Subject:
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Re: The Brick Testament parts the Red Sea
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 20 Dec 2002 19:50:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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2069 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Nathan Todd writes:
> >
> > SNIP of unprecedented preportions.
> >
> > Since this debate has almost trailed off and I don't forsee either
> > side convincing the other I'll just say one last thing.
> >
> > I think the greatest proof of God's existence, and love, are the
> > millions of people that believe in him.
>
> Hmm... If popular opinion is all that's required to establish "proof" of
> a metaphysical entity's existence, then I'd say that the Christian God had
> better watch over His Shoulder. According to one set of statistics,
> Christianity can lay claim to 1.9 billion adherents, but right behind it is
> Islam with 1.3 billion and Hinduism with 900 million.
>
> http://www.beliefnet.com/story/88/story_8830_1.html
Furthermore, if number-of-followers is all that determines a deity's
existance, than one must acknowledge the probability that the "Christian
God" will be facing extinction in the near future. The nations that are
Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist (not in the article above presumably because it
is more a philosophy than a religion) include the world's most populous and
also fastest growing nations.
Regardless of all that though, the notion that a supernatural thing is real
simply because enough people believe is clearly not scientific. Based on
that sort of thinking, are we to say that the world really was flat during
the Dark Ages and it magically became round later on? Are we to say that
the universe actually revolved around the Earth until Copernicus suggested
otherwise? You, know, I always believed that the world was actually in
shades gray until World War II, since all the photos of before that tend to
be black and white.
I'll be honest, a part of me has always hoped that belief and faith could be
a powerful force that could actually impact reality in ways science could
not explain. However, if this were true, then that implies that *people*
have influence over the existance of God and/or the universe. This would
mean that *people* are actually capable of being more powerful than the
all-powerful, a condition that in-itself would disprove the existance of any
such all-powerful being (since nothing can be more powerful than
all-powerful). ...Reminds me a little of the movie Dogma...
I am not saying I don't believe in God, but I am saying that mere belief
does not dictate truth.
-Hendo
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: The Brick Testament parts the Red Sea
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| (...) Some VERY good science fiction has been done using that notion (that reality is mutable, based on beliefs of the observers) or similar ones (in particular I always enjoy a re-read of _The Practice Effect_ by David Brin)... (...) what about (...) (22 years ago, 20-Dec-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: The Brick Testament parts the Red Sea
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| (...) Hmm... If popular opinion is all that's required to establish "proof" of a metaphysical entity's existence, then I'd say that the Christian God had better watch over His Shoulder. According to one set of statistics, Christianity can lay claim (...) (22 years ago, 20-Dec-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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