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Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 9:30pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
The sad concept of an atheistic universe is well captured by a simple Indian folk tale. “There is an old Indian folk tale about a young man who set off to explore a nearby river on a raft. All was going well as he paddled along until he suddenly heard the distant roar of water. Squinting into the distance, he noticed that the river had a rather disturbing, absence-of-horizon look to it: there was a huge waterfall ahead! Frantically he began trying to paddle to one bank of the river, then the other, but each time the current was too strong. He cried for help, but there was nobody to hear him. Finally, he tried paddling upstream and discovered that he could just about hold the raft still, but couldn’t make any progress away from the waterfall. So what should he do? How long until his strength gave out and drifted to his doom? After contemplating this for a few minutes, he came to a decision. He threw his paddle into the river and lay back on the raft, his hands behind his head and a peaceful smile on his face; after all, he had decided, I might as well enjoy my final ride.” Packed into this little tale is a surprising amount. What struck me first was that no matter how much the Indian man cried out for help “there was nobody to hear him.” This reminds me of the atheist Michael Shermer who, in his book, shares a personal experience from when his college girlfriend was in a car accident that paralyzed her for life. In a moment of fear, Shermer prayed that God would heal the girl but when his prayer went unanswered he turned his back on Christian belief. But, on atheism, that is simply brutal reality, as one atheist saw when he penned that “some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice”. What happens, just happens. A car crash leaving a girlfriend paralyzed for life is simply an unimportant collision of atoms. And no matter how much our hearts and mind tell us to protest against that fact it means nothing, just as a collision between two asteroids means nothing; as the atheist William Provine concluded: “The universe cares nothing for us and we have no ultimate meaning in life”. If atheism is true no matter how much we beg for a miracle, for a sign, for anything, there is no God on the other end of the line to hear us. We are trapped on a rock that is no more than “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam”. If atheism is true no matter how much we paddle upstream against the bite of existential nihilism our arms will eventually give way and we’ll plummet down the waterfall of existential despair. If God does not exist it just doesn’t matter how hard we try to paddle to one bank of the river in order to avoid the implications, as the atheist existentialist Sartre saw when dispelling God: “If God does not exist… man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon, either within or outside himself”. But our Indian friend came to a decision. He knew that he could not avoid the inevitable. He was going to die, he knew it, and decided to live his brief moment in time smiling at the cloudy sky as a merciless waterfall pulls him closer and closer. After all, he knew these implications, and he chose to dupe himself into a brief illusory happiness, lest he dwells his few moments in despair. Richard Dawkins would write: “Presumably there is indeed no purpose in the ultimate fate of the cosmos, but do any of us really tie our life’s hopes to the ultimate fate of the cosmos anyway?” For Dawkins (and our Indian friend) it is best to pretend that we have meaning, value and purpose, even though he knows, deep down, that there is “nothing but blind, pitiless indifference”. If atheism is true we are all this Indian on the raft. What awaits us, our civilisation, our race, our planet, indeed the universe as a whole, is destruction and extinction, no matter what we do. Philosopher William Lane Craig puts it: “If there is no God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to death, we await our unavoidable execution… If God does not exist, then life is futile”. https://jamesbishopblog./2016/06/30/atheisms-universe-and-a-little-indian-parable/ 5 Likes 2 Shares
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Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by Nobody: 9:36pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
Undisputably true. 1 Like |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hopefulLandlord: 9:39pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
. 1 Like
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Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hahn(m): 9:42pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
If God does not exist, then life is futile Which god are we talking about here? 1 Like |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 9:43pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn:The One you spend your whole life talking about. 4 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by sonofluc1fer: 9:44pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01:Like you're an atheist cos u spend time talking about atheism. |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by Nobody: 9:46pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
sonofluc1fer:Hey, good to see you again. Longest time! |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hahn(m): 9:48pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01: When I say god doesn't exist. I mean ALL the gods. Including yours You say YOUR god is real but ALL other religions disagree. You first have to argue with your fellow theists that subscribe to the other 4200 gods and who also agree that YOUR god is fake. My stance is that they are ALL fake You believe in only ONE god. I believe in none. Nothing you can write will prove YOUR god's existence because many people will disagree. This your post is full of wishful thinking. So, even if god is not real, you need the psychological cushion that the "belief" brings. Still doesn't make it real 4 Likes |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by sonofluc1fer: 9:49pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
lordnicklaus:Thank you Bro. back to haunt the MESSengers of Christ with my rod of correction. African man must receive sense. 3 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by sonofluc1fer: 9:50pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn:His own exists. I have proof. It's in his mind. |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by KingEbukasBlog(m): 9:53pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
sonofluc1fer: Like you're a Christian cos u spend time talking about Christianity . |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 9:54pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn:Check out your last 5 threads on God, you'll see which One gives you the most head and heartache 3 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 9:55pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
sonofluc1fer:I spend time tailking against atheists cos they wont allow me to share my beliefs peacefully on a religion section. I have no buisness with them on a normal day, but not when they think they can invade harmless religious threads and spew pseudointellectual crap. 3 Likes |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by sonofluc1fer: 9:56pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
KingEbukasBlog:Exactly, you see how silly the reasoning is. It's like saying Joshthefirst is a disease, cos he spends time curing them 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 9:57pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
sonofluc1fer:This man has a message for you, you should listen to him.
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Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 9:59pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
sonofluc1fer:Which of the senses? Nonsense?
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Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by sonofluc1fer: 9:59pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01:You can share your beliefs, but this isn't Sunday School. The truth is Christian threads rarely generate interest - and you know why. 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hahn(m): 10:00pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01: Lol. You mean the same way atheists give you headache? You mean you still haven't understood what the word "atheist" means? |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 10:00pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
sonofluc1fer:why? |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by KingEbukasBlog(m): 10:01pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn: For the umpteen time , you don't make any sense when you dwell on religion as your reason for your claim that God does not exist . Learn to think outside the usual mumbo jumbo on every atheist site . |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hahn(m): 10:01pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01: Bro, even Christians sleep during service. That tells you exactly how boring it is |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hahn(m): 10:02pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
KingEbukasBlog: God does not exist outside religion. God is a product of religion. |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by sonofluc1fer: 10:02pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01:Christians don't care. 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 10:04pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
sonofluc1fer:Hey, do you know why atheists rarely talk about Nietzche? 2 Likes 1 Share
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Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 10:06pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn:Naah. You and your people call it different things. HcPaul calls it sanity, AgentofAllah calls it an admission of apathy towards God, others call it science, reasoning, logic, rationality, rejection of dogma etc Just to delude yourselves. 1 Like |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by sonofluc1fer: 10:06pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01:Who is that? Your role model? 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hahn(m): 10:07pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01: Hahahaha Coming from someone who believes in talking snakes and donkeys |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by Joshthefirst(m): 10:08pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn:The Source of all. Accept the reality of the origin God before discussing on which and which. sonofluc1fer:lol. Still a student bro. How many times am I going to tell you guys na? |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by winner01(m): 10:09pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn:Is there any proof of this Nonsense you spew over and over again? 2 Likes 1 Share
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Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by hahn(m): 10:09pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
winner01: See as you talk am like say you make point. Lol Like he is an Adeboye who goes around preaching and extorting "believers" |
Re: Atheism’s Universe And A Little Indian Parable. by KingEbukasBlog(m): 10:10pm On Aug 31, 2016 |
hahn: Deepsight agrees with you Jokes aside 1. There are atheist religions 2. Deism repudiates religious concepts about God Think again bro 3 Likes |
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