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Ultimately, all of this is tolerable, so long as the people within these religions remember that however big their numbers grow, they're almost certainly wrong.

Thanks buddy, I'll keep this in mind when I am spending eternal life and you are spending the rest of eternity burning in the firey pits of hell.

I became really religious because of my 7th grade teacher and because of my cousins birth

For the very reasons Dr. S went into, Agnosticism is the only belief system that makes any sense from a purely logical standpoint. But clearly, there's a lot more to it than that. People turn to religion out of fear, for a sense of community, and to seek answers and explanations to spiritual questions/feelings. Also, a large number of people are religious simply because they have been taught from day one that having a functional moral compass and being religious go hand-in-hand.

Ultimately, all of this is tolerable, so long as the people within these religions remember that however big their numbers grow, they're almost certainly wrong.

The Holocaust being a "test from God" is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. If there is a God who makes divine interventions, do you really think he would test people at the expense of the lives of six million innocents?

And, also, life did NOT have to start as a result of someone or something starting it. If so, who started them? For almost everything you can question about the Big Bang, you can question the same about God. Did you ever think that God starting the universe could be an explanation for something you (and everyone else) do not have the mental capacity to understand?

Oh, and personally, I think an "all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-living God" is ridiculous, also. If God is all-powerful, he MUST be able to create something that he wouldn't know. If he can't, he wouldn't be all-powerful. If he could, he wouldn't be all-knowing. That's the simplest reason why I don't think a God could be all-powerful...

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Originally posted by bluedemocrat:
No idea where the laws of physics came from. But not from god. There are some things that humans will never understand and the origin of the laws of physics is probably one of them.

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You see, the problem with this statement is that you, as an atheist, definitively say that there is no God whatsoever. Because of this you are saying that you have reasons why there is no God. If I ask you a question, and you respond with "Oh, it's just one of those things we'll never be able to know, but it definitely wasn't some sort of intelligent creator." you're just as bad as the person who uses the "God works in mysterious ways" line.

Now, back to the laws of physics. Read this article, if you will:
[URL=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~slocks/links/Guth's%20Grand%20Guess.htm]http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~slocks/links/Guth's%20Grand%20Guess.htm[/URL]

It's basically a theory which has become widely accepted, that allows for the spontaneous creation of the universe. Thing is, in order for it to work, the laws of physics need to predate everything. With what we know so far though, this makes sense.
Now, if an intangible, umeasureable, universal set of rules exists before all matter and energy, how could these highly organized and beautifully simple rules exist? More imporantly, how can you saw with any certainty that an intelligent designer did not have influence over this? It almost makes sense. Athiests, in my opinion, are just as bad as fundamentalist Christians when it comes to this stuff.

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people seem to expect me to have answers to the origin of the universe, the origin of life, how every damn thing works...

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If you, yourself as a human being don't know how life stated or the universe, then, surely it must be SOMEONE greater than us who has the capacity to do all these things. Have you ever seen a person making the universe or the earth or the other galaxies??? NO!! Themn, it must be someone with a greater power other than intelligence or the power of speech.

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I just don't believe that someone who is supposedly the embodiment of all good would allow people like Hitler to exist.

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Every calamity, disaster or any bad situation or anything at all that happens to each of us is a TEST by God to let Him know if we should follow His good ways or not. It is up to man what he should decide: good or bad. When you follow the good path, it is a PLUS point because that means you love God and that it shows your faith in Him never diminshed no matter how many bad situations you faced. But when in some bad situation, you broke down and you decided on the wrong choices, then, somehow you have little faith in God and that IT IS YOUR CHOICE to go in that direction. God doesn't make choices for us, he only TESTS us.

I'm not religious. What bothers me is the reactions i get when I tell people that I'm an athiest. They freak out and start shouting at me, which is more amusing than anything, but what I find annoying is that because I don't believe in a higher power, people seem to expect me to have answers to the origin of the universe, the origin of life, how every damn thing works... I don't have a handy tome to explain how everything happened, unlike the people who start arguing with me.

