Why I don't believe in God

[Boss]

Oh good grief, I'm done here. You are just ridiculous.

How have I been ridiculous? By not accepting your premise that nothing greater than self exists?

You are annoying me with your insistence that there is with nothing but "feelings" to back you up.

But there are lots of things other than feelings to back me up. I used love as an example because I figure most people can relate to what love is. Maybe I am wrong? But you've yet to define what love is or how you can measure it physically.

Signs of human spirituality are present in every human civilization we've ever unearthed. Literally billions and billions of people have given their testimonials to the power of something greater than self. Some of their accounts are quite remarkable and impressive. I can't believe they are ALL full of shit.

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

Then we should be able to give everyone a shot of dopamine and have world peace.

 

[Boss]

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

No, what you are describing is what happens physically when we experience love. The same thing happens when we connect with our spiritual nature.

 

[ChrisL]

Oh good grief, I'm done here. You are just ridiculous.

How have I been ridiculous? By not accepting your premise that nothing greater than self exists?

I'm sorry for saying that. You have been quite civil, and I apologize for that "ridiculous" comment. It is your insistence that there is something more to these "feelings" than them simply just being "feelings" that I find to be just a little bit aggravating.

I agree that it can seem very aggravating when someone presents an argument you can't defeat or when your arguments are defeated by fact of reality. You say you feel "thankful" but you can't explain this feeling in any fundamental way. You say you feel "love" but you can't explain what causes the feeling or what quantifies it physically. That must be very frustrating for you, I totally get that.

I've just been trying to get you to understand that there is something greater than self and it doesn't need to be defined by a religious belief or deity. It's inherent human nature and what makes us human. Can you deny that you have an inner spirit of self? The essence of who you are as a human being? If you can, I think you're in complete denial of reality. We all have it whether we believe in a God or not... it's part of who we are.

But you don't present a good argument. You only THINK you do. That is what is so annoying. Lol. Inner spirit of self? What does that mean? A personality? That is due to my life experiences, how I was raised, etc.

 

[anotherlife]

That's what I'm wondering too. I've never heard anyone use that term in such a context before.

It's a scare tactic. He's trying to put the fear of God in us.

But that's not how convincing someone something is true should work. You should be able to rationally be able to convince me your God exists without resorting to scare me with the fear of hell or that not believing will prevent you from going to heaven.

This tactic might work on them but not me. If you can't prove your God is real fuck you and your fake ass God.

I would have been a fear factor champion because apparently fear is not a factor for me

It is amazing what becomes of a post when you lose it. Looks like this time it gained fear tactics. But no, the question is not moral or morality. The question is who if not God can give place to everything destroyed. It is also possible to argue that existence stops at the point of destruction. However in this case, does existence come out of nothing at the point of creation? And what is the point of creation if we assume no God?

What is our purpose? Maybe there is no purpose? What was the purpose of dinosaurs or the trilobites who ruled the planet before them? If we destroy ourselves and cockroaches rule the planet after we are gone, what is their purpose?

And when our solar system dies, what was the purpose?

And what about your great x 1000 grandparents?

I will be working a soup kitchen tomorrow. I'm making my life have purpose.

I don't really understand the purpose aspect of it. I think the loss aspect of it is more interesting. When someone kills you, you go off the grid. Based on your example, the visitors eating at the soup kitchen are one step before the next stage of drifting off the grid. I think the important part is that the drift accelerates more when we want to slow it down. So it does depend on us and it does have a deterministic pattern. Moreover we are not only at the receiving end of it but the very cause of it too. So the question remains valid, what/who runs the pattern?

I think some people have a difficult time with the fact that things happen randomly to random people. It is not a punishment from a god or gods. Good people, bad people, religious people, non-religious people. It really doesn't seem to matter. They have a hard time accepting that there may be no "higher purpose" and that perhaps nothing exists after death. I think fear of the unknown and the urge to try and explain things is another factor on why religion exists. Besides different gods and small differences in different religious beliefs throughout time, they all seem to be based on pretty much the same things. Man trying to explain things he doesn't understand and fears.

I think the problem is that all the religions and syfy stories don't eliminate the question, even if we decide that they are all wrong. This is not random, and keeps being a problem. Our process towards and through the destruction of neighbors and ourselves requires analysis, because it appears that that is what makes it bad both before and during the destruction. Some mystery, like a homework, where you get a real beating if not doing it.

What question is that? If there is a god or a heaven/hell?

That's only a part of it. The process of destruction / getting destroyed is the actually observable impact. Many people seem immune from it, but what is the collateral of that. Dismissing it would be valid if we could control ourselves about it, but it is most likely safe to say that nobody can achieve that. What I observe is that most people first cause the destruction of other things / people before they complete their own destruction if at all. So everyone seems a part of it.

 

[ChrisL]

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

No, what you are describing is what happens physically when we experience love. The same thing happens when we connect with our spiritual nature.

That is not what science says.

The science of love

 

[ChrisL]

Oh good grief, I'm done here. You are just ridiculous.

