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Analysis: Atheism worldwide in decline!

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posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:05 PM
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mark ten

My current belief is along the lines of "Inteligent Design", so I guess that would place me somewhere in the middle of all this.


But I was certainly born with the "scientific mind" so the questions in my head sure keep churning!

Questioning is good!



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:11 PM
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Originally posted by mark ten
Hmmm



Atheists cannot prove the non-existence of God, in fact they cannot even prove that simply the collective imperative and collective consciousness of a God concept is something synergetic.


Why do atheists have to prove the non-existance of god?
Is it some sort of test or acceptance rite into atheism?

I know that the tooth fairy doesn't exist (apologies to anyone still under this illusion). Do you want me to offer proof?

OK i can't offer absolute proof, but it's enough for me that i'm the one who puts the money under my kids pillow and for now it's a fiction we're both happy to maintain...

Is god just a tooth fairy with good PR?

Of course, and that's why church attendance is declining


Pardon me from how I edited after posting. I take it that Atheists have many arguments about the non-existence of God, that forming the reason why they call themselves Atheists. They have taken the next step from agnostics who say that God's existence cannot be proved nor disproved.

"agnosticism

ag·nos·ti·cism (ăg-nŏs'tĭ-sĭz'əm) pronunciation n.

1. The doctrine that certainty about first principles or absolute truth is unattainable and that only perceptual phenomena are objects of exact knowledge.
2. The belief that there can be no proof either that God exists or that God does not exist."

So atheists have a degree of certainty whereas they have proven it to themselves at least in the abstract, and their proof may be beyond words or filled with words. Nobody has to prove anything do they?

At any rate all these topics are filled with further discussions, most of which rely upon the degree of faith or the degree of certainty people call it within schools of thought. So in a way, all of this hones into exactly that, one opinion or school of thought verses another.



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:21 PM
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Party of 1

I agree Questioning is good

Sometimes we are given a lot to think about and we should always keep a mostly open mind (because, really, until the utterly stupid argument comes up with some empirical evidence it might as well *go away*)

but when you say



My current belief is along the lines of "Inteligent Design", so I guess that would place me somewhere in the middle of all this.



I.D. is not "somewhere in the middle"

IMHO there is no middle ground and if hell exists then that is where the agnostics will go. Either you believe in an underlying creative concious force behind what current scientists (note not priests - they are playing catch up) or you don't.
there's no undecided, middle ground.

mark ten



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:25 PM
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To the Americans : You're not godless if you don't go to church. Many people I know (actually most people I know) don't believe in a church or a religion, but believe in god. To imply that low church attendance is a sign of godlessness is insulting, many people are disillusioned with the corrupt power structures of man that are the churches and have decided to remove the middle man between them and god.

Religion is still around today because science hasn't been capable of explaining the unexplained. The problem with science is that we are still constantly learning and that the current theories or trains of thought can be debunked, yet one cannot do that to religion. It is impossible to prove there is no god scientifically, but it is possible to discredit the theories of man.

My opinion is the two shouldn't challenge eachother, they should complement and work off eachother in the search for the truth, because we don't even know it yet. We only have faith.

thanks,
drfunk



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:29 PM
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mark ten - gotta disagree with that my friend. there's plenty of middle ground when you're not at the extremes. I'm talking about creationism and biogenesis here, not religion. It's not about dogma, it's about the beginning of life. Middle ground = something other than spontaneous biogenesis occurred. Inteligent design fits right in.



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:32 PM
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Skipshipman



So atheists have a degree of certainty whereas they have proven it to themselves at least in the abstract, and their proof may be beyond words or filled with words. Nobody has to prove anything do they?


I can't speak for other atheist because we're not organised behind any sort of creed or figurehead but i would say that few atheists have any "degree of certainty" other than that can be proven empirically.

And course scientists have to prove things, otherwise noone would trust them. I offer Fleishmann and Ponns as an example though i know on this board that they are open to debate.

yours aye
mark ten



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:39 PM
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Party of 1



something other than spontaneous biogenesis occurred. Inteligent design fits right in.

For me.... i can't imagine anything other than the slow process of biogenesis occurring ...but how can you say that I.D does not involve a creator?
Think about the words? Someone must be behind the Intelligent Design?

So there is no middle ground.
Either your Pro evolution/natural selection/latest best scientific theory OR
Your Pro god

take your pick



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 07:58 PM
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mark ten,

Certainly, that's what I'm getting at - Creationism less the dogma/religion component. Also, for me anyway, evolution clearly occurs. I don't question that at all. What I do find hard to believe is that it all just occurred in the infamous "primordial ooze". IMO life was created by something inteligent, evolution picks up from there!



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 08:07 PM
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Party of 1



life was created by something inteligent, evolution picks up from there!

So you do belive in a creator, then.
How do you describe him/her/it?
Do you worship it?
is there any need to?
What is the purpose of the design? Do you know? Does anybody?

What created the Intelligent Designer?

My word what a lot of questions!



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 08:17 PM
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Ha! Yup that's where the area gets grey for me. Do I pray? Yes. I was brought up catholic so those rituals I'm used to, they're comfortable for me. Do I believe the Bible? Some, however I can't think of anything in the book that I would take literally (not that I can think of at the moment anyway). Certainly more spiritual than religious by far. And no, I don't believe that God rides on a fiery chariot!



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 08:22 PM
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party of 1
it was nice speaking /typing to you but i'm off to bed now!
alas i was brought up as a non believer though bizarrely in their youth both my parents were Very religious
So i find it hard to embrace that degree of spirituality...
I also have very good *personal* reasons to doubt the god in the bible
but as i said
c'est ca
all the best mark



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 08:47 PM
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Originally posted by Partyof1
Certainly more spiritual than religious by far. And no, I don't believe that God rides on a fiery chariot!


Well duh, everyone knows he rides in a BMW these days



posted on Mar, 2 2005 @ 09:37 PM
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I feel I should quote myself from another site.


With god and the universe, there are tons of possiblities. There is NO reason, none, to assume God would look like us, think like us, or even think at all. For all we know, God could be an organism who's primary function is to spew out tremendously hot, compacted spaces and kickstart the Big Bang. We just don't know.



posted on Mar, 3 2005 @ 03:55 AM
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Uh, how do you prove something doesn't exist? Isn't it up to the religous people to prove it exists? Scientists don't need to prove bigfoot doesn't exist, you have to prove he does exist. You don't prove the earth isn't flat, you prove it is round. See what I mean??????



posted on Mar, 4 2005 @ 05:51 PM
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I do not think it is ATHEISM that is in decline, but actual belief. It is one thing to say I am a Christian and then go to church, and a whole another thing to put your etire life in the hands of a God that might not exist. This forum is probably not good statistical evidence, but I am seeing a decline in actual trust in God. Many people either think God is old and powerless or just don't think about God at all.



posted on Mar, 4 2005 @ 07:22 PM
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And the Bible says this exact thing will happen, a falling away......



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