the religion of peace

[expat]

You're correct, the whole basis of my argument is that I believe this is probably too complex a system to have emerged accidentally. Even if the apparent complexity is actually based on a set of simple rules, from where did those simple rules arise? I don't know the answer to that, it just leaves me with enough doubt to believe something else is at play.

If you persist in a continual "but where did that come from?" riposte to every explanation, then you set yourself up for a way of thinking that can only lead to one of two viewpoints:
1. that of theoretical physics, always trying to find out more about how the universe works, in the belief that as long as you have something that you can't (yet) explain, you can always try more to explain it.
2. the belief that ultimately you don't know where things came from. So it must have been just "created". Therefore there must be a god.

In a way, you arrive at your answer because you insist on looking at the question that way.

[EternalOptimist]

If you persist in a continual "but where did that come from?" riposte to every explanation, then you set yourself up for a way of thinking that can only lead to one of two viewpoints:
1. that of theoretical physics, always trying to find out more about how the universe works, in the belief that as long as you have something that you can't (yet) explain, you can always try more to explain it.
2. the belief that ultimately you don't know where things came from. So it must have been just "created". Therefore there must be a god.

In a way, you arrive at your answer because you insist on looking at the question that way.

a child can destroy the most sophisticated philosophy just by 'why?' four or five times on the run

[Ravello]

I hope there is no proof that god exists or does not exist.

It would take away the whole point of faith.

But in the context of religion, and ignoring whether a God does or does not truly exist; what is the benefit of faith alone?

[DocP]

There is no God. The best evidence offered for god is that you can't prove it's non existence. Rather like the flying teapot (quote).

Let's deal with it and move on.

[EternalOptimist]

But in the context of religion, and ignoring whether a God does or does not truly exist; what is the benefit of faith alone?

it comes in handy for the soil transportation business

apparently

[cailin maith]

There is no God. The best evidence offered for god is that you can't prove it's non existence. Rather like the flying teapot (quote).

Let's deal with it and move on.

Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

[landl]

Ahhh, but that's where the humility bit comes in...

So you assume a creator of the initial simple rules?
But that only complicates things further and doesn't help you because you have to ask who created the extremely complicated creator who created the simple rules (and the rules he/she/it lives by).

...if there is a God, he/she/it would have to have always existed. That's a difficult thing for us as mortal humans to accept, because it means someone else is further up the pecking order than we are.

Just as difficult a concept to live with as the idea that a big bang happened from nothing that an atheist has to accept. Science is able to explain the processes to the tiniest detail to billionths of a second from the creation of the universe, but I've never heard an adequate explanation for where the matter/particles/whatever substance required to initiate the explosion would have come. Science is able to explain and verify things that exist through experimentation, but what experiment can possible be performed that would demonstrate the spontaneous springing into existence of a particle from nothingness?

[Ravello]

it comes in handy for the soil transportation business

apparently

The tourism industry is missing a trick then... I'd say the relocation of K2 would do wonders for the Isle of Wight.

[EternalOptimist]

Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

I like this game.

An incidence of Absinthe is not indicitive of an absence of nonsense

[EternalOptimist]

The tourism industry is missing a trick then... I'd say the relocation of K2 would do wonders for the Isle of Wight.