HOT RAM said:
The short version is that man is a three-part being (made in the image and likeness of God : Father,Son,Holy Spirit = 3 parts,all God) that consists of
1)the spirit or the "REAL" you,the part that gives life to the body
2)the soul which consists of the mind,the will,the emotions
3) the body,which contains our spirit and soul on the earth
Faith is NOT a mental function and no amount of study,school or anything else will ever cause the mind to produce faith
The mind is that part of the human being that makes decisions,and forms thoughts and opinions.It can do many things,even what to some are "supernatural" things,but it can't produce faith.
What you're saying there isn't bad but it's still circular, and makes assumptions of certain ideas and facts that obviously nobody can actually know any farther than subjective and whimsical notions.
Surely you can admit that people in general are naturally susceptible to the power of suggestion. Given the other wacky faith systems out there, perhaps you can admit that there's a more common human factor involved.
And I don't know what grounds you proclaim that faith is not a mental function either. Did you learn it somewhere? Did got come down and tell you? Or is it something else you simply must believe in order for god to make sense to you?
As a side point you might be surprised to know that advances in neuroscience have located a section of the brain that is responsible for and/or is active during 'religious experiences' and something to do with a god complex. Been a while since I read the article. I don't mean that to prove anything to you either but it's food for thought at least... Would it make any difference to you if they did find a way to chemically 'kill god'?
HOT RAM said:
As to your statement that evolution is a fact,I have one question for you : how can you PROVE that to me ? Just because there are a majority that accept it does NOT make it a fact.You and others have chosen to accept it or "believe" it and yet to me it remains an unproven "theory",not a fact.
The very evidences that you or others might point to to prove evolution might just as easily be used by a creationist to prove his argument that a Supreme Being with an Intelligent Design created the earth.
Evolution is a fact in the sense of it being overwhelmingly validated by the evidence. The same way we consider the Earth revolving around the sun as a fact.
"There is no sharp line between speculation, hypothesis, theory, principle, and fact, but only a difference along a sliding scale, in the degree of probability of the idea. When we say a thing is a fact, then, we only mean that its probability is an extremely high one: so high that we are not bothered by doubt about it and are ready to act accordingly. Now in this use of the term fact, the only proper one, evolution is a fact.
The National Academy of Science (U.S.) makes a similar point:
"Scientists most often use the word "fact" to describe an observation. But scientists can also use fact to mean something that has been tested or observed so many times that there is no longer a compelling reason to keep testing or looking for examples. The occurrence of evolution in this sense is fact. Scientists no longer question whether descent with modification occurred because the evidence is so strong."
I'm definitely not going to quote a set of Encyclopedia Britannica on here,
but really, this is something you'd have to pick up a science text book up on and read up. Or at least some wiki searches. The scientists aren't out to get your god, I promise. They're out to discover and understand our universe. If god pops up, it'll go down in the text books.
There is so much collaborative evidence it's overwhelming. I've studied a broad variety of topics and it all fits. I don't have to go to atheist websites to get my material. I generally accept most of what I learn and stand on the shoulders of giants. My opinion ultimately doesn't matter but I can back up what I present.
Alright, evolution I think is a good topic. If you're a reasonable human being I can convince you it is true.
Obviously if you are of utter blind faith and nothing ever written in educational books then its all a moot point but I don't think you're like that so lets roll with this one.
You tell me which points you feel about evolution are not true, or why you don't believe it. I'm sure you don't feel it's all just a conspiracy against god. What points would convince you that evolution is a fact after all?