I was raised in the church. But about three years ago, I made my own decision to worship the Lord with my whole heart. It makes me feel more complete, more whole. It gives me a purpose in life. Also, I love the thought of spending my afterlife in heaven with a merciful and just God that loves me. But, hey, that's just me.

I am religious because I was brought up to be. I came from an orthodox Muslim famly, but I sort of avoided the whole sunday school thing because I hated the strictness, and I think that was a big mistake.

I would like to become more religious in the future, but for some things, I will need to make up on my own. My religion or way of life needs to fit my personal beliefs and morals... Which is why I think Islam is a good religion for me.

No idea where the laws of physics came from. But not from god. There are some things that humans will never understand and the origin of the laws of physics is probably one of them.

Religion exists, I think, because we are all afraid of dying and nothing happening; as in, the mysteries of the universe.

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Originally posted by bluedemocrat:
If you look at it historically, the number of gods people worship have waned considerably. Greeks worshipped so many gods because they were unable to understand nature. Now most people accept the fact that there is one god, because science has allowed humans to explain so much about life in general.

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Actually monotheism is quite old. Six thousand years or so at least. But that aside, lets get down to science.

And here's the big question I like to pose to atheists:

Where did the laws of phyiscs come from?

I know about the whole "free will" thing. I just can't believe that a god exists. I think the idea of god, or gods, was created to explain the unexplained. If you look at it historically, the number of gods people worship have waned considerably. Greeks worshipped so many gods because they were unable to understand nature. Now most people accept the fact that there is one god, because science has allowed humans to explain so much about life in general. And also the fact that so many different religions exist made me quite skepticle of religion--any religion.

I decided that the likelihood of there being God was as good as the likelihood that there isn't, so I decided to be optimistic for once. Ha, just kidding.

I am not a traditionally religious person. I've been exploring my own beliefs a lot recently... I've pretty much decided that I don't believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God, or God himself. I do believe in the existence of a God- but I don't believe in one that has made, is making, or will make any divine interventions. I also don't believe in worshiping or praying to God for personal reasons that I have trouble articulating. I do believe that you can talk to God, to an extent, and that you should, but that you should not have to worship him. Actually, this brings up another point... I definitely don't believe that God is just male or just female. Maybe neither, maybe both, but... I don't believe that God is a male or female. And I'm not sure if God is in man's image. Oh, and I think that, if there is a God, all he/she/it did was set off the Big Bang and let things take its course from there.

Phew. There's my unique set of religious beliefs... anyone find them interesting?

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I just don't believe that someone who is supposedly the embodiment of all good would allow people like Hitler to exist. He'd have to be pretty sick to stand idly as Jewish people were slaughtered.

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You have completely missed a vital point here and I don't want to get into a huge theological discussion about it but you brought it up, so... God created man but gave us a free will, the will to follow him down the path of rightousness or go their own way and do what they want - free will. While we are all sinners, we have choices between right and wrong. God doesn not "control" us in the puppetmaster sense of the word. We are free to follow whatever path we like.

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Originally posted by bluedemocrat:
I am an atheist. I didn't really think much about religion until one of my friends asked me about it. I think I was in fourth grade, and I sort of thought about God in the same way I thought about Santa Claus. My parents are atheists as well but they never forced me to be one. We never talked about religion until I asked. I don't believe in God because I feel it is illogical that there is some almighty force/ being looking over our planet. I just don't believe that someone who is supposedly the embodiment of all good would allow people like Hitler to exist. He'd have to be pretty sick to stand idly as Jewish people were slaughtered.

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Has it ever struck you that God, or the divine in general, doesn't have to be the all-good, savior of humanity Judeo-Christian sort of thing?

I'm a Jew, and thats how I like it. I wouldn't even think about converting, I like to be different than everybody else.

because it gives MEANING to my life.