto my desk. Is it a sign or a coincidence? Either way it was really creepy!

2000 years ago, the uneducated masses would've read all kinds of crazy info into a spider descending at any particular moment. Even 1000 years ago. And 500. And apparently even these days there are idiots who see messages in random BS, like Virgin Mary in burnt toast.

gofaster: what does a daddy longlegs coming down from the ceiling mean to you, buddy? Just curious. Anything?

Quote: zippyboy

gofaster: what does a daddy longlegs coming down from the ceiling mean to you, buddy? Just curious. Anything?

Dude, thats just cruel.

Hey, anyone who can see the Virgin Mary in a broken plate must have special insight into common events. I'm really not ridiculing the man. He obviously works out and bikes and can probably benchpress me right off a cliff if Jesus weren't in his life and teaching him to turn the other cheek. So I'm hopeful he can spread his wisdom to those of us who cannot see the light.

Quote: EvenBob

If you look at the pics on the Godless page, they don't
look any different than the WoVcon group that got
together this summer. Scary...

Many more ladies it seems...

Quote: zippyboy

Hey, anyone who can see the Virgin Mary in a broken plate

Its the special glasses they give you at 3-D movies.
Quit being so quick to judge, just get the glasses
and you'll see for yourself...

I dont believe in God.

But if he does exist and created us then he is cruel person. The amount of suffering that goes on in the world is horrendous beyond belief.

Quote: dealerwins

I dont believe in God.

But if he does exist and created us then he is cruel person. The amount of suffering that goes on in the world is horrendous beyond belief.

and therein lies a conundrum. If God is good then why is there evil? If God is evil then He doesn't deserve my attention. If God is something in between, then He's just and invisible friend who lives on a cloud.

I'm amazed that there are seemingly so many good and smart people who don't believe in God.
Some quick comments:
"Godless gambling", without God all of life is a gamble. I don't believe we are just a crapshoot, like most people on this forum I want to be an advantage player. Betting on purely random events can be fun, but in a casino you will always lose in the long run. I'm betting on a divine dice setter - its the only smart way to play!

Our quasi history lessons about humanity's longing to find some deeper mystical reality in life only serves to show me that we have an innate desire to believe that there is something more to this life than the temporary and passing stuff we see around us. If for thousands and thousands and thousands of years mankind has been searching to find some deeper reality to why we exist; what happens when it seems like (at least on the WoV forum) we stopped searching and boldly declare there is no God?

When it comes to suffering there is far too much, there is no denying that. Of course we have to at the same time remember there is much good in our world too, but that is not an answer. Nor is it completely adequate to point out that the horrendous suffering you spoke about would only be that much more horrible if this world was all there was and there was no afterlife. I simply want to say that mankind could alleviate so much of the suffering our brothers and sisters are feeling. I do not believe we will be able to do that if we are all convinced that we and all around us are cosmic accidents. First we need to see ourselves and everyone else as loved into existence with a dignity that deserves and demands our care. This is why God is so important to me and I think for humanity.

Quote: zippyboy

And apparently even these days there are idiots who see messages in random BS, like Virgin Mary in burnt toast.

Superstition is a powerful force.

I wasn't surprised to find out there's a country where people believe electric fans left on overnight in a bedroom can kill the room's occupant. I was very much surprised to find this country is South Korea.

Here's another superstition, which fortunately has lost some currency: downing a common aspirin with a cola drink will result in blood poisoning or some other kind of adverse reaction. That was very current in mexico in the 70s, 80s and even 90s. The most widely accepted explanation was that the cafeeine in coke reacted badly with aspirin. No one, however, questioned the existence, since the 1920s!, of a product called "Cafiaspirinas," which are aspiring tablets infused with about a cofee cup's worth of caffeine.

Has anyone here read any Ernest Becker?

I think his analysis of society and religion hits the nail on the head.