- While there is no proof for the existence of God, there is also no proof for the non existence of God. This leaves the possibility that God does exist. However, this says nothing about the religion that that God promotes nor the duties required by that God. Hinduism is just as likely to be true as Christianity. The cycle of reincarnation and Nirvana are just as likely has Heaven. Pascal's wager does nothing to say which god to believe in, or the outcome of that belief.
The safest thing to do is keep an open mind to all possibilities, not just those of Christianity.
- Moral dilemmas are different for different societies. The question is where do we get our morals from? Even within the branches of Christianity, there are divisions in morality. Abortion and birth control are paticularly strong dividing lines. Roman Catholics believe both of these are morally wrong in the eyes of God, while many Protestants do not see any moral problem with either of them. Can they both be correct?
- What is a sin? Different religions define sin in different ways. In ancient Greece, hubris was the major sin that was taught against. Killing a person was perfectly acceptable, and accepting the deities of different cultures was nothing odd. This differs quite significantly from that of the teachings of the 10 commandments. In Islam, it is a sin to make an image of God, and since people are created in the image of God, creating a sculpture or painting of a human is a sin. Homosexuality is considered a sin in the more orthodox religions while it is perfectly accepted in others. Can they all be right?
- Please, do not do the infinity implies god. Infinity is a mathematical construct. If you wish a deity to be a mathematical construct, thats fine. Spinoza did this, and has a very thought out view of God. Its not the most useful one, but its very thought out.
- Bah. Creationists. How does evolution not explain man? Missing links are very small populations. I would rather not have to copy the entire node that exists elsewhere. It is very good reading and pointless to replicate all that data here. Monkeys are also conscious beings, and not all that far below us at all. Personally, I'd much rather be evolved from a dolphin or a whale who seem to have far less cares in the world.
- No, there doesn't have to be an afterlife. Its nice to think that there will be something to go on to, but its not necessary. It is a carrot that is held out there as incentive for being good in this life.
- There are many works in the past that have perdictions about the future, the Bible is hardly alone. Many of these predictions have come true - there will always be earthquakes, wars and volcanoes. Comets will always be in the sky, and planetary alignments will happen. So what? Given a large enough block of data, and a function it is always possible to find the data that you're looking for. But why not the Koran? Or the works of Buddhists? These also contain predictions about the future that are just as true.
- Moral codes have very little to do with belief. Plato proposed a
very good system for life in his works that do not require belief. There are as many possible utopias as there are people. Some of these hinge upon the foundation of a higher power, others don't. I would even go so far as to say that Objectivism can provide just as much as a solution as any religious one can. While it is true that I'd rather have any potential children grow up in a different society than the one that exists now, it requires respect and open mindedness rather than strict religious belief.
- Most of the world believes in a higher power. The higher powers are not all the same. There are also multitudes of past religions that are no longer in existance today. The religion of the ancient Greeks is just as viable as any religion today, so is that of the ancient Egyptians. There is Gaiaism, Buddhism, Shintoism, the beliefs of the Native Americans, the dreamland of the Australian aborigines.
- This statement is just as true for a person who has grown up deep in the Amazon rain forests, never seeing or hearing of a person who believes in anything other than the tribal spirits as it does to a bishop. It is just as true for a person who lived in ancient Egypt and saw Ra, Osiris and Set as a person who lived in ancient Scandinavia and saw Odin, Thor, and Loki. It is also true of the atheist who sees only himself.
An atheist has a belief that there is no higher power. It is just as much a religion as any other. If you believe in 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 then you are not an atheist, and most likely to be Christian. The Islamic, Judaism, Christian family of monotheism is not the only viable religion.