to believe that beyond all reasonable doubt

[OurBetty]

there is no god?

"Intelligent Design" is bollocks. It's just a way of smuggling Creationism into the curriculum and making it sound scientific. As Brian Cox said just this week, science can't always get everything right, but it can usually prove when something is wrong.

Faith decides on what the immutable answers are going to be, then looks around for "evidence" to back these up (usually shaky and subjective). Science forms a theory first, then finds evidence for and against, weighs it and concludes whether the theory was right or wrong when stating the 'answer'. Which is not immutable. I know which approach makes more sense.

Faith provides certainty without evidence - science provides evidence without certainty. Again, I know which I'd rather have.

What UQD said.

Yanbu not to believe.
Yabu beyond all reasonable doubt

Nobody knows one way or the bloody other.

The Human race are arrogant. Think they are the be all and sodding end all. I don't think it does anyone any harm to at least think that there is a higher being than them somewhere out there in the ether. Not necessarily God in the traditional bearded man on a cloud way, just something.

Death is the end. Absolutely final.Scary. Therefore if it helps someone to think they are moving on rather than ending what's the harm?

Ah, there you are, UQD!

Altinkum, so you can't argue that god exists either then? Yawn.

No what ever you choose to believe is up to you,

I believe in God that up to me

There's a lot of people on here who seem to think they have the definite authoritive answers on many of lives biggest, unanswered questions isn't there?

(Often said so eloquently with nothing to back-up their sweeping statement )

I don't care what people believe in so long as they don't expect special treatment, either in law or otherwise, or expect other other people to change their behaviour in order to accommdate their beliefs.

The OP wasn't asking is it ok to believe in god; it's that isn't reasonable to say that there is no god. Which of course it is whether you like it or not.

How can anyone have an answer on an unanswered question, Roseflower? Durr. That's what scientific research is for.

Well, tere is significantly more evidence for the non existence of God than his existence, So on the balance of probabilities, I would say that he doesn't exist, and it is for others to prove tha he does.

YANBU to hold your belief just as IANBU to hold my belief whether or not that coincides with yours.

But there are angels...which leads me to think there probably is god.

YABU.

having said that, doubt is a sometimes essential element of having a 'faith'.

Another psuedo-intellectual, self-aggrandising thread about how stupid people with any kind of faith are.

Lord I believe-help thou my disbelief as St Augustine said.
I know there is a God-cant prove it,dont mind if no-one else feels the same.I stand out in the Spring sunshine on the Shropshire hills and truly believe that 'only man is vile'.

Goldenhaze: How can anyone have an answer on an unanswered question, Roseflower? Durr. That's what scientific research is for.

If you folowed the thread clearly you would see a vast range of people claming, with absolute certainity (no "I believe" or "my opinion is" etc) the answer to lifes biggest questions.

Intelligent Design is a load of crap.

let's admit that's it's just a big made-up story, and get on with our lives?

Of course there's no god.

vulnerable people are susceptible to suggestion

Of course there's no such thing as a religious experience

There isn't a god.You are correct.

Others just don't seem to question things and go along with the herd.

Yep religion's for the deluded, desperate and daft!

"Intelligent Design" is bollocks

Death is the end. Absolutely final

People are entitled to believe in what ever they want, but it is very wrong to claim a belief as fact. Whats definitly wrong is to insult people with a different belief or faith.

Mymblesson have you read The Never Ending Days of Being Dead? It's a cosmology book I read ages ago, there is a discussion in there on the theory that the universe is the creation of a computer program consisting of 8 lines of code, looped, and producing ever more complex results. I can't remember why it was 8 lines but it was a really interesting theory, although a bit hard to swallow...

Roseflower I presume you didn't read my post properly.

I said Death is the end.Absolutely final.

I meant the end of our human life on earth.
I wasn't claiming any belief as fact.
I was claiming fact as fact.
Death is the end of a Human life on Earth.

and beyond that it helps many to believe we go on to somewhere else. Whether that be Heaven, floating around the universe as matter or whatever.

I do believe in God. Am a Roman Catholic. I am also objective enough to see this is a multi sided argument.
I suppose if you are going to use soundbites from other posts perhaps read them properly first.

But I did read you post properly.

You have just added the rest on now.

erm.. yeah I know

It may seem very clever to round up all the views which conflict with your own, list them and say "look at all these people who think they have the answers." If you read what I said properly, you'll see I was very careful to point out that scientists don't claim they have all the answers - just that they go with the answers which match the existing evidence.

That's all I'd be after - the answer which best matches the existing balance of evidence.

After all, nobody would be laughed at (well, not by many) for saying "Flat Earthism is a load of rubbish", or "let's just accept there are no leprechauns, and move on", or "tealeaf-reading is for the deluded", or "let's all accept dragons are made up."

I have just enough doubt to make me believe.

Well said, Roseflower. People disagree, fine. But there's no need for all those things to have been said in such a patronising way, is there?

it is very complex, isn't it? Faith and doubt and maintaining a healthy balance.