How have I been ridiculous? By not accepting your premise that nothing greater than self exists?

You are annoying me with your insistence that there is with nothing but "feelings" to back you up.

But there are lots of things other than feelings to back me up. I used love as an example because I figure most people can relate to what love is. Maybe I am wrong? But you've yet to define what love is or how you can measure it physically.

Signs of human spirituality are present in every human civilization we've ever unearthed. Literally billions and billions of people have given their testimonials to the power of something greater than self. Some of their accounts are quite remarkable and impressive. I can't believe they are ALL full of shit.

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

Then we should be able to give everyone a shot of dopamine and have world peace.

Lol. It's not that simple.

 

[Boss]

Chris... I look at your picture and I see an attractive woman who cares about her appearance to others. I listen to your views and see someone who has compassion and is passionate in her beliefs. I don't believe you are without a spirit because it shows in your appearance and demeanor. God doesn't make junk.

You are just lost right now and I understand that. I was lost as well for a long time. I'm not trying to "convert" you to some religious belief, just to get you to realize you have a spirit and it's important to recognize it. Failure to nurture your spirit is a death sentence.

It's OKAY to thank God for your blessings. It doesn't mean you're suddenly going to start reciting Bible verses and fall on the floor in spasms speaking in tongues. You can certainly be a spiritual person without being religious, I am a living example. If I knew you personally, we'd get into all kinds of trouble together, I'd rock your little world with debauchery in every way you can imagine. Spiritually-connected people can be very sensual.

 

[Boss]

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

No, what you are describing is what happens physically when we experience love. The same thing happens when we connect with our spiritual nature.

That is not what science says.

The science of love

Everything at that link is showing me what happens physically when we experience love. It does not tell me the source of the love.

 

[Boss]

How have I been ridiculous? By not accepting your premise that nothing greater than self exists?

You are annoying me with your insistence that there is with nothing but "feelings" to back you up.

But there are lots of things other than feelings to back me up. I used love as an example because I figure most people can relate to what love is. Maybe I am wrong? But you've yet to define what love is or how you can measure it physically.

Signs of human spirituality are present in every human civilization we've ever unearthed. Literally billions and billions of people have given their testimonials to the power of something greater than self. Some of their accounts are quite remarkable and impressive. I can't believe they are ALL full of shit.

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

Then we should be able to give everyone a shot of dopamine and have world peace.

Lol. It's not that simple.

It should be if what you said is true. If dopamine is the key, we should be able to inject everyone with dopamine and everyone would have love and happiness. Obviously, it isn't that simple.

 

[ChrisL]

You are annoying me with your insistence that there is with nothing but "feelings" to back you up.

But there are lots of things other than feelings to back me up. I used love as an example because I figure most people can relate to what love is. Maybe I am wrong? But you've yet to define what love is or how you can measure it physically.

Signs of human spirituality are present in every human civilization we've ever unearthed. Literally billions and billions of people have given their testimonials to the power of something greater than self. Some of their accounts are quite remarkable and impressive. I can't believe they are ALL full of shit.

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

Then we should be able to give everyone a shot of dopamine and have world peace.

Lol. It's not that simple.

It should be if what you said is true. If dopamine is the key, we should be able to inject everyone with dopamine and everyone would have love and happiness. Obviously, it isn't that simple.

There are a bunch of chemicals and receptors and other structures that all work together. Sometimes, they don't function right which is what we refer to as a "chemical imbalance."

 

[ChrisL]

Chris... I look at your picture and I see an attractive woman who cares about her appearance to others. I listen to your views and see someone who has compassion and is passionate in her beliefs. I don't believe you are without a spirit because it shows in your appearance and demeanor. God doesn't make junk.

You are just lost right now and I understand that. I was lost as well for a long time. I'm not trying to "convert" you to some religious belief, just to get you to realize you have a spirit and it's important to recognize it. Failure to nurture your spirit is a death sentence.

It's OKAY to thank God for your blessings. It doesn't mean you're suddenly going to start reciting Bible verses and fall on the floor in spasms speaking in tongues. You can certainly be a spiritual person without being religious, I am a living example. If I knew you personally, we'd get into all kinds of trouble together, I'd rock your little world with debauchery in every way you can imagine. Spiritually-connected people can be very sensual.

Well gee, thanks! Lol!

I'm just not sure that you can have "spirituality" without accompanying supernatural type of belief system. I do certainly make a connection between spirituality and religious beliefs, so maybe you're right. I'm really not sure what "spirituality" really is though. I mostly think my feelings are just due to my being human and having a brain that is capable of producing intense feelings and emotions, probably for a variety of different reasons.

 

[Boss]

There are a bunch of chemicals and receptors and other structures that all work together. Sometimes, they don't function right which is what we refer to as a "chemical imbalance."

I understand all of that, Chris. It doesn't explain were love comes from. You are describing physical reactions to experiencing love... no argument there. If anything, it is physical evidence that our spirituality is not some imaginary thing we invented but a real tangible thing that is inherent and part of our nature.

