Note: Some quotes edited for size so this post will fit within the 8000 character limit.
I don't see how finding life in other planets - intelligent or not - is a sign of a God (or not).
That's no different than my Mother's logic: "Doubt that God exists? Just look around you. Isn't that proof enough?"
Agreed. It is entirely possible that human-like life could evolve independently from Earth. For example, suppose that life didn't originate on this planet. Suppose it originated ten billion years ago on a planet that was long ago destroyed, and microbes from that planet were seeded throughout the universe. If those microbes landed on a thousand Earth-like planets, ecosystems like Earths', including human-like creatures, could exist. There is no need for a god in that situation.
And obviously, the existence of the world around us is not proof of any gods.
Lets say that tomorrow we can take a trip around the known universe on all planets.
Or it's coincidence or the product of a large system, as addressed above. If belief in deities is (or was) an evolutionary advantage (or, more likely, a side effect of other advantages), and monotheism is an evolutionary advantage for an idea, then it wouldn't be surprising at all to find that cultural similarity without these gods existing.
I think it could be proved just fine from historical and logical facts. That is, if such historical or logical facts existed. If history involved well-document examples of divine intervention, rather than legends, or if physics didn't work without divine action. Instead, history and facts dispel gods and faith, but a different set of history and facts could certainly support them. It's just that the actual reality we have doesn't.
Assuming there is a God who could easily prove their existence, why doesn't He? Answer that question and you might be on to something. And NO, it's not simply a matter of faith, which is more about trust than belief or proof.
Even moreso, religions all claim that their gods have proven their existence. And then that proof turns out to be false when examined.
yes but this thread is not for them.
But it does present a problem for your thesis. Suppose we find eight planets full of humanlike creatures, two of which have monotheistic ideas. One is a majority on their planet, one is a tiny minority. Five of the planets are completely without belief in the supernatural, and the last one has all manner of conflicting spiritual ideas, all of which are polytheistic. Earth is only barely majority monotheist, and less than a quarter Christian. More people don't believe in your god (since your god precludes Islam) than do. Even if we were to find a planet with just as much "Christian-like" belief as Earth, it doesn't come close to the ubiquity that your idea requires.
It is the same with Atheists as they can no more "prove" the big bang [other than Madonna] than man evolving from viruses...the next time you sneeze say goodbye to your ancestors as they fly out your nose.
Had you paid attention in high school science classes, you would know that we most certainly can prove these things.
What is at issue is being allowed to believe what I believe.
No one is attempting to force your belief from you. People will, however, point out the flaws in it and why you shouldn't believe it.
It is well and good that new agers can open shops and charge money to "heel" you, or fortune tellers, mystics all get a pass,
They don't. We routinely dennounce them as charlatans who scam people and commit fraud.
but every forum on on the internet has at least ONE thing in common, an outsized number of threads, atheist attacks, not on religion but on Christianity.
It's the religion that's trying to screw up our lives. Despite it not even being the religion of my birth, Christianity causes a lot more problems in my life than Judaism does. That's the price you pay for power. Everyone wants a piece of you. Of course, that whatever loose organization of atheism exists in the west singles out Christianity for any reason other than proximity, or that it ignores other religious, is complete fiction.
While they howl at the presence of the Bible in a court room, that same court room likely has a rendering of a statue of a lady with a scale and a blindfold; Justia, the goddess Titan of justice in both Roman and Greek theology; the clourt house itself and the congress itself are build in Greco-Roman architecture, pillars calling to the gods on Olympus.
The next time anyone tries to enforce Roman or Greek theology as law, then we'll start doing something about the statues.
Because it is not law in this country, yet is routinely used to interfere with the law. It has no place in a court or in lawmaking.
It is my belief, my "spaghetti monster in the sky" if you like. What skin is it off anyone's nose if I to spend my time on earth loving what anyone else my think is an imaginary God?
No skin, just don't try to make anyone else do it, suppress people who don't want to, or try to enshrine its ideas in law.
What is it they are afraid of and why only Christianity?
We are afraid of being forced to conform to Christian ideas, as we have been for many centuries. We don't like them, and don't want them. We are also afraid of being forced to conform to Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Jewish ideas, but that is far far less likely to happen. As above, Christianity is the religion that is trying to screw up our lives. Judaism doesn't affect my life unless I personally go to synagogue, but Christianity tries to control my constitutional rights.
Why Christianity? Because they are comfortable with Christians. They know that Christians won't cut their heads off just for disagreeing with them.
Atheists who live in nations dominated by other religions are no less bold. Some might say bolder, since their nations are less secular and they have that much farther to go. Before the west became as secular as it currently is, Christians routinely would cut our heads off. Now their power is tempered by reason, Enlightenment, and learning. Why exactly do you think that is a vindication of Christianity? It is a vindication of secularism. The only nations that can house multiple faiths are those that don't take their religions very seriously.
The islamic God is a raving loonatic.
The jewish God is genocidal and infanticidal prick.
the hindu gods... if they're real, we would be better of nuking ourselves. Honestly... and nuking them too coz they're all crap.
And buddhism... sorry, I don't want to live in a theocracy government by warrior monks and strict rituals that govern all my life.
and shintoism... i don't know much about it other than it's a cult of death and dying. I could be wrong... good thing shintoism is dying off so it doesn't become an issue.
The Christian god is just as much a lunatic and genocidal maniac as the Muslim and Jewish ones. Most notably, it is because they are the same character, but also because they all command their followers to rape and murder in their names, to wage war on other peoples, to keep slaves, to crush dissent, to torture and kill those who do not conform, and to ignore learning that contradicts dogma.
Also, it doesn't seem like you actually know anything about Hinduism, Buddhism, or Shintoism. But then again, it doesn't seem you know much about Christianity, either.
