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From: dap@ihopa.UUCP (afsd)
Newsgroups: net.flame,net.religion
Subject: Re: evidence for the non-existence of God
Message-ID: <184@ihopa.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 26-Mar-84 11:40:29 EST
Article-I.D.: ihopa.184
Posted: Mon Mar 26 11:40:29 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 27-Mar-84 01:22:16 EST
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Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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Jeff Sargent asks "Why is the belief in atheism more tempting that belief
in God?".  First of all, I am not an atheist.  I am an agnostic.
Second, I think your question gets to the heart of where a lot of
Christian beliefs come from.  The only answer you could discover also
revealed much:  "You must be too afraid to accept God's love.".  You
seem to phrase everything in terms of what I WANT to believe or am AFRAID
to believe.  This is completely irrelevant.  I make decisions on what seems
to be correct or incorrect.  Agnosticism seems to me more reasonable, and
this is why it is more "tempting".  The fact that you weren't able to even
think of this answer seems to me to perhaps reveal your attitude toward
religious beliefs.  Namely, one doesn't use common sense to come to a
religious belief, instead one should believe anything which makes oneself
happier.  This is similar to sticking your head in the sand.  If I don't
like a belief, I'll look elsewhere to find a belief which I DO like, whether
it makes sense or not.

You also make a point of saying that since the mind is only a minor part
of Christianity, we shouldn't use it when coming up with religious
belief.  My mind is the ONLY thing I can use to distinguish one religious
belief from another.  I could SAY I believed in the Christian God, but
it just wouldn't be true if that God made no sense to me.  Some people may
be able to put their minds on idle while thinking about God but I cannot.

Darrell Plank
BTL-IH