Does God Exist? (Part 2)

1) I believe in micro-evolution. Micro-evolution is the observation of small changes within species over time. This is what Darwin observed – finches grow different sized beaks, dogs change into different kinds of dogs. Science clearly supports this and we can obviously see it in our world today. I accept the fact that the animals we see today probably look different than they did millions of years ago. However, changing finches are still birds, and changing dogs are still canines. I do not believe in macro-evolution, which says these small changes eventually result in different orders of animals. Macro-evolution states that all life on earth evolved from a single-celled life forms, similar to bacteria, which then grew into algae, and then there was an event called the Cambrian Explosion, where all the complex life as we know it rapidly began to evolve. I find it very hard to believe that bacteria became fish, then birds, then elephants. This contradicts our modern understating of evolution. Our understanding of evolution depends on natural selection. Certain traits get weeded out of the gene pool after they become non-advantageous. Evolution shows a LOSS of genetic information over time, not a gain. For macro-evolution to have worked, life forms must have somehow GAINED a huge amount of genetic information in order to transform into more complex organisms. Science gives us no answer for how this could have happened. We see this in our own study of human evolution – the Human Genome Project showed that as human populations begin to establish, their gene pools get less diverse (they lose information). Therefore, I believe God created animals, who then slowly began to change over time like we observe today. 2) This bothers me because it means all our deepest loves, desires, and dreams are not really real. All our best music, art, and poetry is simply the result of hormones going through our brain cells and nothing deeper. I cannot accept that is all there is to human consciousness. I believe the religious view makes more sense because it allows for some kind of human spirit, or soul, that we tap into in our deepest moments. Your example about the diamond is not the same. A diamond is an inanimate object that humans (through emotion) decided has beauty and value. Emotions and ambitions are not inanimate objects you can dig up from the ground. 3) Of course we would risk our lives for people and family we care about. That was not my argument. I was talking about strangers. Why would a fire fighter rush into a burning building to save a stranger? Why would a police officer jump into a river to save a drowning person? If we could all be 100% sure this life was all we had, then we would be foolish if we did not seek our own pleasure and comfort for as long as possible. Sure, some people would still be selfless and generous, but do you honestly think MOST people would be? I do not. As far as less soldiers = less wars, I will leave that alone. We can just ask Poland if having less soldiers helped them have less war with Hitler. 4) You are right, if God went away tomorrow I would not start raping and killing, and I don’t think you would either. That is not my argument though. My argument is that choosing to not rape and kill would then only be a choice – not morality. Morality is a code that appeals to some objective sense of right and wrong. Without a higher authority, there is no real objectivity to right or wrong. You are simply left with how people CHOOSE to act based on what they think is good – moral anarchy. Some people like you and me would choose to not lie and steal. Others would. The difference is that if there is no objectivity, then I cannot call Osama bin Laden’s choice of “good” any more correct than my own. We are simply two men making two different choices, and the one who is most convincing and powerful will win out. That is not a world I wish to live in. I think you have a misunderstanding of Christianity’s concept of salvation. Yes, in short, anyone who doesn’t believe, including atheists, will go to hell. But you still seem to think it is based on whether someone is a “good person” or not. The Bible teaches that no one is good. Romans 3:23 says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards. You cannot make yourself good enough to earn heaven. This is good because God does not want us to idolize ourselves – and if we are focused on making ourselves “good” enough, then we are idolizing ourselves. Since we cannot be good people in God’s eyes, we need to be saved, which is why Jesus came. This is why salvation through faith is so important, because we must have faith and accept Jesus’ sacrifice to be clean in God’s eyes. It has nothing to do with being a good person. However, the Bible also teaches that a Christian who does bad things cannot truly believe in God, because true belief transforms the heart. Going to church on Sundays has nothing to do with it. It’s not about fairness, it’s about faith and true heart transformation. I am not trying to use this as an argument, I’m just explaining what Christians believe. The Bible does not command us to kill homosexuals. Yes, I'm sure you can pull a verse out of the Old Testament from somewhere. But when Jesus came he said we are now subject to a New Covenant that involves loving our neighbors and not judging others. We must consider the whole Bible in context. God is selfish and jealous because He loves us so much. Is it bad to say a loving and devoted husband is jealous for his wife’s love and affection? That a father wants his children to love him and walk in relationship with him? Hell – yes, my understanding of Christian doctrine is it is the same for everyone. Anyone who does not believe in god is separated from him eternally. Is that fair? Would we consider a court judge fair if he looked at a convicted prisoner and said, “never mind what you did, you’re free to go!” Of course not. We call it “justice.” It would be unfair if God said, “I don’t care what you believed or did on earth, come on in!” I think whenever we claim that the idea of hell is unfair, we are really saying we don’t want to be held accountable for the choices we make in life. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I think it makes sense that we must be accountable for how we live our lives, and that we need a source of forgiveness for the mistakes we make. If anything, God is being unfair with offering heaven – it’s a free ride! We don’t even have to do anything accept believe.