[TommyJefferson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Uninspired123', 'I') went to University...I also learned...I also took some philosophy classes...I continued to take my bioengineering courses...

[jasonraymondson]

Religion is not needed in ones life, God is a figment of the imagination that is instilled in us a children in order to control us by making us fear an eternity of burning in hell flames.

We tend to believe in God, because we need to believe that there is something greater out there. How can we be all that there is, we are so imperfect. Surely there is a loving being who will care for us forever and who will not just let us die. So, now we have an afterlife where we will spend out eterntity living amoung the clouds and playing a harp

[Offshore]

I was raised as an atheist but became a theist my freshman year in college after reading Aristotle's Physics.

It's not that I wanted to believe in God. It's just that as hard as a tried I couldn't disprove Aristotle's First Cause argument.

An infinite regression of causality is absurd because if the past were infinite we would never arrive at the present.

Every objection I have read of the First Cause cosmological argument has been based upon a misunderstanding of the argument.

For example John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell ask the question "who created God?" This is supposed to present the theist with a dilemma.

However we say "noone" created God. The argument is that all things which have a beginning are caused. We know the universe had a beginning 15 billion years ago...therefore the universe has a cause. The word we use for the First Cause is God.

No amount of hydrocarbon depletion can ever change that.

The Holocaust didn't make the Jews lose faith in a First Cause so why should Peak Oil?

[dinopello]

Religion, religous dogma is a tool used to take advantage of humans inability to deal well with uncertainty and exert control. We don't know if there is a god, many gods, "supernatural force(s)", anything after death etc. Shared spiritual beliefs can be a cohesive social mechanism and so its not always a bad thing. I don't think personal beliefs based on intuition or whatever are a problem. Some do think they are a problem and I would have a problem with that.

[Madpaddy]

I believe in God. He plays number 13 for the Irish Rugby Team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26ElDSoOPas

[Niagara]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Offshore', 'H')owever we say "noone" created God. The argument is that all things which have a beginning are caused. We know the universe had a beginning 15 billion years ago...therefore the universe has a cause. The word we use for the First Cause is God.

[roccman]

I don't think it is very strange at all.

I think when people come to the realization that:

energy = food = people = die off

Rather than Genesis 1:24

people = dominion over earth = god = eternal life

It is all very clear.

We were screwed into existance through the availability of energy.

And as Raphael says:

Energy is god.

[jato]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')As strange as it sounds, Peak oil made me an atheist

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'I') believe in God. He plays number 13 for the Irish Rugby Team.

[Plantagenet]

When I travel I visit Catholic Cathedrals in France, Roman temples in Italy, Greek Temples in Greece, Stonehedge in England, Bhuddist Temples in Thailand, Hindu Temples in India, Tibetan Bhuddist Temples in Tibet, Native American kivas in New Mexico, etc.

Some of the greatest and most wonderful creations of humans have been done in the name of religion.

I've become a Unitarian to better appreciate the best of all religions: Christian, Bhuddist, Hindu, Islam, Pagan and Atheist.

[jboogy]

I've heard it said by many that Eric Clapton is GAWD . I personally don't agree with this as I find many of his works substandard and his technical mastery of the guitar inferior to many other practitioners of the instrument . However I would not attempt to dissuade the believers from professing their reverance for Eric . They obviously have a deep-seated need to believe that Eric is super-natural and/ or eternal in some way and who am I to burst their idolizizing bubbles ?I forget who had the tag-line " if god did not exist it would be necessary for man to invent him"-- I think this pretty much sums it up. Some people need to believe that destiny is not in their hands but the responsibility of some omnipotent , all-knowing/seeing thingy floating about the clouds .I see a correlation between the right-wings prediliction for worshipping a faultless GAWD and their blind support for whatever GOP snake-oil salesman happens to be currently in power . It's as if they're saying ; tell us what we want to hear and we'll turn a blind eye towards anything negative or suspicious about you . Offshore , that was a reasoned , logical and well-thought out post .Even though I don't agree with your conclusions I enjoyed reading it. Perhaps we could see this side of you more often?

[Ingenuity_Gap]

If you are honest with yourself you'll realize the only rational position (not necessarily satisfactory) regarding the problem of human existence is agnosticism.

There is no conclusive evidence that God exists or not, and there will never be. It's all a matter of belief. You either believe God exists or God doesn't exist. Period.

You may have a personal experience with God, but you will never be able to convince me of it, because it only happened to you. For you it might seem real, but for everybody else Occam's Razor shows you're deluded. For every pro there is a con.

