The Narrow Path Ministries

We can reasonably state that murder is a greater harm than insulting is. I've known atheists that disagreed with this. Once murder is committed, what does it matter? No conscious entity is in pain anymore. But words can hurt us with deep emotional pain we live with every day, while the murdered is ...

Interesting, of course all the stuff isn't still there is it? If I smash coal, I get a diamond. Its the same "stuff" but I suspect they would be recognized as different things. When I digest a burrito the resulting "stuff" is not something you'd be willing to share with me, though you might take hal...

Now, we do not currently know how the first molecule replicated, or how many tried it took to get one that survived. However science has demonstrated that these molecules do form naturally in the correct conditions and we have even succeed in creating ones that replicate. Okay "we" have succeeded i...

ApostateltsopA, Thank you for taking the time to respond to my points. In another thread I think you mentioned having children, so extra kudos for finding the time to entertain us silly Christians! I hope you’re getting adequate sleep to deal with these heady philosophical topics. I'm getting about...

@ dizerner I don't think it is a fair characterization of my morality to reduce it to "Hey I want to be a nice guy." There is quite a lot more going on than that. You attempted to downplay the use of Well Being and Harm as guide posts. It is true that these are not empirical measurements in the same...

@mattrose, I think we're actually down to presuppositions. You seem to presuppose that god and Jesus exist, and I do not. If I looked at them from a presupposition of their existence my objections would seem petty and hubristic. However I can't choose to presuppose that. In fact I did once believe e...

Ok, I'll respond to all three of you and try not to hit too much overlap. My mind can't hold all three arguments simultaniously so if I repeat myself you have my apologies. If I contradict myself though feel free to pounce ;) Apos, You wrote: Looking back in time we see a succession of simpler and s...

Hi Jason, I see the discussion has wandered off topic a bit. I'm not sure who the other atheist here is, but I'm happy to give my responses to your points. In summary they seem to be, 1. Design 2. A search for the prime mover 3. Morality 1. Design. There is a subtle flaw in all of your examples. You...

I'm sorry to have been off a couple days, I'm fighting a particularly nasty cold. Mostly better now though and thrilled to see this discussion ranging into so many interesting places. I'll try and hit a few high points here and if anyone feels I missed something I'm happy to revisit it. Just ask abo...

Apos wrote: As a fun corollary, if there is no god, then this life is all there is and living the best life possible should still be the goal we seek. Which dovetails neatly into why would I believe that kindness, generosity and love are things which we should strive for. But why? If there is no Go...