Am I brainwashed as a deist?
Offline HIS FIRST EMAIL:
From: Elettrorganica
Date: Sep 21, 2006 6:45 PM... i really don't dig ready made religious beliefs. Would you agree that allthough there is not a god as such there is obviously a universal force of some sort that we are in no way able to name and make stupid books about.. What d'ya recon?
MY RESPONSE:
----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: RATIONAL RESPONSE SQUAD
Date: Sep 22, 2006 6:00 AMWe could agree to that if there is some proof. Got any?
THE MOST RECENT EMAIL, AND MY RESPONSES:
----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Elettrorganica
Date: Sep 22, 2006 11:25 AM
ha ha, well.. The existance of the universe is scientificly prooven and it is more powerful that anything.
I'm not sure in what regard the Universe is more powerful than anything, like for example how well can the universe compute the circumference of a given object? But put that aside, let's pretend the Universe is "more powerful than anything." So what? You're saying that whatever thing is the most powerful in the Universe, in this case the Universe itself, it must have a creator? That just doesn't make any sense. What created the creator? Afterall the creator would have to be more powerful than the Universe... so the Universe can't be more powerful than anything.
I didn't say the energy has got a beard and checks on us...
Ok, well what is it then? What sort of proof do you have for an energy force that created the Universe?
what proof do you have that there is not such a force?
The burden of proof isn't on me to prove there isn't a force. The default position is that there is no force until you've proven one. Do you need proof that an invisible elephant isn't in your car? No... you just don't believe there is an invisible elephant in your car until someone proves it to you.
Yes... this is starting to sound a little like brainwashing. It's ok... if you listen to my show you'd know I held your EXACT same belief in a deist god about 8 years ago, and snapped out of it on a day like today, when a wise man, asked me why I was making up something to explain something I didn't understand. (Jake@http://www.afterfaith.com/)
In other words... you don't fully understand the Universe. And you don't fully understand your "energy god" concept. You have evidence for the Universe... but no real evidence for your "energy god" concept. So why complicate what you don't understand with something you have even less understanding of? The basic principles of logic and Occams Razor tell us that there is no reason to hold that a god did it, until there is evidence. Unless of course you're predisposed to believing in a god because of societal pressures and the fact that it's been ingrained in your mind that one must exist. 
In kindness,
Brian Sapient
Vote for Democrats to save us all from the anti-American Republican party!
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Well said, Brian. I've heard this argument very often, especially in my school. Sounds like it's coming from a kid trying to figure out what to look at and what to trust.
*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*
"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby