Originally Posted by jillianleab
I wondered if you would join in on this thread. :) You're right - it comes down to faith. Earlier in this thread it was mentioned to (pretty much) look around and one can see god; but that implies having faith. The "proofs" mentioned in the link I referenced are only "proof" if you then apply faith. To believe in a god, one must have faith.
An omnipotent one? :D If god can do anything, why CAN'T he prove himself using the scientific method? He controls everything anyway, so why not give someone the knowledge of some experiment to "prove god" and every time that experiment is performed, you get the same result? Then god IS proven using the scientific method, but only because he's allowing himself to be proven. Or are you forgetting that god can do whatever he wants, so if he wants to be proven by the scientific method, he can be? ;)
Or perhaps god would be one who wants everyone to believe because he wants everyone to be saved, and will do what it takes for them to believe, instead of sending muddled messages?
Stay with me here; lots of people use the parent/child analogy when describing god/people, so I'm going to do the same (put on your humor hat, please!)
We tell our children things in clear terms so they know what we want of them. We don't give them round about answers or commands; we don't say, "it would be nice if the dishwasher was empty", we say, "go empty the dishwasher".
So let's say you're my parent, and I'm about to stab my brother in the eye with a hat pin. MOST people don't do such a thing, but some people do. I'm going to do it unless you tell me, in clear, uncertain terms to NOT stab my brother in the eye. Instead of saying "Don't stab your brother in the eye!" (clear, uncertain terms), you say, "It's good to be nice to people" (rather ambiguous). So I stab my brother in the eye, and you get mad. I continue to go about stabbing people in the eye, because you just won't tell me not to. You KNOW what you need to say, but for whatever reason, you won't do it. Then, you punish me for it. Is this how we teach our children?