Does God Exist?

@kellyjay said
That is not addressing my question.
Do we have a say or is it all due to geography and DNA?
Granted it can be easy to go along and just take what your told as truth.
Difficulty arises is when that truth doesn't follow the path we are going along with to get along.

If we are just products of nature, do we have a choice that matters, any choice?
Only when we include tru ...[text shortened]... didn't become a Christian until I was 25 and I did not grow up in a Christian home, not even close.

So, to clarify, you want to dodge mine and have me answer yours?

Of course we have a say, but again, if you are immersed in a particular religion do you not think it is more likely you will adopt that religion? If not, why are there more Hindus in India than Christians?

Go on sir, give answering that a try.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
I don't think you have thought this through Kelly.

KellyJay's lumbered his way through this exact discussion before, and has been set straight about the blatantly obvious point you are making, which he has rejected before, and yet here he is again, presenting himself as either stubbornly unmodified by the previous intellectual interaction or oddly numb and amnesiac.

@kellyjay said
I didn't become a Christian until I was 25 and I did not grow up in a Christian home, not even close.

Is this pretty much what also happened to almost all of the other 2,200,000,000 Christians in the world?

@kellyjay said
If we are just products of nature, do we have a choice that matters, any choice?

I have never met anyone who believes we are just products of nature, have you? No, I think you're simply making it up or perhaps you are just tripping over your words because you are looking foolish in your conversation with Ghost of a Duke.

We are products of nature AND nurture. Nurture means what we absorb from our environment. That's why geographical and cultural setting are such huge determining factors in what religions people follow.

@fmf said
You misunderstand. I don't care how "sure" YOU say you are.

YOU may not care how sure I AM, but that I am absolutely certain is the major factor that separates between what I know is the truth and your uncertainty relative to the question of the origin of life.

That question is the key component of the debate. For you to dismiss something because you "don't care" shows how narrow your perspective really is.

@fmf said
The fact that you say you are absolutely and positively certain beyond any shadow of a doubt does not make what you believe any more credible or persuasive to me.

But the fact that you are not "absolutely and positively certain" makes what you believe have no credibility at all.

@secondson said
YOU may not care how sure I AM, but that I am absolutely certain is the major factor that separates between what I know is the truth and your uncertainty relative to the question of the origin of life.

Your assertions about being "absolutely certain" about "the truth" have no impact on me or the credibility of what you believe. My perspective is that neither of us know about the origin of life, and we can but speculate.

@secondson said
But the fact that you are not "absolutely and positively certain" makes what you believe have no credibility at all.

I am simply sharing my perspective. If you don't find it credible, that's ok.

@secondson said
That question is the key component of the debate. For you to dismiss something because you "don't care" shows how narrow your perspective really is.

The speculation about such things is interesting and I care enough about them to spend time listening to and sharing perspectives. What I "don't care" about is how many times or how stridently you declare yourself to be "absolutely certain" that you "know" what "the truth" is.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Do you think you would be 'absolutely and positively certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus rose bodily from the grave' if say you had been born and grew up in India, or Japan or Afganistan? May you not, for example, be just as enthusiastically stating (with your chest puffed out) that you were 'absolutely and positively certain beyond any shadow of a doubt t ...[text shortened]... r death?

Geography it appears would seem to be a significant factor in your assured Christianity.

The gospel of Jesus Christ knows no geographical boundaries. It's the same message anywhere one goes. I was born in America, arguably the most Bible preached place on earth, but I was here for 28 years before I responded to the gospel and acquired saving faith.

It would have been irrelevant where I had been born. God knew me, and knew I would believe, from before creation.

@fmf said
You don't think geography matters when you see 87% of Indonesians are Muslims and 78% of Italians are Catholics?

Geography is superficial. It's a question of how far the gospel message is spread that determines percentages.

@secondson said
Geography is superficial. It's a question of how far the gospel message is spread that determines percentages.

I'd say geography is more or less the main factor behind who gets to be a Hindu and a Muslim and a Christian etc. So it's the main commonality and main factor. That makes it the diametric opposite of superficial.

@bunnyknight said
Once organic evolution reaches the technological level, a new stage of evolution begins, which can evolve millions of times faster... intelligent evolution, instead of trial-and-error evolution. Consider that we already created pocket devices that can hold 2 million books plus do video-chat across the globe; or virtual reality that looks nicer than the real thing. Now ...[text shortened]... omputer where you never die or go hungry. And I'm just scratching the surface of the possibilities.

I don't believe technology will ever produce a computer that will ever come close to the capacity of the human brain.

The idea that all that is contained in a human brain can be infused into a technological device is pure science fiction.

@secondson said
It would have been irrelevant where I had been born. God knew me, and knew I would believe, from before creation.

If you'd been born into a Muslim family in the street where I live now, you'd almost certainly be a Muslim today.

@fmf said
I'd say geography is more or less the main factor behind who gets to be a Hindu and a Muslim and a Christian etc. So it's the main commonality and main factor. That makes it the diametrically opposite of superficial.

You are mistaken. The percentage of people that are Christians in any particular geographic area is directly related to the spread of the gospel in that area.