Causality might be a non-issue, since at quantum level seems to be breaking down, and the Universe might have begun as a quantum fluctuation.

Science is the best tool humans have to explore this Universe. Although imperfect, science produces scientific theories that make predictions about how a system will behave given certain initial conditions and forces that apply to those conditions.

e.g. The Big Bang Theory makes predictions about the composition of the Universe (how much hydrogen, helium and metals exist) and about the Cosmic Background Radiation. These predictions are highly accurate and give us confidence the theory is right.

Religion is something personal and makes no valuable prediction in order to convince others of its validity. All you can say is that we are born, we live and then we die, and nobody knows where we come from and where we go. You can only speculate.

God might be here in this room right now, but so might an invisible rhinocerus. You decide.

You still have to live with your beliefs and decisions, though.

Being an atheist is like being a religious person. You still believe in something: nature's laws.

You're still young, you have plenty of time to change your convictions.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n a three hour sermon last Sunday, Rev. Ebeneezer Smith related the facts about Hell. He explained that some of the most densely populated regions of the world have gone though 10 generations without hearing the Gospel. "Imagine spending forever surrounded by 10 generations of Chinese folks, screamin' and yappin' that monkey talk while you are roasting there in Hell. . .if that doesn't add to your desire to avoid Hell, I don't know what will."

[Fredrik]

I never found Peak Oil or any of the related threats as a challenge to my faith. It could be one of God's ways to chastise humanity because of our greed and gluttony.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')Imagine spending forever surrounded by 10 generations of Chinese folks, screamin' and yappin' that monkey talk while you are roasting there in Hell. . .if that doesn't add to your desire to avoid Hell, I don't know what will."

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'a')ll-knowing/seeing thingy floating about the clouds

[NEOPO]

Since no one else seems to be respecting the thread starter's request I suppose I will chime in.

God = energy, sure and thus God = everything. It is the matrix and it is also not. The principle that makes anything seem real is the speed at which "energy" vibrates. A solid vibrates slowly, a liquid quickly and a gas very quickly, rest assured that everything is moving is alive and thus the saying "spirit moves through all things".

What we see so often is people "rebounding" from a "bad" religion to what they perceive to be no religion. Sad yet sadness is part of It.

I enjoy the concept of Devachan (simply an example as I do not agree that it is pure bliss)and I sum it up as simply "what you believe, is" at least after the transition away from the material world(s).

The movie "what dreams may come" illustrates my idea of this concept rather well.

So ultimately people are their own judge, jury and executioner of sorts. If you believe you belong in a hell then a hell is where you will be and vice versa.

Theosophy introduced me to the concept of No-thing which simply means "nothing you can imagine".

I further add to this and believe that It (the name I give to god stuff) It is no thing and everything at once.

According to many religious beliefs, simply understanding that It is a mystery, the veil will never be lifted while a soul/monad/one exists in a material world, is enlightenment.

BTW - I was born on memorial day, the 1st and only son of a seventh son of a seventh son of a seventh son.

[Denny]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Uninspired123', '
')My deconversion started actually when I read the old testament. As anybody knows, the god of the old testament is no all loving, omniscient, omnipresent, whatever, any of those qualities, the god of the old testament is a jerk.

[emersonbiggins]

The main reason I am an atheist is that the God I know separates his believers, all ostensibly enlightened vehicles of reason, into separate classes of people. This is not just, and if God is not just, then he is mortally flawed.

To know that God gives deference to one group over the rest is enough for me to head for the parking lot.

[NEOPO]

"Believers" and non believers alike - here is a must watch Zeitgeist

Note - this movie does not tell you what to believe only that what most believe, without much question I may add, is a mass manipulation.

Most organized Religion like most politics and much of science has been subverted, perverted and used to control.

IMHO - Real faith is having some left once you have confronted the truth.

God is a word that derives from the ancient hebrew word for male which was Jad. It is a Phallic religion invented by male chauvinist so PLEASE cease and desist with the "he" crap because that is just more BS.

TIMOTHY 2:11 - 2:15 - proves this point nicely.
FIRE AGAINST FIRE

Raph, I noticed the spiral in the drawing.
Lateralus

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Uninspired123', '
')My deconversion started actually when I read the old testament. As anybody knows, the god of the old testament is no all loving, omniscient, omnipresent, whatever, any of those qualities, the god of the old testament is a jerk.