If there is no God, then there is no such thing as Truth. If there is no ultimate truth (or falsehood!) then any searching for it is at best a waste of time. Then you have only data. You have nothing to give rise to science, except as data-gathering. But behind the data, there's no plan, no design, nothing to know. It's all just chance.
If there is no God, then there is no such thing as anything being good or bad. You may still have emotions, but they are entirely subjective; you cannot really experience anything as intrinsically good or bad, or as valuable or significant or meaningful. You moreover have no scale against which to recognize morality or immorality.
There's really nothing to think, nothing to know, nothing to feel, nothing to experience, so what's left? An infinite (maybe) void.
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Psalm 19:1-4
6 comments:
I do not like that cancer exists. I do not like that murder happens or that people die or that there are millions of children around the world who die for want of bread and water. That does not mean it is not fact. When we were children we deeply wanted Santa to be real, because without him Christmas is just gifts that mom and dad can (or cannot) afford. We all grow up, we all have to let go. Just because you do not like a truth does not mean that truth is not legitimate.
If all of mankind was destroyed today, religion would never be discovered in the same way. There would be no Jesus, no Muhammad, no Buddha; Science is an absolute truth that would be discovered exactly as it is again and again. That is truth, and you can be brave enough to accept this.
Just because you do not like a truth does not mean that truth is not legitimate.
I agree. A lot of people do not like the truth of God. For one thing, if God exists, then we need to order our lives accordingly, and well, there's a challenge!
If mankind ceased to exist today, God would still exist, and the natural world would still exist. Religion might not because there wouldn't be anybody left to believe or practice it, unless the angels in heaven and/or the saints in heaven, but presumably they no longer need that thing we call "religion". But neither would science still exist, and for the same reason: there wouldn't be any scientists left, unless those in heaven, who presumably no longer need it. Only people do science. No people, no science.
Two and two would still equal four and pi would never become a rational number, but then the question would be a great big, "So what?"
Where did you get the idea that there is no truth without God? It's a statement that requires some backup, and also a given definition of truth... are you talking about some particular, absolute truth (such as, Sheila went to Temple on Wednesday) or another kind of truth-- a relative one, that relies on perspective? Platonic truth???
Your thinking here is not clear, and it begs many questions.
Example: In a response to another commenter, you say that IF God exists, we must order our lives accordingly.
According to what? If God does exist, that does not instantly mean that your specific ideas about God are true. One does not follow automatically from the other.
You see what I mean here? Your statements are general and assume quite a bit. I would recommend a course in basic logic, and then you may be better able to support your statements. I see you want to say something to the world and that's fine, but to have meaning, your message needs clarity and a little more to it than your personal predjudices.
I'm an atheist, and I don't see the world as deadened-- far from it! I enjoy all of nature's many sides and live as well and as helpfully as I can... and that's been true of all the atheists/humanists I've known, and there are many.
Peace, Mari
The truth I'm referring to is, as mentioned, ultimate truth. What I mean is that without God, there is no absolute truth, or no all-encompassing truth.
So Sheila went to Temple on Wednesday and you saw her there and spoke with her and shook her hand or hugged her. Those are all *perceptions*. Then in addition to those, you have that inner something that assures you you weren't dreaming or hallucinating. Everybody is born with some capacity to discern some truth, but as we know, it's imperfect and incomplete truth. Everybody's "truth" is different. So what's the real truth, as it were, and the full truth? We don't know, but we all want to, which is why we have science and religion and philosophy. My point is that if God doesn't exist, there's no use looking because there's no such thing as any all-encompassing, absolute, "real truth". There are only data.
In the context of my comment to Paige, it doesn't matter *which* deity or what ideas about him/her/it may apply. If you accept to believe in *any* god, doesn't it behoove you to take him/her/it into account in deciding how to conduct your life? Shouldn't you, like, at least try not to displease that God? And if it's a creator god, isn't some thanks and respect and awe due to this deity? That's what I meant by ordering your life accordingly. Any god you accept as real you just can't simply ignore.
P.S. But more than that, I meant concerning the True God, the One who raised Jesus from the tomb, He takes a great interest in your your reaching your full potential, in achieving the destiny for which He created you, and ordering your life according to THAT is a real challenge!
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