Matt Colvin sez: "When you say that it is impossible to prove that God exists, you have virtually assumed that the Christian God does not exist." Perhaps ... but you seem to have started with the opposite assumption, that this deity does exist. In order to convince anyone, you would have to start from the neutral position. I just thought I might jump in here, as the resident Unitarian-Universalist Pagan Agnostic of the QB circuit. I came up with a thought the other day ... I was thinking about when I teach physics/astronomy students about the luminiferous aether, and the Michelson-Morley experiment that "disproved" its existence. Actually, MM didn't disprove the existence of the aether -- but rather, showed that if the aether does exist, it has no measurable properties, and the universe BEHAVES as if it doesn't exist. Then I thought, it's kind of the same for any given hypothesized deity, at least for a nonbeliever, i.e. someone who does not begin with the assumption that said deity exists. From the nonbeliever's perspective, the universe behaves exactly as it would if that deity did not exist. For the record, you name a religion, I've probably met people of that religion whom I really like, and others whom I really dislike. No correlation between faith (or lack thereof) and being a good person. I agree that we should respect others' beliefs ... but also others' nonbelief, so if people want to have a tournament on a Sunday, and you don't want to participate, then don't, and let them have their fun. -- Doug
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