Quote:Well, I can't use myself, because I know where I got my sense of right and wrong, but C.S. Lewis -- one of the great modern doctors of the faith -- said that he found himself to be a hypocrite as an atheist, because he couldn't justify the existence of justice without an external definition of justice. That is, if there is no "supernatural" being to define justice, then there is no justice.
Justice and morality are subjective concepts that vary both individually and by culture. C.S. wrote some interesting stuff, but his arguments from morality are among his most illogical and belong in the trash can IMO unless justification can be given for all his assumptions that he passes off as a priori "knowledge".
Quote:why is there evolution? Why is there anything? This is basically the "first cause" argument. That might convince me.
Evolution is just a logical consequence of how the natural world works. Additionally, re: origin of the universe etc., there's no harm in saying "We don't know yet"...substituting an explanation simply for the sake of having an explanation is incredibly counterproductive.
I think BitBuster nailed the first cause part, although it's worth noting that even if the universe had to have a "first cause", there are still mountains more arguments to make before the nature of that cause can be determined.
Quote:The fact that anything does exist evidences that it stopped somewhere
[citation needed]
Quote:because the nature of God offers the most possible reasons why He could be the first cause
[citation needed]
(and a bit more explanation of this would be awesome, not completely sure I understand this)
Quote:mere contingency
Interesting word choice.
Quote:It's reasonable to say that if there is no God, we created a God that would best fit all our unanswered questions. However, the things that actually happened in the bible (or quran, or vedic text), are not logical or reasonable to explain things. They are just weird. The old adage that fact is stranger than fiction may hold here, since I don't think we could make up some of this stuff ourselves.
I think the fact that those books were revered for thousands of years and believed by most to be the absolute literal complete truth (and there are still an astounding number that believe this today) shows that it's quite reasonable that the events could have been thought up by humans. A human design pattern is exactly what we see upon examination of the origin of the text, as well (The Documentary Hypothesis is a good example. Read the first bit of the wiki page so you understand what it means and then scroll down and look at the coloured image for a visual representation. 1) a collection of myths, traditions, and superstitions written, altered, and combined over many centuries by humans, or 2) a divinely inspired document; which of the two does that look like?)
Quote:I will mention here (in case I haven't yet) that my actual belief system is based on upbringing, experience and searching, and that I am always willing to discuss these things with an open mind.
What IS your belief system, anyway? You seem to be on all sides of this discussion
Quote:God has a reason for everything..
Like why I just posted this
On the other hand, we all have a free will, so it isn't actually God making me post this. But God knows what my 1,000th post will say and he knew a few decades ago.
[citation needed]
[citation needed]
[citation needed]
[citation needed]
[citation needed]