The Sermon Part 2 (Agnosticism)

by Carl, Sunday, July 27, 2008, 21:35 (5744 days ago) @ David Turell

All religions have inconsistencies that make them unpersuasive to me. I have also seen enough disagreement and inconsistency in logical debate that I do not believe absolute truth is available there except in very restricted situations such as math. It is hubris to think that from our perspective of a tiny point in the immensity of time and space that we could fathom ultimate reality. Scientific logic applied to theory which leads to new observations and new theory is tedious and imperfect, but it is the only path forward that I can see. 
I do not expect an argument or event that would alter my belief. The ultimate truths are unknowable by mere humans, and, for me, they all go into a folder labeled "unknown", and I am completely comfortable with that. I would not change anyone's mind about their convictions, since my beliefs hold no benefit for me beyond the fact that they are honestly what I feel.
When you look at the suffering in the animal world (including man), I can only believe that, if God did create life, either God is indifferent or , as Bbella said in a previous post, there is an explanation why this is all really benign that it is beyond our comprehension. If it is the latter and there is an afterlife, I would expect amnesty for all our misdeeds.
I do find it interesting that all societies seem to have an impetus toward some type of religion, but the results are too varied to think there is some "true" religion behind it.
In regard to the origin of life, there is a possibility other than chance and design. It may be that the natural attributes of organic elements are such that anytime they are brought together under the right conditions and allowed a few hundred million years to percolate, the precursors of life and, ultimately, life itself will arise. If you throw in panspermia, then you have the conditions and life span of the entire galaxy to produce the required conditions. I would not call such a scenario "chance".