Some people feel themselves so intellectually superior that they can't fathom how they might have evolved from chimps. Some (more educated) find quantum uncertainty a good way to fit a god into the universe. Still others believe their god as the cause for the big bang or for keeping the universe together in lieu of finding a "dark matter". Personally, I find my god at the center of human ignorance.
In the days of Jesus, the church ruled; earth was at the center of the universe, alchemists ran ramped, one might fall off the side of the earth if they were to sail too far, and a god might cure you of a terminal ailment if you were holey enough. Today, we know there is no center of the universe. Today, we know it is possible to create gold with the right heat and pressure. Today, we know of no possible way to fall off the edge of the earth. And today, we know that an immune system might fight off an ailment or one might die of that same ailment - no help from God.
Would it be wise for an atheist to think that science will rule out all places in the universe for a god? Not hardly. A believer will always have a reason to believe. There will always be a dark corner where wisdom and science hasn't pried for a god to lurk. And Raliens might one day have the technology to launch a ship to the far side of a commit - and if God wills it, may they return empty handed but safely to their worried loved ones.
I do see good in religion; both in present times and any future humanity might hold. Religion is a great unifier of different people. I believe that it is religion more than law that has kept civil unrest at bay in the past and may still assist in keeping the peace (and helping start wars) in the future.
I believe that this forum will help me with my writing in a couple of ways. Firstly, it will help me get the documents that I have prepared on this subject off of my computer which i think will help to better preserve them. Second, it will give me the incentive to make much needed spelling and grammar corrections to them. As I hope to present a bit more than 'fluff' - what an english teacher referred to writing that I think she would have preferred to call 'crap' - and something that people might enjoy reading versus being turned off by countless grammatical and spelling errors (as I often am when reading well thought but poorly written articles. Third, I would hope to get *thoughtful* feedback.
I think that my third incentive needs a bit definition when concerned with the loose term thoughtful. I don't expect Hubble, Dirak, Einstein, Newton, or Galileo to be reading my writing - as they're dead. Though, I doubt that Hawking, Tyson, or any other - still alive - great minds to read my work. What I would expect is that if you wish to give me feedback, you abide by a couple of 'rules', so please:
Last, the pictures on the slide show may or may not have been taken by me. Most were taken on family vacations and since we only had one (fairly) high end camera - the talented photographers that we all are - had to share. So I can't say which of these pictures I took and which I didn't (unless I was in it - and that is rare).
I think that my third incentive needs a bit definition when concerned with the loose term thoughtful. I don't expect Hubble, Dirak, Einstein, Newton, or Galileo to be reading my writing - as they're dead. Though, I doubt that Hawking, Tyson, or any other - still alive - great minds to read my work. What I would expect is that if you wish to give me feedback, you abide by a couple of 'rules', so please:
- Say more than five words - "You're an idiot" "Love your writing" - I DON'T CARE
- Unless you are pointing a unbiased and blunt untruth I have stated, take more than five minutes to think about what you are saying.
- Make your point and be done with it - don't keep reiterating a point you've already made, don't put incessant carriage returns (aka - 'enter') like a teenage chat room.
- Don't type everything big and bold, small and blending in with the background, or using all caps.
Last, the pictures on the slide show may or may not have been taken by me. Most were taken on family vacations and since we only had one (fairly) high end camera - the talented photographers that we all are - had to share. So I can't say which of these pictures I took and which I didn't (unless I was in it - and that is rare).