About a week ago I read a blog posted by Greta Christina titled "Top10 Reason's I don't believe in God." It caught my eye because it seemed like it would really challenge my faith and make me search for answers. At first glance, it looked like she put some time in to really think about these Top 10 reason's and I thought they would make a great deal of sense to me, but after reading the entire article with an objective point of view, I really wasn't impressed. With the number of people she has following her, and the effort that was put into the blog I really thought it was going to be game changing and that I would not have an answer for her top reasons. From what I take from her comments she seems to be misinformed and didn't do as much homework as she could have to get her theology and logic correct. But that is my opinion and I could be wrong.
But, it almost seemed as if she took someone else's ideas and tried to elaborate on them herself to make the point on why God doesn't exist. The biggest thing I noticed when I first started reading the article was that she capitalized God throughout the entire post. Most articles that I read from other atheists, they don't capitalize God because that would suggest He is a higher power, thus making it a true noun. That was the first puzzling thing to me when I started reading the article, wasn't sure if it was an honest mistake or if it meant something else, but that's neither here nor there.
But, it almost seemed as if she took someone else's ideas and tried to elaborate on them herself to make the point on why God doesn't exist. The biggest thing I noticed when I first started reading the article was that she capitalized God throughout the entire post. Most articles that I read from other atheists, they don't capitalize God because that would suggest He is a higher power, thus making it a true noun. That was the first puzzling thing to me when I started reading the article, wasn't sure if it was an honest mistake or if it meant something else, but that's neither here nor there.
Greta started her blog off with her #1 reason being: The consistent replacement of supernatural explanations of the world with natural ones. She references that in the past religious people often explained sickness, astronomy, and life all due to some supernatural event, while science now has proven that all of these things have happened due to a certain scientific explanations and by no means are supernatural. What she failed to address is the fact that most of the things she referenced or used as analogies was bad theology and human error in the past.
Nowhere in the bible does it state that the sun revolves around the earth, people in the past thought this because they thought humans were so special that’s how the universe ought to work. But this thought is not biblical nor correct based on science and their observations. The fact that people were killed for thinking otherwise just shows how sinful and jacked up we are as humans. God’s name has been used to do a lot of good in this world, but it was been equally used to do a lot of bad thing as well.
To address the illness and life issue, yes science has proven that bacteria and viruses cause illness but how can she conclude that God doesn’t use that method to infect people? What is more interesting to me and completely erases her first reason is that science isn’t always right either. Science thinks they know something and then they change their minds again. So to say science is the end all to religion is just another way of saying I don’t believe just because I choose not to believe. Even if you do agree that science is right and perfect, scientist say that the universe arose from nothing…before the universe sprung into existence from its infinitely small point, nothing existed before that.
Isn’t that the exact same thing the bible says? God (Jesus) created the universe from nothing, then said let there be light, created land and water, created the sky, then animals, and then people. Now if we use scientists explanation of the start of the universe it goes something like this: the big bang created the universe out of nothing, 360,000 years later or so light shown through the dense mass of the universe, the earth was formed through collisions of rock and minerals while water was brought to the earth by comets, life evolved creating animals, which from a certain species humans arose. This almost sounds exactly like the bible but proven by science…hmmm? I do believe the bible was written before we ever knew of these theories?
She also states that she has not been provided evidence that God even exists, this is why she doesn’t believe in God. When you look out at the universe and think we are here by mere chance with the complex organisms, life, plants, and everything else, and so far we have found no evidence that this happens anywhere else, something has to be control? Scientists say that life should be common in the universe, but we have no radio signals, no visits, and no proof so how can we assume that life is common? All of these things point to a higher power, but because we are human and think we are mighty and we put ourselves, our logic, and pride before the true Creator. The original sin wasn’t only that we disobeyed God, it was that we thought we knew better than Him. Sounds like a repeating theme?
Greta’s next point is: The inconsistency of world religions. This point is difficult to refute because she is right, the different world religions all don’t match up perfectly and they all think they are right, even to their death. But this can also be explained if you were to do your homework on all the major world religions. I am no theological scholar and don’t proclaim I have the answers to everything, but these are my own opinions based on the knowledge I have obtain from my life and readings. From the most basic point of all world religions they do match. At the most basic form you have religions that say do good and in the end you will meet your creator. From there the religions begin to differ due to different interpretations. Of the three major world religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) they all have the exact same foundation. It’s the human interpretation that has caused the differences in acknowledging certain prophets and messiahs.
