Eternal Destination

It strikes me as odd that we use the same words (proof, evidence, reason) but these words have completely different meanings to us. We both want proof but I don’t think you need proof to believe as you do. It is absurd to require proof for what to me is unprovable. Schroedinger was exactly right – science IS silent regarding a creator – and that is precisely because the scientific model cannot possibly prove the existence of a god. (Some find this silence uncomfortable - many do not.) This silence does not indicate that science is lacking. Francis Collins is right – science and religion do not overlap so they are in effect silent about each other. The great mistake for centuries was that religion intruded into the world of science. I really thought we left that behind in the dark ages but I guess not.

Eternal destination – another very odd concept. But a very logical part of any belief system. If you are going to require strict adherence to a system of beliefs, give up “sinful” acts, there has to be a reward – and a dire threat if you don’t adhere. I have zero interest in eternal life. This life is plenty for me and in fact I only want to focus on making this life the best it can be. I can do this by being the best father, husband, brother, and friend – one doesn’t need to believe in a god to be a good person. Frankly I couldn’t care less about eternal life and since I don’t believe, hell doesn’t exist. (Although I’ve had a couple clients who have made me wonder……)

Hell – a strange idea indeed given the state of today’s world. There are women in Condo who are living in the worst hell right now. Raped a dozen times a day and then tortured after that. These women are already in hell. And not for any “sins” they committed – they just had the misfortune to be born in the wrong place.  How do you tell a person who is treated so that they must believe as you do or you will go to hell?  They don't need a savior - they need a gun - a big gun.

I really take exception to this statement in your last post: “the next step is faith (this is true for science too)”. This is not true of science. When a scientist leaps to faith simply because they cannot understand a phenomena of nature they have made the “god of the gaps” error.  (When there is a gap in knowledge insert the supernatural to bridge the gap.)  Indeed, if all scientists did this we would still be bleeding sick people to cure disease and epileptics would still be viewed as possessed by demons.  Issac Newton even made the “god of the gaps” mistake in Principia Mathematica. He claimed all the mysteries of nature were now understood – except for the motion of the planets. This could not be explained so it was clearly the “handiwork of God”. Even undergrad physics majors in college understand the principals of orbital mechanics – no supernatural explanation is required.