His most recent post is copied heah with my responses preceeded by these here dots: ...... and my responses are in italics--jes' so ya'll will know who is a sayin' what.
- Ardlair wrote:
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Hey Aunty Belle!
Well thanks for taking the time to try to clarify your question.But I'm not sure you really have.
a) Nothing is something.Therefore the whole "why is there something rather than nothing" story just don't wash with me. -
............oh, pshaw! "Nothing" ain't "somethin'"--check your dictionary. Youse got to be logical---if it is a somethin', it cain't be nothin'. Nothing is the absence of the something. And since the cosmos ain't empty, but is teeming with lots o' somethin's, you need to say what an atheist claims is the reason they's anything at all in existence. SO, Ardlair, the "story" stands--you need to supply us'uns an answer to why they's anything at all in this here cosmos, rather than nothing. That is, why did something (anything at all) come into being?
b) It is conceited of mankind to believe that what they know as something - themselves and that part of the universe they can see - must have been created for a reason.It doesn't need a reason. It just is.
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c) And when we accept that it is, we can, as you've heard,
- ...........what is that we are suppose to accept? That the univese "just is" ? Ain't that silly. Of course it "just is"...I'd say it "just is" cause God wanted it, but you have not said why it "just is" in atheist speak. WHY Ardlair, why something, when it could have been nothin'?
- all appreciate the beauty of what is around us.Whether or not we have a god.
- ...............Ardlair, what beauty would that be? Let's get real real basic, sugar pie--how do you know it is "beauty" that youse seein'? Why ain't it ugly? Couldn't a cosmic belch have thrown up ugliness all over the universe? Or did it, and we'uns jes' call it "beauty"?
And that's because beauty is based on order---ah, yes, order again. Hmmn....this here is an ordered universe filled with lots o somethings that is ordered to and relating to all the other somethings. Scientists took note of that too, and they say order requires effort to maintain--know where that leads, don'tcha?
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d) Have you noticed that as science advances, the places that "god" or "gods" are used to give an explanation recede?
- ................nope, sugar, I have not noticed that. I doan think that assertion will hold up.
- In fact, polls and studies show that most scientists DO believe in somethin'....they's not always naming that something as "god" so they might say they detect a "prime intelligence" a "first cause", a "supreme being" or " an ordered energy" but very few scientists believe in nothing--ya' see, they cain't believe such a thang as that, since it is unscientific. Science demonstrates too much order and purpose (teleology) for an objective scientific mind to reject--so they' s jes' naming it somethin' besides "God." Ain't too many scientisits that say that the universe is one big nothin' of an accident.
It's stuff like that, Ardy, that gets to the logical scientist mind...so they says a "first cause" or a "prime mover." But they doan say its "nothin'."
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For example, primitives used to speculate that the stars in the sky were in fact gods ; that the wind was a god; that day itself and nights were gods. But now we can understand these, by scientific explanation, so we don't need that god explanation no more. Some people, maybe including you though Aunty Belle, still use the "god" explanation when they come up something they can't explain. Seems like you theists are slowly, just slowly, getting boxed into a corner.
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.............heh, heh, yep--that corner is like the briarpatch, my kinsman. You know the story about Tar Baby?
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Well, never mind--the point is ole Aunty is DE-lighted to be in that "corner" cause chile', I shur nuff ain't a'skeered of science or scientists. Primitives thought stars were gods, but yore modern minds--mebbe even youse own atheist mind--is too so-fist-icated to think the like primitives, so youse explains the the stars with science....very very so-fist-icated.
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But, where did science come from? science did not invent itself or the laws of anture that it merely uncovers. Where did the laws of physics come from? No, sugar, we doan need "gods" to explain the stars, but you shur nuff need something to explain where science comes from.
e) And, just before I overstay my welcome,
- .................youse not overstayin' yore welcome---this is fun for this ole' biddy!!
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your last question "And what's it for?" Well that is, Aunty Belle, a question about the purpose and/or meaning of life.
- .................naw,naw. Now I notice youse quick to make assumptions---it doan need to be a "meaning of life" question, doan assume that. Why, Ardy, it could be a purely utilitarian purpose, in the atheist POV.
- Now I personally does think in terms of meaning of life, but I ain't sayin that an atheist has to impute "meaning of life" to the question of "what's it for"....nope, an atheist's theory of what it for could be devoid of "meaning of life" insight. But that's your contribution---tell me from the atheist's POV what is the things in the
- universe --all those somethings that are not nothins'--what's they for?
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And there was you telling me that we weren't talking about that! Maybe the late hour is just gettin you an eetsy weetsy bit confused! -
.............no puddin', tain't confused--we ain't talkin' the meaning of life--we'uns only got to the WHAT of life. But, iffin' you WANT to to talk "meaning of life" we can shur do that too.
I agree with most of what Bluebolt says, except one thing.
Atheists are commonly portrayed as negative, empty, grey, dull.
But they don't believe in nothing. They believe in everything.
Except just one thing.......the supernatural world, including what you call as god.- ...............well, that's a good clear point--you believe in everything, except the supernatural. That's fine. At least you do acknowledge that things exist.
- You jes' need to get up some non-god theory for how and why the things you believe in exist. Ain't no good to say you jes' accept it--doan we all? The question is not iffin' you accept what you see exists--the question that the existence of things poses to every mind is how and why is there any thing in existence? How does exisitence happen?
Nitey nite.
P.S. BTW, the "supernatural" is just the existence of things your eye ain't
so-fist-icated enough to "see" .......yet.
"C'mon in the back door, Sugar"