by tatterdemalion on Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:04 am
Boy o boy.
I am a major atheist. In principle I understand that we can't prove or disprove the existence of a god, but it's my opinion that all grounds for believing in God are inadequate.
If I said, "I can repair broken glass just by looking at it", you wouldn't believe me unless I showed you. So why should I believe in a high, unknowable power watching over me and judging me, without ANY evidence to back it up? The clever trick to God is, there's no way of proving he's there, because he doesn't have a physical body and he can do anything and he demands absolute faith, not reason, of his followers. There's no way to disprove the existence of something if it is, by its very nature, utterly intangible. Sneaky.
I struggle with the intensity of my convictions because I know I'm prejudiced, but sometimes people who believe in a god make me angry. A sick man on TV today said of a medical breakthrough, "It's a gift from God." That's right, it was God who invented the treatment, just to save your life. No! It was a group of scientists! Give humanity some credit for its own achievement.
I rant a lot when it comes to religion. I'm a Dawkins fan and not afraid to be blunt about my opinions. But I'll leave it there because I'm probably being incoherent.