First of all, I have more in common with atheists than religious people, so my intention isn't to come here and attack, I just want to hear your opinions. Maybe I'm wrong, I'd like to hear from you if I am. I'm just expressing here my perception of the movement and not actually what I consider to be facts.
My issue with atheism is that I think it establishes the lack of a God or gods as the truth. I do agree that the concept of a God is hard to believe logically, specially with all the incoherent arguments that religions have had in the past. But saying that there's no god with certainty is something I'm just not comfortable with. Science has taught us that being wrong is part of the process of progress. We're constantly learning things we didn't know about, confirming theories that seemed insane in their time. I feel like being open to the possibilities is a healthier mindset, as we barely understand reality.
In general, atheism feels too close minded, too attached to the current facts, which will probably be obsolete in a few centuries. I do agree with logical and rational thinking, but part of that is accepting how little we really know about reality, how what we considered truth in the past was wrong or more complex than we expected
I usually don't believe there is a god when the argument comes from religious people, because they have no evidence, but they could be right by chance.
Being certain of something, doesn't mean that you're closed minded. I am certain there is no God, as defined by any popular description I've heard in my life.
But if God themself, in whatever form, appeared to me, explained the situation and performed a few petty miracles at my request, I would then be convinced that they actually are God and that I understand the extent of their abilities and intentions.
I'd probably pop up in here and be like "ok, I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out..." Because I assume most other atheists would rather know the truth, than prove that they're right. Many of course would think I'm trolling, maybe a few would ask questions, maybe I'd eventually get one or two to believe me. I'd probably get better results if I could convince God that appearing to more people might help his PR, but, mysterious ways and all...
Anyway, I'm convinced because of the evidence before me, new evidence might lead to a new view, but it has to happen first. 🤷🏻♂️
How can you be certain about something related to the origin of the universe when we're just little chimps on a rock. We're clueless about something as complex as creation.
How can we be certain that we aren't in the matrix? Or that my wife isn't secretly plotting to kill me? or that I wasn't adopted, or that my kids weren't switched at birth, or that someone isn't sneaking into the driveway every night and letting out a few pounds of pressure in my tires?
You have to draw the line somewhere. If you can't assign certainty to some parts of your life, you'll just spiral into a state of constantly questioning every possibility of every stimulus you encounter, and never being able to commit to anything without analyzing every possibility.
I have enough evidence to be certain of all the scenarios above. Until new information comes to light, I have absolutely no reason to question my stance on things I've come to a decision on.
All the things you said are mundane. The existence of a creator or the origin of reality is something much different to "is my kid an alien?".
Just because you can't be certain about something doesn't mean you can't be certain about anything. What I'm saying is that being certain about this particular thing feels like a monkey trying to have opinions about quantum computers. I'm sure the money is certain about the banana being tasty.
Are you certain we are not in a simulation? Isn't the apropiare thing to do in that case to say "I'm not certain, thus I shouldn't have any belief about it, because a belief is not based on facts".
Whether it's a deity's experiment, simulation, or an island on a turtles back, my day to day life still functions the same. Like I said, give me a reason to be interested. When people claim to have found bigfoots remains, I'm curious, skeptical, but I want to know if there is new information. Frankly, God is just a mundane topic because I've heard everyone's case, they've all been debunked, and nothing new has happened in thousands of years. I think there are lots of mysteries we have left to find, and I do think there are supernatural forces that we can't yet explain, because of what I've experienced, but until people start rapturing, it's not something I need to think about.
There's a lot we don't or perhaps even cannot know, but I would not say that we (or rather the people in the various fields of science ) are "clueless". There's a ton that we do know to different degrees of certainty, and we learn more every day.
Yeah, we can be certain about some things. I don't think humans with their current capacity can be certain about the existence or non-existence of the creator of reality.