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DeviantlyD -> RE: Stephen Hawking: There is no heaven; it's a fairy story (5/18/2011 4:06:33 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: lickenforyou
Organized religion is slowly dying out as people become more educated. Religion evolved as people learned that there wasn't an angry god living in the volcano making it erupt, for example. There seem to be more people these days who simply call themselves "spiritual."Which, at first glance, may seem less thought out than believing in dogma. But, it is probably just part of the loosening of the grip of needing to believe that something supernatural is in charge and everything is going to be okay.
Stephen Hawking is a brilliant thinker and to dismiss what he says because you want hold on to a fantasy is illogical. But you all have the right to do it. I THINK (not believe) heaven is false because it is based strictly on wishful thinking and, AT BEST, anecdotal evidence. Atheist don't have to prove there's no heaven anymore than we have to prove that there are no pixies.
We are comfortable saying that we don't know. We follow the evidence. I'll be happier than a pig in shit to find that there is more life after physical death. But, not a shred of credible evidence exists to indicate that it does.
I have only read your post and the OP, so I cannot comment on anyone else's.
How do you know it's a fantasy? The reality is, no one knows unequivocally what happens after we die. Stephen Hawking is entitled to his opinion, but it's just that. You say "we follow the evidence", but to even hint that we know enough to state absolutely there is no heaven, there is no God, there is no afterlife is a rather arrogant statement to make. Science may know a lot, but there is so much that is unknown. What if there is another plane (or planes) of existence or another dimension that has not been detected because the current scientific theories and knowledge are too limited to do so? Consider all of the scientific advancements of the last 100 years. Or consider one of the more current theories that challenges Einstein's theory of relativity - a theory long held as true. What if other evidence becomes known in the future to challenge current theories. We just cannot say with any degree of certainty what will happen.
To say we die and turn to dust is one possibility and one I had once considered. But now? I don't believe it to be so and my reasoning has nothing to do with fairy tales. ;)
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