Amazing ..grace?Stan: another example of the cognitive dissonance that exists in this paradoxical animal called Homo Sapiens. EccoHomo.Astark contrast between the rational man and the passionate man.Beforewarned of the madness that ensues when you try to reconcile the two.
Alf. This is a profound statement that you have posted. I have been waiting for Stan to reply to this post, some how I think he sees a slippery slope, and will not concede that he is taken in with the so called evident from a scientific religion that there is no God .Or the platform he has build,could come crashing down.
The evidence that Stan holds to is circumstantial evident, and you will notice that most times when the Evolution evidence is presented it almost always adds that it is carbon copy or they say it is believed that this is evidences that life came from nothing or man started from nothing with out a creator.This is the thinking that is now taught, in the Educational world..
Stan how can you ignore the evidence that is all around you .I know you are a very senative man when I read your post, I sense that you are a very caring man.Who gave you that love ? Where did the male and female evolve from ? It cant come from nothing, There was a plan , you must look at the big picture.Nature a lone has so much evidence that it was created.
I dont know what you believe , in so far as evil that it exist.Things that are now happening, in our society is very scary
I know what I am talking about I wasted so many years rationalizing, that if there was a God why did things happen the way they did.in my struggle with the existence of God.
This change when God changed my personality with his unconditional love,and I became a passionate man, he filled me with feeling for people around me.Every day I go or do something that I can interact with my fellowman to share this love that He has given me.

So Alf, to me it is not so much madness , that ensues when the rational man and the passionate man reconcile if God is in the picture.

When the rational man and the passionate man make peace within the same human body, what you have is an incredible and positive dynamo. He who has faith without [reason] is a weaker entity.

Faith and Reason do well when they make peace! Reason adds to Faith once they make peace...

Don, I saw no slippery slope in Alf's comments, and didn't really understand the point he was trying to make. Regarding the differences between a rational and passionate man, I don't see it at all as one or the other. I believe I am both rational and passionate, as are many other people. It's probably true there are some who are mainly rational and others who are mainly passionate.

As far as the source for emotions such as love and passion, I don't see that they necessarily must come from a supernatural creator. We know that the emotions we feel are caused by chemical reations in our brain. That doesn't rule out supernatural intervention, but I don't see it as being a necessary cause either.

When you have a natural explanation for how something could have come into being, why complicate the process by assuming a supernatural cause? Even if we have not come upon a natural explanation, we know from the past that so many causes which were once thought to be supernatural were later found to be natural.

"[Stan] will not concede that he is taken in with the so called evident from a scientific religion that there is no God."

If I hear one more time someone calling science a religion, I'm going to start typing in all caps. THIS IS MADNESS. Do you call any belief system a religion? For the 60th time, science is based on evidence and religion is based on faith. I don't look out the window and note it is raining and get accused of having a religious belief. But if I observe 3 million year old fossils of early human beings, along with countless other evidences for an evolving biological system, I get accused of having a scientific religion if I conclude that the Bible can not be taken literally.

BTW, I'm not argueing, and I don't think I ever have argued that there is no God. There is a complete lack of evidence to make such a conclusion. However, I can and will argue that the Bible is probably not the word of any God who may be responsible for creation, if there is one.

I think it is a fallicy to suppose that since evil exists, it must come from an evil source, and since good exists, it must come from a good source. These atributes can be explained by genetics, beiology, and environmental conditioning. No supernatural powers need be evoked. Doesn't rule them out, but I'm just saying they are not necessary to explain it.

I suggest if you want to know more about the theory of evolution, as far as how the sexes evolved, you buy a good book about the theory of evolution. I know there are explanations that are based on evidence, but I'm probably not prepared or qualified to explain it so you would be convinced.

Maybe there was a plan to it all. I don't think we will ever know. On the other hand, evidence suggests it could very well have just happened with a mechanism called "natural selection". Did some cosmic God design the universe and all the natural laws with "natural selection" being a part of it? Who knows?

One thing for sure, when people start claiming they know for certian things that have no natural evidence, it's quite certian they don't know at all.

P.S. I'm without my spellchecker on this new computer, so everyone will get a chance to see what my spelling is really like.

P.S. Don, I can get passionate sometimes when I write, but I don't harbor any ill feelings about any comments sent my way. I'm always glad to exchange ideas with those who see things differently. And I'm not so set in my ways I won't change my mind. I just need some good evidence to do do.

Stan;

I think there are people who call science a religion when science becomes the predominate motivator in one's life.

I know of no evidence Stan that gives serious credence to the idea of natural selection. There are suspicions that that could be so.