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Old 12-31-2009, 02:39 PM   #3 (permalink)
SecretMethod70
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One thing that is generally true among faithful is that reality serves faith, and not the other way around. (It should be noted that this was not always true.)

Most believers in "intelligent design" would simply discount the facts you state by saying they haven't personally seen proof of this, it's just a scientific conspiracy, or some other such nonsense.

Then you have people who believe in a creator who takes special interest in humanity but who do not ignore what has been discovered by science. The only reasonable response for such a person is to assume your final point, that life is destined for a non-material paradise. Of course, this is still an assumption, and one which was not always present in the histories of modern religions. One's understanding of the creator's plan is always relative to what one assumes and/or does not understand about the world in which we live. It's a necessity of belief, and it's why the most astute people rarely remain in this phase for very long.

It is because of this that the only reasonable conclusion - if one is to believe in a creator of some sort - is to recognize that humans are likely nothing special in the creator's mind. We are a blip in creation, and probably one of thousands of species like us across the universe. As an intelligent species, maybe we are more beloved than the plants and animals, but it's certainly unlikely that we are most beloved across the universe.

Personally, I think our impermanence and insignificance are part of what makes life so special and wondrous. When you understand all the things that fell into place to put us here, it's really amazing, and far more poetic than a creator snapping its fingers. That doesn't mean there's not some force behind creation, but creation - which we discover through science - cannot contradict the creator. And considering the revelations we've learned about our relationship to the potential creator, given the discoveries we've made through science, I don't see how the question of a creator really matters.

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Last edited by SecretMethod70; 12-31-2009 at 02:43 PM..
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