This is an updated, corrected version of an answer that I gave to a Christian on MyLot.com who was questioning how I could be so certain that there was no God, and why we needed Civil Law - which he/she saw as imperfect. I wrote the original far too quickly, so the grammar was not always correct. Hopefully all problems in that area are now resolved. The arguments are complex, but hopefully clear.
Yes, it is IMHO really logical, scientifically, to dismiss the idea of God.
I accept that the universe is infinite, something was always there, but simply to describe it as the invention of one (humanoid - always in "the father", "created in his own image" usw and not as an invisible force NB, who always has thoughts, emotions - including revenge, check out some various bits in the Old Testament - that are all human reactions) "individual" is grotesquely naive though (IMHO again).
"In fact we now know that we don't know most things" I am told.
That may be true.
But we know a lot more than we did even 150 years ago at the time of Darwin, who was an agnostic not an atheist incidentally. The more we learn, the more the scientific analysis holds up. The process is nowhere near complete. The more we learn, though, the less and less likelihood there is of some divine humanoid creature being out there planning to take revenge upon the non-believers, or holding "sinners" to account.
As for all the Christian myths, which were recorded only "a few years after they occurred" - inaccurate anyway, as most sympathetic historians put the period at 10-20 years - I can have a message passed round a room by 20 people and it will change by the time it finishes, so given even five years of people, who want to make something fantastic sound reasonable, passing a message round, the reporting is unlikely to be that close a reflection of the actual events.
Then there is the obvious question, if this matter holds up, as to why Christianity is true and but at the same time Islam, Buddhism (my wife is a devout Buddhist incidentally - so I pick up quite a bit of information on Buddhist belief and rituals), Judaism, Hinduism, Greek Mythology, Norse Mythology usw are all phoney, though they too were all written down after the event? Islam appeared 500 years after Christianity, so by that logic could it not be the true word?
Which would land us all with Sharia Law, which is of course preferable to civil law???? Spare me!
The point though with civil law is that it is inclusive of EVERYONE, not just the believers. It is democratic, not dictatorial. It allows for difference of opinion without criminalising people who differ on all but very serious issues. Certain rules to have to apply. "Thou shalt not kill" may well be religious law. As civil law, criminalising murder makes just as much sense. People need an ordered society in which they can live safely and well.
It is not perfect? Of course it is not. Why is there all the political debate out there about what should be allowed and not? If I told you I think that unemployment was a nightmare for anyone who has suffered it, so maybe we should pass a law jailing an employer for firing people? Obviously not, but I still think that for many people - myself among them - unemployment (like its blood brother, poverty) is both a cancer and a human tragedy.
But if we believe what was ALLEGEDLY said 2000 or 1500 or 2400 or 4000 or 1800 years ago - when they could not even understand how a light bulb might have worked - by some "teacher" (choose your belief system) all these problems will be resolved???? And it makes more sense than all the scientific discoveries that have been made since in the light of more and more facts being available to us?
If you want to believe that, fine - as long as you do not try and impose it upon me! For me though, no - I will stick with my commitment to science, and for that matter to the scientific notion that I am mortal and when my brain and heart give out, the rest of me will expire and nothing will remain.
Sensible, logical thinking. For me, at least! And for the record, I nearly died in hospital three years ago. No angels, no devils, just perfect peace for two days (followed incidentally by grotesque pain - which makes the thought of such sleep very appealing, even now!).
We have emancipated ourselves, we have moved on, we have learned - if we have wanted to. Not always wisely (any sensible species would never allow the current levels of overpopulation, for example), and we still have much to learn. Scientific fact though is interesting in that it is already there, but much of it has not yet been discovered. The future will give us so much more information, technology will advance and mankind could benefit greatly if it wants to learn how to use it wisely.
I have no intention of trying to convert other people - they have the right to believe as they see fit, no matter how illogical their beliefs may be. But in this area at least I am convinced, for myself and for nobody else, that I am right, and no ancient myths wherever they come from will persuade me otherwise.
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