Should We Thank God For Scientific Discoveries?

[headinhands]

Hello Daftme

You say we should thank god for scientific advancements. I say what makes you think they have anything to do with god?

I have no problem whatever in saying "we don't know". It is your belief that it can't be god because doesn't exist and that people (do you mean believers?) are "making stuff up".

My thinking is that I see no evidence for a god who is interested in earth. Rare stuff happens occasionally. Tsunamis, floods, conjoined twins, rare birth defects and so on. Would you attribute being born with a rare genetic defect as god's direct action?

Making stuff up alludes to humans having the propensity to fabricate stories to explain the world. Most cultures appear to do so throughout civilisation. I think the word used to describe this feature is 'patternosity'.

I would not describe making sense of the world with the knowledge available at the time as fabricatiin or making stuff up. I would call it being human.

What evidence would prove the existence of god for you?

But they still made it up though. I'm not 'making fun' of our ability to make up stories to believe in. Indeed it's part of our rich human heritage.

Which god?

Any god.

Will as its a fantastic claim then it would have to have fantastic evidence bit I think I'll have to say I don't know. If its a god who is interested in me it would have to be obvious in that way. It would have to be something that was testable and repeatable and observable by any independent witnesses. I would also want it to make it clear which god it was. I'm just guessing now.

"Curlew what evidence do you have that god doesn't exist?"

As you can't prove a negative, it's a matter of balance of probabilities.

Things we don't now about and which could be attributed to the action of God are being explained by science, and science is growing and developing all the time, and more things are being explained.

There is no provable case of God doing what he apparently said he would- no prayers answered, no miracles.

And while absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, you would have thought that there would have been at least a couple of cases over the millennia which actually caused anyone thinking rationally to pause and wonder. But there aren't.

Curlew, you said "There is absolutely no evidence for the existence of a God. There is lots of evidence that ther (sic) isn't".

Why did you say that there was lots of evidence if there is none?

Hidden can you be a bit more concrete in giving an example of something that you would consider to be proof of the existence of god?

Do you mean me when you say 'hidden' Dion? I just don't know to be honest. What would you need to be convinced of a different god to your chosen one? Or a mythical being?

Apologies Head.

"Why did you say that there was lots of evidence if there is none?"

What do you mean "none"? I would have thought the circumstantial evidence of millennia with no sigh of him actually doing any of the things he said he would do is pretty conclusive. Unless he is exists, but is either completely ineffective, completely incompetent or completely malevolent.

It's fine Dion!

Dione even

Curlew, what evidence do you want? What would convince you?

I can't answer for curlew, but for me, it would have to be the second coming. Nothing else would satisfy the scientific method.

The bible is no good as it has been cherry-picked and edited by numerous self-interested parties over the millennia. Not to mention large parts written hundreds of years after the fact.

All of this is compounded by the simple fact that since nobody has ever actually seen or spoken to god (outside of an asylum), then it's impossible to judge any evidence as we can't describe what it's actually evidence for!

Given that you accept that the bible is an unreliable source, what do you mean by the second coming and how would it satisfy the scientific method?

People who pray would say that they are speaking to god, indeed many believe that their prayers have been answered yet they are not in asylums.

Don't sweat it Head, I knew you meant me.

"Curlew, what evidence do you want? What would convince you?"

Well, a decent miracle would go some way......

The Bible describes John the Baptist leaping for joy in the womb when his pregnant mother

How? Sorry but just how?