A few observations: This is a huge assumption on your part and not factually based. God could very well be a reality,
You did not think that one through, did you? It's an assumption on my part but you only think he
could very well be true. I am assuming but your guessing, Hmmmm!
and that is what us believers are staking our eternal souls on. You can dismiss God as unlikely for yourself, but you can't factually dismiss Him in reality.
I understand you don't need God. Probably most of us would that we were in charge rather than God. It is seemingly our natural state. An overly healthy arrogance it is, but such is humanity.
I actually can dismiss him in reality. The problem is entirely with theists, not reality. This is really nothing more than taking a fictional character and insisting it is real. People do that, not the reality around us.
This is just BS (pardon my bluntness). I've had several try to claim this, and their supporting data was so weak as to cause them to slink away quietly.
If you can support the claim it would be interesting to read. I notice you set it up so that it is a very broad generalized dismissal, yet you seem proud to hang your hat on it.
I have made a few weak atheists slink away in my time too, not that hard. The evidence is clearly written in other stories that precede the writing of the bible. It exists in the fact that many of the dates given in the bible are a cover for pagan rituals that have been converted to christian beliefs. The birth of jesus being one of the more obvious ones.
This one is interesting to me in the distinction you draw. Christ said that the true worshipers worship in spirit and truth, and also that WE are the church, not a building. So you seem to be after the buildings and hierarchies like the Catholics or protestant, or others, but content to leave folks like me alone who realize that I am the church, and have a spiritual relationship with Christ directly.
You have to keep in mind that i disregard what appears to be nothing more than the superstitions covering this whole mess. Where as theists lean towards the godidit answer for everything there is with no doubt, a secular reason for these things.
Theists would most likely argue somewhere along the lines that religion came into existence because there is a god. Understandable but still nothing more than there own continuation of a superstition.
There is another explanation though. Have you ever heard of Gobekli Tepe?
I am not going into detail unless you really want to explore this, so here is a quick synopsis.
Gobekli Tepe, the oldest temple so far discovered. No coincidence that appears around the time also that man began to change from thousands and thousands of years of nothing more than a nomadic tribal existence into the very first attempts to create civilisation. A look at the temple demonstrates it is also an example where belief changed from spiritual worship to religion. Or in other words man went from being just one more spirit among the thousands of animal and plant spirit to becoming as god has put it, having dominion over the animals and plants of the earth.
In order for civilisation to actually begin a unifying force was needed. Religion was that force. Religion is really nothing more than a means of joining people together and gaining control over them.
Now days we of course have many other good reasons to continue a civilisation and many other means of unifying people. Religion is passe, not needed but some hang onto it for whatever power and ability to make others follow them it can give.
