Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
43 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Everyone believes in God, right? (Original Post) ItsjustMe Feb 2022 OP
Just because something cannot be proven, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Doodley Feb 2022 #1
Extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence Bernardo de La Paz Feb 2022 #2
I love my wife. Can I prove love is real? Is there a test that proves I love her? Doodley Feb 2022 #3
Real love is evidenced often by sacrifice, including the giving of quantity time Bernardo de La Paz Feb 2022 #4
You speak the truth, but a machine can be programmed to care for others. Doodley Feb 2022 #10
Define "care" Act_of_Reparation Mar 2022 #34
Love is a verb and is shown everyday. Bev54 Feb 2022 #8
Love is also a noun. It's a human construct, just like God. It is not provable. Doodley Feb 2022 #11
The waiting is the hardest part. dchill Feb 2022 #9
So we should believe in unicorns? Eko Feb 2022 #12
That's your choice. Doodley Feb 2022 #13
Why is it not your choice as well? Eko Feb 2022 #14
It is my choice as well. I choose not to believe in God or unicorns. Doodley Feb 2022 #15
Thanks for the reply, Eko Feb 2022 #17
Why is it not my choice? It is my choice. Doodley Feb 2022 #18
Why? Eko Feb 2022 #19
Sorry to be dumb, but I still do not understand specifically what you are asking. Doodley Mar 2022 #20
Why do you not believe in unicorns? Eko Mar 2022 #21
I choose not to believe because I don't see enough evidence to choose to believe. Doodley Mar 2022 #22
I apologize, and I am trying to be sincere and polite so please take no offense. Eko Mar 2022 #24
The statements are compatible. Take space aliens living among us. Just because they cannot be Doodley Mar 2022 #25
That makes no sense. Eko Mar 2022 #27
Do you believe I slept with three virgins last night? I bet you don't believe that. Doodley Mar 2022 #28
You may have. Eko Mar 2022 #29
I believe in dog. Chainfire Feb 2022 #5
The fact That Dick Cheney and Trump lived gibraltar72 Feb 2022 #6
what is God csusan Feb 2022 #7
It's all pretty ridiculous, especially when you put it that way. Doodley Feb 2022 #16
Exactly. When someone tries to "prove" Christianity I ask them... RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #23
Why should you control what they should prove? As an Doodley Mar 2022 #26
Because if they make an extraordinary claim, it's up to them to prove it RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #30
But we are talking about faith. If I say I saw big foot last night, I don't have to prove it. Doodley Mar 2022 #31
Faith is belief without evidence RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #33
We all rely on faith. I am guessing you have faith in scientific theories that you cannot Doodley Mar 2022 #36
No but I can see the evidence RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #37
The nature of faith, like love, requires no proof. If you have never loved, you cannot Doodley Mar 2022 #40
Oh absolute bullshit RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #41
You seem very aggressive towards me. Doodley Mar 2022 #42
Sealion much? RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #43
You are completely disregarding the social dynamics of these debates. Act_of_Reparation Mar 2022 #35
There is also this RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #38
Besides, if you said "I saw Bigfoot" I would ask for evidence RFCalifornia Mar 2022 #39
I love Talk Heathen and Atheist Experience! Lady Freedom Returns Mar 2022 #32

Bernardo de La Paz

(50,894 posts)
2. Extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:23 PM
Feb 2022

If you reject 1000 gods, then go all the way and reject the last one for the same reasons.

Just because something can't be proven is no reason to fall back to relying solely on faith, most often the faith you were simply born into.

Doodley

(10,360 posts)
3. I love my wife. Can I prove love is real? Is there a test that proves I love her?
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:46 PM
Feb 2022

Can it be put in a test tube or examined under a microscope? No. Sometimes faith is all the proof we need. Why do atheists expect proof when there is so much they believe that is unprovable?

As for the thousand Gods, I am of the view that anyone who believes in God or a God, believes in a God that is unique to their perception, their knowledge, their understanding, their culture, their religion, their other influences, their intelligence, their personality, their experiences, etc, and this can also change day to day, so there are billions of the bloody things.

