So there seem to be a number of articles written about the religion debate between religious people and Atheists. So Let me give my input from an Agnostic perspective.
Firstly, for those who don't know, Agnosticism is the understanding and acknowledgement that the existence of a God cannot be proven, nor can it be completely dismissed. It's a completely neutral perspective and, in my opinion, the most open minded perspective.
So, within this article I will present my argument as to why both religious people, and Atheists have a flawed logic.
Let's start of with the religious folk. It astounds me that, for hundreds and even thousands of years, people can continue to believe in a God (note: believe IN, not acknowledge the possible existence of). I was brought up in a Christian home, and went to Sunday-school as a child. But I soon started questioning religion when I arrived at the age of reason. I saw so many flaws, things that seem so obvious to me; and yet it seemed like religious people were completely blind and ignorant to these simple ideas. I won't go and and on about how I arrived at my conclusions; so let me just jump straight into it.
As we all know, religious people believe in a God. An all-knowing, all powerful, loving God. Well see, this is where the first set of problems come in; "all-knowing". An all-knowing God suggests that this deity knows absolutely EVERYTHING. Nothing can be hidden and he/she knows everything about the past, present, and future. The "Divine Plan" also comes into play here. A divine plan suggests that this plan is absolutely perfect. Nothing can, or will change the plan because there is no need to change it; it is perfect. A divine plan cannot exist without an all-knowing God and vice versa, right? Well, this makes things very interesting. If this God does indeed know everything, then surely he/she must know each and every single person. After all, he/she created each person. So if this God knows everything about every person, then surely he/she must know when you will be born, and when you will die; what your personality will be like, and what your destiny will be. Well, if this is in fact the case, then surely he/she must know what choices you will make in life. If he/she does not know what choices you will make, then he/she cannot (by definition) be all-knowing. If this premise is true, then we can start to see how fundamentally flawed the basic idea of religion is. If God knows what choices you are going to make, then he/she must know whether or not you will choose to believe in him/her, or not. And what happens if you don't believe in God? Yup, eternal punishment. So, in essence, God already knows whether or not you will believe in him. So, if you are one of the people who do not end up believing in him/her....then what's the point in creating you in the first place? Is it just to deliberately send you to a pit of fire for his/her own amusement? In the end, we don't really have a choice at all (as we are often told to believe), because our choices have been pre-planned via the Divine Plan.
Now, let's look at the Divine Plan directly. This is possibly the most flawed idea of all. As I said, a Divine Plan is absolutely perfect and nothing can change it. It suggests that everything that should happen will happen. This begs the question; what is the point in praying? If things are going to happen according to the Divine Pan anyways, then there is no point in praying for anything because prayer cannot change anything (according to the Divine Plan).
This also brings up the issue of people's actions. If everything in the Divine Plan is set in stone, then should people be applauded or punished for their actions? Does the Divine plan, by definition, not suggest that every single thing we do is part of the plan, and therefore we cannot be judged for our actions? If a person commits theft, murder or rape, is that not part of the Divine Plan, and therefore they shouldn't receive punishment for their actions, simply because their actions were in fact predetermined in the Divine Plan?
Furthermore, you are told you should ask (pray) and you shall receive. I'm sorry, but as far as I am concerned, no matter how hard an amputee prays he/she will not regrow a lost limb. Has this ever happened?
I hope that will get you thinking about how it all fits together, and how just a few simply ideas are enough to bring a huge topic into question.
But, now it's time for the Atheists. I find it fascinating that Atheists can go on about the fact that there is no evidence that a God exists and that it is completely illogical. Well, firstly (and I know you've heard this before), you have no evidence that a God DOESN'T exists. If you're such a huge fan of evidence, then be prepared to submit some yourself. Just because a person can't (or doesn't know how) to prove and idea, does not mean that that idea is completely false. It is absolutely plausible that a God may exist; although, I'm sure we can agree that it surely is not the God described in religious texts. As long as we can not disprove the existence of a God it is very important to keep a totally open mind about the matter. I agree, that it seems highly unlikely that a God exists. but, highly unlikely does not mean that it is not possible. Perhaps we are just looking in the wrong places, unsure of what to look for. Perhaps it's right under our noses but we simply cannot see it. Perhaps there is a formula missing, or a telescope yet to be invented (a crude example, I know). If we can comprehend abstract ideas such as parallel universes and the likes; anything that has no evidence but has a theoretical foundation, then we must keep an open mind about other matters too.
I hope this has made sense. Looking forward to the comments :-)
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