If god is all knowing, then god knows the future and what will happen to each of us.
Therefore, there is no free will, as everything has been planned out.
If god has to PLAN everything out, then god is NOT omniscient, and therefore cannot BE a god.
God couldn't stop a murder of "his children" when there were supposedly only 4 people on earth.
If earthlings are supposed to be "god's special creatures", then the rest of the universe is wasted space.
If god wants nothing but praise from his creations, then why isn't the universe cram packed with planets of people worshiping??
Virgins cannot get pregnant. That would throw out all logistical concepts of science as we know it.
Isn't it weird how your god seems to agree with everything YOU say. And is it coincidental that all Christians claim their god disagrees with you, when THEY also disagree with you?
If you wrote a book with THAT many contradictions in it, filled with hypocrisy and double-dealing........the publisher would never publish it.
If humans are made in gods image, then why are we physical beings that all have different physical traits, colors, and emotions? We should be invisible entities that live forever and do as we please.
Most all of the lifeforms on this planet that have existed, have been wiped out for a very long time. How many "do overs" does god need?
"God does not exist because I SAID SO".
Don't like that? It's the SAME reasoning parents and preachers/priests give their kids that god does exist.
War. The Holocaust. (which should be enough in itself)
Reasons for god's existence given by believers are always based on personal opinions, never fact.
People who read the bible and practice what it "preaches", makes life WORSE for everyone else.
God worshipers screaming at the top of their lungs "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL" if you don't do EXACTLY as they SAY, EXACTLY as they DO, and believe in EXACTLY what they TELL you to believe in.
No civilized human being with a grain of humanity or sentience would ever do this to a fellow human being. This is something akin to what Hitler did.....and we all know how THAT turned out!!
Science vs Religion
So far:
Science facts - MILLIONS
Religious facts - 0
If god wants to talk to me, WHY the middleman? Why not just come down and talk to me in person? Why all the 'cloak and dagger'?
God worshipers have been claiming "Jesus is coming back" in their lifetime.........for centuries. It has never happened. Not once. To anybody. Anywhere.
"God works in mysterious ways" means
"shut up and go away, I don't have any answers for you".
When someone dies in an accident or is murdered, or suffers a death by disease.......the religious claim it is the will of their god. Not one single word about the devil....the one who is supposedly evil enough to kill, maim, and destroy for pleasure. But yet they claim their god did these dastardly deeds.....to his own "children" he supposedly loves?
Uh huh. Try again.
There sure seem to be a LOT of natural disasters happening in places that god's followers claim he loves.
When non-believer speaks to a believer, the supposed "Christian" spouts hate, animosity, bigotry, racism, and a dangerous psychotic tendency.
Christians pretend to be virtuous and noble inside the church.....but when outside the church, they are sanctimonious liars, cheats, frauds, and murderers.
There are more than 2500 different bibles on this planet, giving homage to 28,000,000 different gods.
If there is only ONE god, then WHY isn't there only ONE bible?
And WHY aren't all religious people worshiping this ONE god?
WHY is it that YOUR god is the only one that exists???
Will the REAL "slim shady" please stand up!!!!
As a soft-agnostic type, I'd still like to play the devil's advocate here-figuratively speaking only of course, and look individually at your list of reasons why not to believe.
If god is all knowing, then god knows the future and what will happen to each of us.
Therefore, there is no free will, as everything has been planned out. If god has to PLAN everything out, then god is NOT omniscient, and therefore cannot BE a god.
I don't see one (omniscient Creator) necessarily canceling out the other (free will), but I'm a soft agnostic not at atheist so I am willing to believe both could still be true.
God couldn't stop a murder of "his children" when there were supposedly only 4 people on earth.
A believer would be better to answer, but my thought is life began in a different way than the OT version, possibly in water, possibly from an asteroid or collision. I've read about this more than your first argument as the origin of life is on my mind almost daily as I remain in awe of it however it began.
If earthlings are supposed to be "god's special creatures", then the rest of the universe is wasted space.
I haven't read much about that connectional premise. I don't see why specialness has to be limited to any location, timeframe, nor quantity.
If god wants nothing but praise from his creations, then why isn't the universe cram packed with planets of people worshiping??
Another Old Testament teaching? If you are addressing Christianity, the NT living under grave "overrides" the living under the law of the OT for many Christians. My thought, seems humans do this on behalf of the Creator; not just religious heads (ministers, preachers, rabbis, pujaris, imams, priests etc.) but regular families. Again, best left to a firm believer.
Isn't it weird how your god seems to agree with everything YOU say. And is it coincidental that all Christians claim their god disagrees with you, when THEY also disagree with you?
I have Christian friends who do the opposite to what you've implied here. One is a person who I consider a true Christian, who lives her life according to the teachings of the NT...forgiveness, love etc...and trust me when I say..she IS those things in living color. She doesn't condemn anyone for not believing like she does, she does the opposite. She doesn't judge people regardless of their actions. I am not there and doubt I'll get there.
If you wrote a book with THAT many contradictions in it, filled with hypocrisy and double-dealing........the publisher would never publish it.
If the Bible, particularly the 4 books of the Gospel, were identical in nature, many would cry foul. People never remember events the same way. Either way, the Bible would be criticized by those who don't subscribe.
