Prayer

Originally posted by atri
PRAY IS PRAY

absolutley...well said Atri!!!

Originally posted by whodey
To be fair, there is no evidence for the existence of santa claus and the tooth fairy is there? Therefore, there is no reason to believe in them. However, if your friends say that they have reason to believe that santa and the fairys exist then perhaps it should be considered as evidence, no? Of coarse there are many other evidences other than the evidence ...[text shortened]... e question that must be answered and what drives scientists out of their minds trying to answer.

Well, how can I argue against this?
You've converted me - praise the lord, hallelujah!

But seriously, are you for real?
If a friend tells me they believe something, that's evidence? What the?
If people did something in the past, that's evidence? So, the burning of witches at the stake - a past practice - proved witches existed?
I can't believe that there are people alive today, and posting on internet forums who want to crap on about prophecies.

Now, are you telling me that god is a lifeform? That changes the whole notion of supernatural creators pretty significantly, don't you think?

As for this 'it's only a theory' bit - get over it. That's what science is.

I'm still waiting for you to demonstrate to me, any credible evidence that god is any more valid a construct than the tooth fairy or santa claus.

...

Still waiting ...

Originally posted by amannion
Well, how can I argue against this?
You've converted me - praise the lord, hallelujah!

But seriously, are you for real?
If a friend tells me they believe something, that's evidence? What the?
If people did something in the past, that's evidence? So, the burning of witches at the stake - a past practice - proved witches existed?
I can't believe that t ...[text shortened]... ore valid a construct than the tooth fairy or santa claus.

...

Still waiting ...

Why dont you look for yourself and see if you can do better than us mere chess players!!!

Originally posted by whodey
To be fair, there is no evidence for the existence of santa claus and the tooth fairy is there?

There is plenty of evidence for both of them for example, presents under the Christmas tree, pennies under the pillow etc etc.
Its just not credible evidence and there are far more rational (or parsimonious) explanations for any phenomena that I know of that has been put forward as evidence.
The exact same thing applies to God.

Of coarse there are many other evidences other than the evidence of God in our own lives. For example, there is a long rich history about men and women who worshiped the God of the Bible. This history is by in large factual as Biblical archaeology can attest.
Actually the more reputable archaeologists would attest that a significant proportion of it is not factual, a significant proportion is not confirmed and a significant proportion of it can never be determined by archaeological means anyway. To call it by and large factual as confirmed by biblical archaeologists is an outright lie on your part of the archaeologists part (I don't know which).

Just look at our own existence. How is life produced from nonliving matter? There are theories but that is all. For that matter, where did nonliving matter come from? There are theories, but that is all.
What do you mean by "that is all" and what is your point anyway? What would you prefer to have? Delusions?

Why is it such a deluded stretch to say that life on earth is not the only life in the universe?
It isn't a deluded stretch which is why many of us participate in SETI projects.

If there are other life forms, why is it such a stretch to say that another life form placed us all here?
Because:
1. There is plenty of evidence for evolution - ie we all evolved from single celled life.
2. There is no reasonable reason to believe that another life form placed that single celled life on the earth.

I know of no scientists who deny the possibility of other life forms in the universe and, in fact, if you said there were no other life forms they would probably say that that is an impossibility. If life can arise here why not over there? That is the question that must be answered and what drives scientists out of their minds trying to answer.
Which scientists do you know that has been driven out of his/her mind trying to answer that question. And why would they ask such a stupid question anyway? Why ask why life hasn't arisen somewhere else when nobody has shown that it hasn't?