Why has religion been such a prominent force throughout mankind's history? Why do people continue to cling to something they have no evidence for? Some claim to have evidence to back up their beliefs, but do their arguments stand up to scrutiny?
I went through a time in my life when I was determined to find out the truth. I realized that if I had been born in Saudi Arabia, I most likely would have become a muslim; If I had been born in India, I would have most likely become a Hindu, and so on. It looked very much to me like the faith I had in Christianity just wasn't enough. If mankind were ever to determine truth, each man must agree to set aside his personal faith and seek the truth objectively. Logic and evidence would lead directly into the correct religion.
I have thought about and discussed the big questions of life many times and with many people. I have read many books and articles searching for the truth behind it all. These are my results. Do not think these thoughts are the final word; It is tentative. I will make mistakes but I will correct them when they are brought to my attention. My philosophy will be revised, expanded, corrected, and ammended until I pass away.
Why God is Not a Satisfying Explanation
Theists have gotten themselves into the bad habit of explaining away things they don't understand with 'God'. For example, a theist might look at a living thing and wonder why it is so complex. How did such a thing come to be? The answer: 'God'. Yet God must be even more complex than any living thing, so where did he get his complexity? Here we see the fundamental flaw in their logic: The theist has not really explained the complexity of life; He has put the problem in a box labeled "God" and decided not to think about it.
For a Second Example, All of us have wondered why there is something instead of nothing. The theist will reply, "God!" Without ever bothering to ask, "Why God rather than nothing?" Our universe contains unthinkable levels of beauty and complexity, and it is only natural to want an explaination for it. When seeking an explanation, remember: 'God' does not answer our questions, it pushes them back and tells us that we can't know.
