[Vision2020] Living in Idaho

[Tony]

Paul, and a good day to you.  I hope Ralph did not think my question an 
attempt to trick him - it was a sincere query.  I do not necessarily speak 
from a Christian perspective.  I was speculating with regard to an 
overarching intelligence of some form or another.  I would not personally 
presume, at least at this point, to have any definitive idea as to what form 
such an entity would take.  Your point about the possibility of any number 
of such beings seems to me to only support my point that we cannot "know" 
for a certainty one way or the other.

I find the concept of infinity extremely fascinating as our minds are 
accustomed to dealing with things from a finite perspective.  Your house is 
6 blocks from mine, Denver X number of miles away, China 3xX, Jupiter 
millions of miles, Alpha Centari many light years... etc.  But in a universe 
that is presumably WITHOUT END.....  that goes on FOREVER, how could the 
possibilities for anything be limited?  I am simply arguing for an open mind 
with regard to possibilities, Christian and otherwise.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.     -T
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Rumelhart" <godshatter at yahoo.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 9:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Living in Idaho


> Tony wrote:
>
>>Ralph, I remember an old English professor of mine saying about matters of
>>faith that one cannot say that they "know" there is a God or "know" there 
>>is
>>NOT a God, only that they can say that they are "inclined to believe" one
>>way or another.  Both positions it seems to me rely on a measure of faith 
>>if
>>one is uncomfortable relying on the Bible or any other work as the
>>"infallible word" of God.  Certainly there is no direct, physical evidence
>>of an overarching intelligence, just as such an entity cannot be
>>definitively disproven given our limitations and the infinite nature of 
>>the
>>universe.
>>
>>At times it seems that those who call themselves Atheists are operating on
>>as much faith as "believers."
>>
>>Are you inclined to believe there is no God, or are you absolutely 
>>certain?
>>
>>My best,   -T
>>
>>
>
> Good day, Tony, hope you are doing well.
>
> Wouldn't the more natural default position be that no invisible,
> all-powerful, unprovable entities exist?  Aren't there an infinite
> number of such entities possible?  From invisible dinosaurs smaller than
> an atom to pink invisible unicorns to ferocious mermen living in the
> depths of the ocean that control our every action?  Isn't it a
> reasonable assumption that they don't exist until you see evidence of
> that they do?
>
> It reminds of a quote I read the other day, something along the lines
> of: "I like to look for common ground.  Among the thousands of gods that
> humans have worshiped over the millenia, Christians and athiests only
> disagree on the existence of one of them."
>
> Note that I am not an athiest.  I just sympathize with their mindset.
>
> Paul
>
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