Topic: Why I'm an atheist - page 36. (Read 89184 times)

According to this study, knowing that people are praying for you gives a worse result  (note: Templeton Foundation is a religious organization)

I'm an atheist, but the idea that the existence of God can neither be proved nor disproved demonstrates how intellectually weak we are...

Harvard professor Herbert Benson performed a "Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP)" in 2006.[39] The STEP, commonly called the "Templeton Foundation prayer study" or "Great Prayer Experiment", used 1,802 coronary artery bypass surgery patients at six hospitals. Using double-blind protocols, patients were randomized into three groups, individual prayer receptiveness was not measured. The members of the experimental and control Groups 1 and 2 were informed they might or might not receive prayers, and only Group 1 received prayers. Group 3, which served as a test for possible psychosomatic effects, was informed they would receive prayers and subsequently did. Unlike some other studies, STEP attempted to standardize the prayer method. Only first names and last initial for patients were provided and no photographs were supplied. The congregations of three Christian churches who prayed for the patients "were allowed to pray in their own manner, but they were instructed to include the following phrase in their prayers: "for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications".[40] Some participants complained that this mechanical way they were told to pray as part of the experiment was unusual for them. Complications of surgery occurred in 52 percent of those who received prayer (Group 1), 51 percent of those who did not receive it (Group 2), and 59 percent of patients who knew they would receive prayers (Group 3)

Well no one can prove that god doesn't exist either.

Don't even get me started on the Scientology cult.  I saw an inteview with Leah Remini on the Joe Rogan podcast, I never realized how batshit crazy that religion is.  They also are stealing billions of dollars from their slaves.

Well no one can prove that god doesn't exist either.

Don't even get me started on the Scientology cult.  I saw an inteview with Leah Remini on the Joe Rogan podcast, I never realized how batshit crazy that religion is.  They also are stealing billions of dollars from their slaves.

I don't understand how people can believe in GOD if so many scientific discoveries have been made.Of course it is easier to rely on God not on yourself and blame God in your failures.That's why I don't believe in God.

The truth is a proposition based on factual evidence.
Therefore, anyone searching for the truth has first of all ask himself: what reasonable amount of evidence would be required to make me change my mind.
The problem with many believers is that they are not on a quest to discover truth, rather their goal is much simpler: keep believing no matter what kind of evidence is shown to them.

I did, you just continue to ignore the reality.  Complexity increases here on Earth.  Evolution is marching on.  Entropy decreases due to energy from the Sun.  Emergence is a real, observable phenomena.

You are stuck in your world view.  You ignore the facts to protect your God concept.

The only thing scientific you said is that entropy in the universe is increasing, but you are using it in the context of Earth, which is incorrect.

The rest of it is religious, subjective interpretations. Nothing to do with science.

BTW, you are confusing causality with Newton's 2nd law.

Anyway, your mind is made up.   No point to discuss anything with you.

You, notbatman and coincube are all the same.  Delusional.  You are ignoring basic science, you want to believe what you want to believe, you twist scientific definitions, principles, apply them incorrectly and then claim you have discovered something all other theoretical Physicists missed.
 
Like I said you are delusional.  Whether it is a dome over flat Earth, Christian, three entity God, or infinite entity outside of our universe, it makes no difference.  The ideas you guys present are ridiculous.  Simply a nonsense.

The only question remains what drives people to believe in nonsense?  Is is some sort of false validation that you seek?

re: Machine-like nature of the universe.
That is your human perception. - My perception of a scientifically verifiable condition of the universe for everyone who wishes to examine it scientifically.  Nature is very unforgiving, cruel and hostile to life. - You don't have any joy or happiness at all? If you do, and if you are ever without pain, then there is lack of cruelty, naturally... even though this lack of cruelty might not be exclusive in your case.  Uncontrolled explosions, creation and annihilation of matter is hardly a machine-like nature. - All explosions are controlled by the machine-like physics laws of the universe. These laws never change. They might modify each other to some extent, but it is always according to their machine-like nature.

That statement is just your delusion and simple conjecture. - No. Your statements are delusional. Mine are backed by science.

re: Machines have makers. Cause and effect, action and reaction.
Again this is your human projection. - My projection backed up scientifically.   The physical laws and time were not created before the Big Bang. - Irrelevant, because we don't know that there was a BB.  It is nonsensical to talk about the instance before the Big Bang because our senses are framed in this universe. - Irrelevant, because we don't know that there was a BB.  It is simply impossible to imagine for most people the world with different physical laws. - Correct.  Maybe few theoretical Physicists with IQs above 200 can, but projecting the current physical laws to the instance before the Big Bang (which did not exist, BTW) is just a logical mistake. - Irrelevant, because we don't know that there was a BB.
 
re: The nations look for God.
Not really, opposite works quite well.  Secular governments, secular legal frameworks are more humane than any religious moral laws. - You are an example of a person who can't seem to find God. Because of this, you are setting yourself up as a god by proclaiming that God doesn't exist, when you know that you don't know that He doesn't exist.
We have abandoned most of the Bible's moral laws. - This is our failure.  We don't eat humans, we don't kill babies of our enemies, we introduced equality, abolished slavery, we don't do blood sacrifice to some imaginary beings etc. - This is where we are following biblical laws, often without realizing it.

Earth is not a closed system, we receive energy from Sun, life on Earth is becoming more complex over time,  entropy does not increase on Earth, instead we observe emergence as a natural process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16W7c0mb-rE - Earth exists within a closed system of which it is part. The universe is one. Entropy is recognized throughout the universe, both on earth, and in our observations of the stars. Nobody has found an active condition that doesn't have entropy within it. We speculate that there might be such, but we have never found one that we know of for a fact. Yet entropy is observable in countless trillions of active conditions all over the place.

re: Newton's 3rd Law upholds cause and effect.
This law cannot be applied to the instance before the Big Bang because that "instance" did not exist, i.e. time did not exist and Physics as we understand it did not exist. - Irrelevant, because we don't know that there was a BB.

You are simply delusional.  You are looking for confirmations of your beliefs and making logical mistakes in the process. - You are limiting yourself by not appropriately applying science.

Instead, you should look at the world without any preconceived notions, let the objective evidence lead you to the truth.