If humans are made in gods image, then why are we physical beings that all have different physical traits, colors, and emotions? We should be invisible entities that live forever and do as we please.
Considering all humans share 99.9% DNA, I'd say that's a shoe-in for shared collective traits in a major way.
Most all of the lifeforms on this planet that have existed, have been wiped out for a very long time. How many "do overs" does god need?
Why do you consider ice ages, floodings, and various natural events to be "do overs?" That seems to be part of the process...the cycle of life. There must be death for life to strive. Just look what burning a fallow field does 2 years later.
War. The Holocaust. (which should be enough in itself)
I understand your thoughts here, and as I grew up I would get angry thinking about this...why good people suffer, why good people have horrendous life events. I've heard it explained that the Christian God does not control humans like robots and allows us our paths from which to choose.
Reasons for god's existence given by believers are always based on personal opinions, never fact.
Not true, at least in my experience. Many Christians base their faith in part by experiences, not opinions. Better question for a Christian answer.
People who read the bible and practice what it "preaches", makes life WORSE for everyone else.
Subjective. I've seen churches that could scare the daylights out of most people, and I don't consider those healthy churches whatsoever. It is easy to figure out if a person lives his or her life under the law of God as opposed to living under the grace of God. Living under a strict interpretation of the OT laws are restrictive and when people take it upon themselves to preach death and brimstone to the non-believers...it's a horrible tactic for a crowd drawer. Again, there is an entire spectrum of healthy to unhealthy churches of most faiths.
If god wants to talk to me, WHY the middleman? Why not just come down and talk to me in person? Why all the 'cloak and dagger'?
Many believers have personal experiences that have no middlemen involved. Christians place no person above God from my understanding.
I'll pause here to give you a chance to respond.
Your "true" Christian friend. Aren't they worried for your soul? If I thought you were going to go out and get kidnapped and tortured, I'd do everything in my power to stop you from going out. Doesn't your "true" christian friend worry about you going to hell?
Your friend is a cherry picker. She isn't the true christian. The ones who say you are going to hell are the real christians.
In the beginning there were single cell organisms. They multiplied. Then crawled out of the ocean. If the bible told that story 2000 years ago I'd be impressed. But they didn't. They told Noah's ark and Adam and Eve stories.
Jews didn't choose to go into the ovens.
Christians don't base their faith on experiences. Of course they have middle men. Their parents brainwashed them first, then the priest, then our society. No Christian met god and that's why they are a christian. I know because I once was a Christian.
Healthy lies? Which lies/churches are the healthy ones? Even if they do a lot of good, a lie is a lie and I'd prefer the truth.
This is a good mini-challenge, to defend someone else's viewpoints and not my own. I like thinking outside of my comfort zone to practice objectivity...but I digress...
To give objectivity a fair chance, it's necessary that we both step outside of our pre-conceived ideas based upon our own limited life experiences. That is a tough task for almost all humans regardless of brain power. Over time, these minutely specific, limited experiences shape new knowledge we encounter. For instance, you depicted it well by stating "
Christians don't base their faith on experiences" as it only pertains to your own knowledge base. Nobody else's. Neither you nor I know more than what we've seen/heard. Even humans with amazing cognitive skills are significantly limited due to set number of life's "ah ha!" moments. Our past experiences fine-tune what we think now, even when we recognize a personal bias, because we are more open to making connections to past knowledge when it supports our belief systems. Your post reflects this well with your subjective statements "
Your friend is a cherry picker. She isn't the true christian. The ones who say you are going to hell are the real christians." That's your view, I'll keep mine until/unless I experience some type of enlightenment in the future.
Your subjective interpretation that the "true" Christians are the ones who approach their religious views like a banshee with a vengeance...aggressively. Huge difference from healthy assertiveness. The difference between an aggressive personality and an assertive type reveals a distinction in mental health. If you want sourced pieces that define the particulars, I can easily find them. I will never consider anyone who acts in an aggressive manner to be completely sane. Admittedly, yet again, my definition of sanity is based upon prior learning, same as yours. We could have different definitions on that as well. Considering you think the "best" Christians act more aggressively in words and possibly actions, some I might find totally unacceptable on some social construct alone, we likely do differ there as well.
From your post (with undertones of anger perhaps?) I can only guess you either grew up in church where hell and brimstone was preached as the norm and aggressive personalities were in the mix? I once made the mistake of going to a church that had a few religiously, aggressive members. I went once. Maybe some enjoy that type of....whatever it is. I don't consider anyone who is aggressive as having control over their emotions (this is of course based upon my limited, yet thankfully nurturing upbringing). Nor do I consider people (any person) who spews off at the mouth in some type of persecutorial rage- condemning all who live a different way as going to hell as having a healthy mindset. If God exists, surely these mouthpieces, almost going into attack mode scaring off any potential listener, are not calling the shots, and they are certainly not determining who is good and who is bad according to their human eyes. Judging...now that's telling.
As I stated about my friend (whom I last saw about 15 years ago), she doesn't judge people. What you've described is people judging and condemning others, as if it's their place to do so. Who are you to judge me? Who am I to judge you? We still do it, because we flawed humans. Being unflawed (not possible) would leave out a lot of social chaos. BTW-were you forced to go to church as a kid? That has a long-term impact for many adults, as you might know.
Thanks for replying btw