 

[Boss]

Chris... I look at your picture and I see an attractive woman who cares about her appearance to others. I listen to your views and see someone who has compassion and is passionate in her beliefs. I don't believe you are without a spirit because it shows in your appearance and demeanor. God doesn't make junk.

You are just lost right now and I understand that. I was lost as well for a long time. I'm not trying to "convert" you to some religious belief, just to get you to realize you have a spirit and it's important to recognize it. Failure to nurture your spirit is a death sentence.

It's OKAY to thank God for your blessings. It doesn't mean you're suddenly going to start reciting Bible verses and fall on the floor in spasms speaking in tongues. You can certainly be a spiritual person without being religious, I am a living example. If I knew you personally, we'd get into all kinds of trouble together, I'd rock your little world with debauchery in every way you can imagine. Spiritually-connected people can be very sensual.

Well gee, thanks! Lol!

I'm just not sure that you can have "spirituality" without accompanying supernatural type of belief system. I do certainly make a connection between spirituality and religious beliefs, so maybe you're right. I'm really not sure what "spirituality" really is though. I mostly think my feelings are just due to my being human and having a brain that is capable of producing intense feelings and emotions, probably for a variety of different reasons.

But it's not supernatural if it's a fundamental part of our nature. It's very much natural. I don't believe in supernatural things either. That's why I can't believe that anything other than spiritual nature created a physical universe.

 

[PostmodernProph]

You can be thankful that your family is happy and healthy, that your job is going well, all that kind of stuff. I feel very thankful for a relatively warm day in November, living in the northeast.

thankful to your family for being healthy?......thankful to your boss for your job (did you call and tell him you were thankful?.......Did you thank the sun for shining on you and the wind for not blowing hard?......you don't seem to have a handle on how this works......

I don't have to thank anyone in particular to feel thankful.

'thank' is a verb that always has an object.......

 

[PostmodernProph]

I would wish you Happy Thanksgiving but I don't have a clue who you would be thanking......

Thankful for my life, my family and friends, my health, my success in life, intelligence, the time I got on this earth.

Thankful for the food on the table, etc. Do you think only Christians and Muslims and Jews can celebrate Thanksgiving? And I've heard many a "I'm thankful for" speeches and no one ever says god. They are always thankful for the real tangible or physical things they have.

Thankful to whom?

You don't have to be thankful to anyone. You can just be thankful that things are going well.

What do you mean??? Thankful to WHO? Yourself?

You can feel thankful for what you have. You don't have to be thankful towards anyone. Don't you understand that? Sad.

irrational.......you can feel happy......you can even feel tickled pink......but you cannot feel "thankful" without someone to feel "thankful" to.......

 

[PostmodernProph]

I just accept things the way they are.

lol.....as do I......however, I believe the way things are included a God.....

 

[PostmodernProph]

Oh good grief, I'm done here. You are just ridiculous.

???....what specifically in what he said do you find ridiculous?.....

 

[ChrisL]

Thankful for my life, my family and friends, my health, my success in life, intelligence, the time I got on this earth.

Thankful for the food on the table, etc. Do you think only Christians and Muslims and Jews can celebrate Thanksgiving? And I've heard many a "I'm thankful for" speeches and no one ever says god. They are always thankful for the real tangible or physical things they have.

Thankful to whom?

You don't have to be thankful to anyone. You can just be thankful that things are going well.

What do you mean??? Thankful to WHO? Yourself?

You can feel thankful for what you have. You don't have to be thankful towards anyone. Don't you understand that? Sad.

irrational.......you can feel happy......you can even feel tickled pink......but you cannot feel "thankful" without someone to feel "thankful" to.......

Well, I do. I'm thankful to be alive and to have my good health. I'm thankful for lots of things. I realize that a lot of people have it a lot worse than I do, so that makes me feel thankful. I don't think that's by some "design" by god. I think there are plenty of good people who live not so good lives probably in other countries or whatever, so I certainly don't think it's because I am "blessed" in any way. I am lucky compared to some is all.

 

[ChrisL]

Oh good grief, I'm done here. You are just ridiculous.

???....what specifically in what he said do you find ridiculous?.....

I already talked about that with the poster to whom it was addressed.

 

[PostmodernProph]

Oh good grief, I'm done here. You are just ridiculous.

How have I been ridiculous? By not accepting your premise that nothing greater than self exists?

You are annoying me with your insistence that there is with nothing but "feelings" to back you up.

But there are lots of things other than feelings to back me up. I used love as an example because I figure most people can relate to what love is. Maybe I am wrong? But you've yet to define what love is or how you can measure it physically.

Signs of human spirituality are present in every human civilization we've ever unearthed. Literally billions and billions of people have given their testimonials to the power of something greater than self. Some of their accounts are quite remarkable and impressive. I can't believe they are ALL full of shit.

Love is an emotion due to dopamine and pleasure receptors in your brain.

so, by administering dopamine we can cause "love"?......