By the way, I am an atheist too.

Bernardo de La Paz

(50,894 posts)
4. Real love is evidenced often by sacrifice, including the giving of quantity time
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:50 PM
Feb 2022

Notice I said "evidenced".

People so often are highly desirous of final proof or 100% irrefutable evidence.

If someone spends most of their time outside of work tending to and caring for an ill or disabled family member, that is not proof of love, but is surely strong evidence.

Actions speak louder than words. Sometimes people's actions belie their words.

People can believe what they want, and can generally say what they want, but how they act on those beliefs is too often at odds with reality.

Act_of_Reparation

(9,116 posts)
34. Define "care"
Mon Mar 21, 2022, 09:31 AM
Mar 2022

A machine can be programmed to tend to the basic biological, physical needs of others. It cannot be programmed to express interest in or concern for them.

Eko

(8,489 posts)
19. Why?
Mon Feb 28, 2022, 07:37 PM
Feb 2022

If you like apples better than oranges that is your choice but the why would be because you like them better. I keep asking you why that is your choice and you keep saying that it is your choice. It's obvious it's your choice but the why has yet to be given.

Eko

(8,489 posts)
24. I apologize, and I am trying to be sincere and polite so please take no offense.
Thu Mar 3, 2022, 07:51 PM
Mar 2022

But that doesn't line up with your earlier claim of "Just because something cannot be proven, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
The 1st claim is that just because there is not enough evidence to prove it, it can still be true.
The 2nd claim is that you don't believe in something because there is not enough evidence.
I don't see how those are logically compatible.

Doodley

(10,360 posts)
25. The statements are compatible. Take space aliens living among us. Just because they cannot be
Thu Mar 3, 2022, 09:02 PM
Mar 2022

proven to exist, doesn't mean they do not exist. I choose not to believe in them as I do not see sufficient evidence, but it is still logical that I cannot rule out that they do exist.

When it comes to people who think they have made some kind of contact or connection with aliens (or God) to say prove it, won't disprove its existence.

Eko

(8,489 posts)
27. That makes no sense.
Thu Mar 3, 2022, 09:09 PM
Mar 2022

"I choose not to believe in them as I do not see sufficient evidence, but it is still logical that I cannot rule out that they do exist."
If you say that you cannot rule out that they do exist then you are saying that they may exist, but before that you are saying that they don't because you do not see sufficient evidence. Either you believe they do, they may or they don't. You cant say your dont believe they don't exist, then next say you believe they may. Makes no sense.

Doodley

(10,360 posts)
28. Do you believe I slept with three virgins last night? I bet you don't believe that.
Thu Mar 3, 2022, 09:40 PM
Mar 2022

I bet you feel you have insufficient evidence to believe that. But can you rule it out with absolute certainty? No, of course not.

 

Chainfire

(17,757 posts)
5. I believe in dog.
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 12:54 PM
Feb 2022

She is, in fact, snoring right next to me. If you like, I can show proof!

Man created God, in his own image, so that whosoever believeth in him, can avoid death. Humans don't like the thought of their own death. I suspect that if this old dog knew about death, her species would have created a dog god.

We hate voids of knowledge as much as nature abhors vacuums. Where there is a question, we will create an answer. It doesn't have to be true, it doesn't have to be verifiable, but it beats admitting that we just don't know. We are too damn smart to just not know.

gibraltar72

(7,629 posts)
6. The fact That Dick Cheney and Trump lived
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 01:23 PM
Feb 2022

while innocents died, proves there is no God. I say that as a recovering Evangelical.

csusan

(27 posts)
7. what is God
Sun Feb 27, 2022, 01:57 PM
Feb 2022

Everytime I see or hear a coversation re: god, i immediately think ok what is god. I dont know if i believe cause I don't know which god im suppose to be believing in. I dont believe in religion. Im done with that. So is it the catholic god, the fundemental god, the jewish god, the muslim god or just god. Do I believe there is something (one thing) out there that is in charge of everything and has a plan for everyone-no. Until someone can explain suffering to me I can not believe that there is an entity incharge that can stop suffering but allows it anyway. I dont believe in the whole orginial sin or that there is a god that punishes people because somebody else sinned.