I don’t know enough about Hindu and Buddhism to understand why they differ so much, so I won’t take a stab on why they don’t match. The reason there is disagreement from who we think God is, is because God is mysterious beyond our comprehension. Greta says that if God did exist He would be more powerful and greater with more effect in the world. I don’t know if she knows it but He is powerful and great. Not sure if I know of anyone that created a universe from nothing. Not sure if I know of anyone that parted a sea. To me that’s power and greatness. God does affect our lives every day, but you just don’t see it. Everything happens just like God intended it to happen. All this bad in the world isn’t because God is doing it, it’s because we have become our own god’s and committed these terrible atrocities to ourselves. Remember in the absence of God comes evil. Greta know that you not believing was known before you were even born, and whatever outcome comes in your life it is what God willed it to be and not yours. To me, that is influence!
The final point I will talk about in this three part blog is Greta’s third point: The weakness of religious arguments, explanations, and apologetics. To me, this is a weak argument in itself that I will spend little time on explaining my point of view. When people talk of a mother’s intuition or a connection between twins, not many people question the theory. When we hear about a mother who has something happen to a child while away, and she is reported to have a sick feeling or thought, that’s okay. But we religious people are asked how do you know there is a God, and some say I feel it in my heart, mind, and soul He’s real, we don’t accept it? Sounds like a double standard because it’s dealing with the supernatural. It’s okay to believe the intuition because there is a cause and effect that we can measure it, but when the cause can’t be measured we become skeptical. But maybe we can measure the cause and effect with science?
I read an article posted on either the New York Times or some major newspaper about 6 months ago and it talked about the God gene. The God gene was describe as a sequence in our DNA and also found in the brain, that when the scientist asked religious people to pray or think about God a certain part of their brain became active. When the same was asked of non-religious people, that part of the brain would not activate. This was also found in there DNA, people who were non-religious did not have a certain sequence in their genes, but those who were religious did.
Now, I am not saying this is 100% accurate, but it makes things interesting because the scientist conducting the survey was an atheist and was hoping to show nothing happens or no difference. So this isn’t some subjective study being conducted in religion's favor. You could say that gene sequence just makes people apt to believe in religion although it may not be true, and point well taken. But they tested this with non-religious beings, and found these regions only activated when thinking about God not a superhero or a random mystical being.
In closing, faith is a feeling of certainty of what you cannot see. To ask a child why he thinks his dad is superman is all based on the faith about his dad, so in essence he will say yes my dad is superman. It doesn’t make him right because he feels that way, but in that kids heart his dad is superman to him. It’s the same for religion, you may not think it’s right but it’s a feeling that those who believe feel. Many who grow up in religion often lose it, and many who grow up without religion find it, so you can’t say that it’s what we’ve been made to believe through culture.. It’s an intuition that us believers share and until you feel and understand it you cannot comprehend it.
Greta I noticed on your blog that you mention you are a lesbian and are happy with your significant other. Now you would expect that I would bash you for being a lesbian but there is no use for that, Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? But the feeling you have for your significant other is special and no one else can tell you it’s wrong, even though she’s a female? How can you sit and say that is what you feel in your heart is right for your relationship, but others cannot do the same for God? If we go by your logic then you really don’t love your spouse, because if the "feeling" in your heart means nothing, there is not love there at all.
To Glory always be to the Lord!!
End of Part 1 - Here's the link just in case any of you want to read her blog.
http://www.alternet.org/belief/154774/the_top_10_reasons_i_don't_believe_in_god?page=entire
Nowhere in the bible does it state that the sun revolves around the earth, people in the past thought this because they thought humans were so special that’s how the universe ought to work. But this thought is not biblical nor correct based on science and their observations. The fact that people were killed for thinking otherwise just shows how sinful and jacked up we are as humans. God’s name has been used to do a lot of good in this world, but it was been equally used to do a lot of bad thing as well.
To address the illness and life issue, yes science has proven that bacteria and viruses cause illness but how can she conclude that God doesn’t use that method to infect people? What is more interesting to me and completely erases her first reason is that science isn’t always right either. Science thinks they know something and then they change their minds again. So to say science is the end all to religion is just another way of saying I don’t believe just because I choose not to believe. Even if you do agree that science is right and perfect, scientist say that the universe arose from nothing…before the universe sprung into existence from its infinitely small point, nothing existed before that.
Isn’t that the exact same thing the bible says? God (Jesus) created the universe from nothing, then said let there be light, created land and water, created the sky, then animals, and then people. Now if we use scientists explanation of the start of the universe it goes something like this: the big bang created the universe out of nothing, 360,000 years later or so light shown through the dense mass of the universe, the earth was formed through collisions of rock and minerals while water was brought to the earth by comets, life evolved creating animals, which from a certain species humans arose. This almost sounds exactly like the bible but proven by science…hmmm? I do believe the bible was written before we ever knew of these theories?
