A Survey This Is

[Koopaslaya]

Well, you technically have to do some other sort of "act of penance." Like abstain from Ice Cream or goodies or something like that.

[BP]

When people I know eat meat on Fridays, I walk p to them and say "You're not Catholic, right?" And they say "No." And I reply to that with "Ok, good. Continue."

[G-Dawg]

I hear that!!! I have to go through it everyday, being like Bird Person's best friend.  But yeah I mean who doesn't believe in God, not to offend anyone.  Because I have a question, "If there is no God, how was the Earth created?"  I know for sure it wasn't the "Big Bang".

[BP]

Some people give good reasons for not believing in God though (even though I don't agree with them). However, I know for a fact that some don't and think that they're right and no one else's beliefs matter.
I fed the homeless this morning with some church members (and for community service that I need to graduate the 8th grade) and noticed EVERYONE was wearing a cross. Well yeah, I know they were all members of our Catholic church, but I realized I need one.

[Koopaslaya]

WOah there G-dawg, you don't need to act brashly. YOu don't really want to pick a fight with anyone. Just don't get into this arguement here. They tend to become ugly.

[Insane Steve]

But yeah I mean who doesn't believe in God, not to offend anyone.

I don't, for one. I'm sure you'll find others on this forum, although we're in the minority from the looks of the poll.

Because I have a question, "If there is no God, how was the Earth created?"  I know for sure it wasn't the "Big Bang".

Please explain to me how you acertained beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Big Bang never happened. Please. I can't see how you'd prove this.

In an unrelated story, I remember one instance in high school -- someone I and a lot of my friends weren't too fond of once stated that the world was created by an alien landing of some kind, and that he was correct, and all other theories were not possibly correct, simply because what he was saying could not be readily disproved. That is, if you can't prove it wrong, it's obviously correct. Ya. I thought this guy was one of the most condescending, stuck up people I've ever met.

[Jman]

I hear that!!! I have to go through it everyday, being like Bird Person's best friend.  But yeah I mean who doesn't believe in God, not to offend anyone.  Because I have a question, "If there is no God, how was the Earth created?"  I know for sure it wasn't the "Big Bang".

Yeah, I mean think about it.  What are the chances of an explosion big enough to randomly scatter everything into place in the Universe.  How does the Big Bang possibly explain how earth is the only planet that supports life?  I don't know.  Not to be offensive, but the whole Big Bang theory doesn't seem very logical.  There had to be somebody of a Divine nature that put it all in place.

[Insane Steve]

The Law of Large Numbers.

Think of the near-infinite expanse that is space. Now, even if you consider the unlikelihood of an event like the Big Bang, take this highly unlikely probability and scatter it across a near-infinite expanse -- the odds of it happening, thus, in just one small area of this near infinite expanse become fairly good despite the near-impossibility of the event occuring at any one arbitrary point.

And the Earth happens to be the only planet WE KNOW OF that supports life. Even noting the high unlikelihood of all the factors required to sustain life being smashed together into one planet, you have to consider that there's billions of billions of planets out there. Even if these life forms aren't as complex as humans, or even carbon-based, the sheer number of planets in the universe suggest a very high probability (not quite 100%, but still rather good) of life being in some planet outside of Earth.

And I don't see anything that proves Creation except blind faith. And blind faith isn't proof of anything in my mind.

[Jman]

Blind faith?  We do have the Bible, for crying out loud.

Edit: But honestly, I'm not here to argue about other religions, or non-religions.  I'm just here as a God fearing Christian who enjoys videogames.

[Insane Steve]

Ok, prove to me that the events in the Bible actually happened. That's where we differ; while I think the Bible is a very interesting read, I hardly believe any of its events actually happened in the exact manner the Bible describes. Maybe metaphoically, or in a different sense, but not exactly.

I'm not here to argue; I'm just trying to present a different perspective on religion than is the norm on these boards.

[smfan1085]

Ok, prove to me that the events in the Bible actually happened. That's where we differ; while I think the Bible is a very interesting read, I hardly believe any of its events actually happened in the exact manner the Bible describes. Maybe metaphoically, or in a different sense, but not exactly.

I'm not here to argue; I'm just trying to present a different perspective on religion than is the norm on these boards.

Not all Christians believe that the things in the Bible happened in the exact manner described. Catholics like myself, for instance, are open to the view that much of what's in the Bible could be figurative. As you probably already know from certain earlier posts in this topic, Catholics don't necessarily have to disbelieve in evolution. The reason I don't believe in it is not because of any religious prohibition, but because of evidence against it that I've read about (see the book I referenced earlier in this thread).

Also, I hope that you don't get the idea that the religious people posting here are trying to make you feel like an outcast in any way, because I'm sure none of us are.

[Insane Steve]

I've felt like an outcast on this forum for many, many months before this thread was ever revived, and my differences in religion have basically no impact on these feelings. Although, this board isn't the only place I feel like this; not by a longshot.

The thing a lot of people who do not believe in evolution miss, from my experiences on the issue, is that evolution and natural selection take millions upon millions of years and several thousands of different mutations in order to yield the beings that exist today. You can't say that evolution happens in a few generations, or that your great grandpa was a monkey, because that isn't the case. It also doesn't help that the human race has excluded itself from natural selection in all but the most extreme cases. How many tigers do you think have imperfect vision? Almost none that can survive for any period of time. How many humans have imperfect vision? Almost all of them, from what I've seen. Think of evolution as many, many, many instances of natural selection in a string. And for every change that survives to yield the next, there's countless others that weren't as desirable that just died out.

[G-Dawg]

OK I'm sorry I offened you Insane Steve, I was just asking a question. No harm done right? /..\
                                                                                            __

[Insane Steve]

Na, it's cool. Although I'm still curious what evidence you have against the Big Bang.

[G-Dawg]

Well how did the gases get there in the first place? Someone had to create them.
(Maybe God, for chance?)