RFCalifornia

(440 posts)
23. Exactly. When someone tries to "prove" Christianity I ask them...
Thu Mar 3, 2022, 01:22 PM
Mar 2022

First to prove that the laws of physics can be bent or changed

Then prove to me that magic can exist

Then prove to me that a god could exist

Then prove to me that a god does exist

Then prove to me that their god, of all the thousands of gods that people have believed in, is the right one

And...I could go on

Doodley

(10,360 posts)
26. Why should you control what they should prove? As an
Thu Mar 3, 2022, 09:08 PM
Mar 2022

atheist, I am not able to prove whatever an anti-scientist may ask of me. Do you think you are?

Doodley

(10,360 posts)
31. But we are talking about faith. If I say I saw big foot last night, I don't have to prove it.
Sun Mar 13, 2022, 08:20 PM
Mar 2022

You can either believe me or not believe me. I am not obligated to prove my extraordinary claims.

RFCalifornia

(440 posts)
33. Faith is belief without evidence
Sat Mar 19, 2022, 06:37 PM
Mar 2022

So, yeah, its a pretty useless tool

One has to prove god exists otherwise they are no different than that crackpot on the street saying "the end is near"

Doodley

(10,360 posts)
36. We all rely on faith. I am guessing you have faith in scientific theories that you cannot
Tue Mar 22, 2022, 06:19 PM
Mar 2022

personally verify.

RFCalifornia

(440 posts)
37. No but I can see the evidence
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 02:56 PM
Mar 2022

For example, during COVID I looked up the evidence that said the Pfizer vaccine was safe and could help stop the spread of the virus.

Every scientific study has a brief

And since it's peer reviewed it's very possible for other scientists to poke holes in it

God cannot be proved or unproved since you can't prove a negative

But if one is making the assertion "there is a god" then they have to produce evidence, and a 2000 year old book that was edited, changed, completely reworked that we're not even sure the purported authors had anything to do with -- then they, as Ricky Riccardo once said, have a lot of explaining to do

Doodley

(10,360 posts)
40. The nature of faith, like love, requires no proof. If you have never loved, you cannot
Mon Mar 28, 2022, 11:35 AM
Mar 2022

understand what it is to love. It isn't something that can be studied in a test tube. If you have never experienced sight or sound, you cannot understand what it is. If you do not either recognize the meaning of faith or experience it yourself, you will not understand what it is.

RFCalifornia

(440 posts)
41. Oh absolute bullshit
Mon Mar 28, 2022, 05:52 PM
Mar 2022

I love my wife completely

Yet I don't do it on faith, I do it because she is a beautiful person and is the SAME beautiful person I met

Stop equating faith with love

It's like equating horse shit with chocolate

Act_of_Reparation

(9,116 posts)
35. You are completely disregarding the social dynamics of these debates.
Mon Mar 21, 2022, 09:45 AM
Mar 2022

People who don't believe in bigfoot rarely suffer socio-occupational consequences for their lack of belief in bigfoot. People who believe in bigfoot aren't measurably more privileged than those who do not. Our culture does not hold belief in bigfoot to be a virtue.

RFCalifornia

(440 posts)
39. Besides, if you said "I saw Bigfoot" I would ask for evidence
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 02:58 PM
Mar 2022

If you said you didn't have any, I wouldn't believe you

Lady Freedom Returns

(14,120 posts)
32. I love Talk Heathen and Atheist Experience!
Mon Mar 14, 2022, 09:56 AM
Mar 2022

And then you have The Nonprofits.

Sunday's are usually me watching ACA stuff as well as stuff put out by Telltale and Jimmy Snow, AKA Mr Atheist.

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»Atheists & Agnostics»Everyone believes in God,...