She also states that she has not been provided evidence that God even exists, this is why she doesn’t believe in God. When you look out at the universe and think we are here by mere chance with the complex organisms, life, plants, and everything else, and so far we have found no evidence that this happens anywhere else, something has to be control? Scientists say that life should be common in the universe, but we have no radio signals, no visits, and no proof so how can we assume that life is common? All of these things point to a higher power, but because we are human and think we are mighty and we put ourselves, our logic, and pride before the true Creator. The original sin wasn’t only that we disobeyed God, it was that we thought we knew better than Him. Sounds like a repeating theme?
Greta’s next point is: The inconsistency of world religions. This point is difficult to refute because she is right, the different world religions all don’t match up perfectly and they all think they are right, even to their death. But this can also be explained if you were to do your homework on all the major world religions. I am no theological scholar and don’t proclaim I have the answers to everything, but these are my own opinions based on the knowledge I have obtain from my life and readings. From the most basic point of all world religions they do match. At the most basic form you have religions that say do good and in the end you will meet your creator. From there the religions begin to differ due to different interpretations. Of the three major world religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) they all have the exact same foundation. It’s the human interpretation that has caused the differences in acknowledging certain prophets and messiahs.
I don’t know enough about Hindu and Buddhism to understand why they differ so much, so I won’t take a stab on why they don’t match. The reason there is disagreement from who we think God is, is because God is mysterious beyond our comprehension. Greta says that if God did exist He would be more powerful and greater with more effect in the world. I don’t know if she knows it but He is powerful and great. Not sure if I know of anyone that created a universe from nothing. Not sure if I know of anyone that parted a sea. To me that’s power and greatness. God does affect our lives every day, but you just don’t see it. Everything happens just like God intended it to happen. All this bad in the world isn’t because God is doing it, it’s because we have become our own god’s and committed these terrible atrocities to ourselves. Remember in the absence of God comes evil. Greta know that you not believing was known before you were even born, and whatever outcome comes in your life it is what God willed it to be and not yours. To me, that is influence!
The final point I will talk about in this three part blog is Greta’s third point: The weakness of religious arguments, explanations, and apologetics. To me, this is a weak argument in itself that I will spend little time on explaining my point of view. When people talk of a mother’s intuition or a connection between twins, not many people question the theory. When we hear about a mother who has something happen to a child while away, and she is reported to have a sick feeling or thought, that’s okay. But we religious people are asked how do you know there is a God, and some say I feel it in my heart, mind, and soul He’s real, we don’t accept it? Sounds like a double standard because it’s dealing with the supernatural. It’s okay to believe the intuition because there is a cause and effect that we can measure it, but when the cause can’t be measured we become skeptical. But maybe we can measure the cause and effect with science?
I read an article posted on either the New York Times or some major newspaper about 6 months ago and it talked about the God gene. The God gene was describe as a sequence in our DNA and also found in the brain, that when the scientist asked religious people to pray or think about God a certain part of their brain became active. When the same was asked of non-religious people, that part of the brain would not activate. This was also found in there DNA, people who were non-religious did not have a certain sequence in their genes, but those who were religious did.
Now, I am not saying this is 100% accurate, but it makes things interesting because the scientist conducting the survey was an atheist and was hoping to show nothing happens or no difference. So this isn’t some subjective study being conducted in religion's favor. You could say that gene sequence just makes people apt to believe in religion although it may not be true, and point well taken. But they tested this with non-religious beings, and found these regions only activated when thinking about God not a superhero or a random mystical being.
In closing, faith is a feeling of certainty of what you cannot see. To ask a child why he thinks his dad is superman is all based on the faith about his dad, so in essence he will say yes my dad is superman. It doesn’t make him right because he feels that way, but in that kids heart his dad is superman to him. It’s the same for religion, you may not think it’s right but it’s a feeling that those who believe feel. Many who grow up in religion often lose it, and many who grow up without religion find it, so you can’t say that it’s what we’ve been made to believe through culture.. It’s an intuition that us believers share and until you feel and understand it you cannot comprehend it.
Greta I noticed on your blog that you mention you are a lesbian and are happy with your significant other. Now you would expect that I would bash you for being a lesbian but there is no use for that, Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? But the feeling you have for your significant other is special and no one else can tell you it’s wrong, even though she’s a female? How can you sit and say that is what you feel in your heart is right for your relationship, but others cannot do the same for God? If we go by your logic then you really don’t love your spouse, because if the "feeling" in your heart means nothing, there is not love there at all.
To Glory always be to the Lord!!
End of Part 1 - Here's the link just in case any of you want to read her blog.
http://www.alternet.org/belief/154774/the_top_10_reasons_i_don't_believe_in_god?page=entire
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