[quote gottakeeponmovin]@stclair Christians have all been waiting for a second coming for sometime also but I still think we'd be sceptical. Jehovah's Witnesses are convinced the time is near. If he came back in a shower of rain and hellfire it would be obvious but if circumstances were exactly the same would we have faith? I think for many it would be no unless something utterly extraordinary was to occur 😀[/quote]
So are the Muslims and Jews. They are essentially all part of the same sky fairy family, just disagree over who were "prophets" or "sons of God" etc.
I would encourage anybody pondering whether any religion is "true" to consider Occam's razor, and also the impossibility of a God as conceived in most major world religions existing, given the evidence we have. Life on Earth is proof that, if there is a God, it is not omnipotent, omnipresent and benevolent. At best, if it exists, it will be two of those three things. Reality proves it is not all of them.
Omnipotent and omnipresent but not benevolent: plausible, but we are screwed and why worship it?
Omnipotent and benevolent but jot omnipresent: it may be oblivious to our prayers or suffering so again, why worship it?
Omnipresent and benevolent but not omnipotent: Nice that it cares about you and is watching I suppose (although a bit creepy) but if it can't help you then what is the point?
Omnipotent and benevolent but not omnipresent: with an entire universe to oversee, it is about as likely to notice you as you give thought to the plankton in the sea when you are on a ferry.
In short, if a small amount of logic is applied it all becomes a complete nonsense. Not to mention the inconsistencies in the Bible, the counterfactual claims re. gene pools etc...
People are entitled to believe whatever they want but to get angry when others challenge their views with a little logic, science or history is unreasonable.
The fundamental difference between science and religion is that scietists actively challange their theories and try to prove them wrong. They search for evidence and proof, positive or negative, because they are searching for knowledge. Religious people get defensive if their beliefs are challenged, even though they have less evidence for them than a newly posited scientific theory usually. If their beliefs were founded on solid ground, there would be no need for this and they would welcome the challenge and exploration of them rather than be angry about it.