How many of you believe in alien life?
-
Paul Watson wrote: Pity you cannot convey your proof of God. I know you are joking, but how would someone prove God ? Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
Warning Link to the minion's animation, do not use. It's a real shame that people as stupid as you can work out how to use a computer. said by Christian Graus in the Soapbox
Colin Davies wrote: I know you are joking, but how would someone prove God ? Proving the existence of God should be very easy for God. Afterall, God could appear to each and every person. God could send angels or carry on a conversation. I can prove my existence to you by writing this email, but God has millions of ways to prove his existence that would be even more concrete than my own proof of existence to you. Proving the non-existence of God, however, is next to impossible. For one thing, a disinterested God behaves pretty much the same as a non-existent God. ------------------------------------------ "What happened in that Rhode Island club is shocking. To think that over a hundred people would attend a Great White concert." - The Onion
-
Nishant S wrote: And kindly dont mention religion, god and brit spears. I won't mention the singer, so I have actually fulfilled this request. Evolution is unproved, illogical, and in violation of natural law. ( There's a statement to get my post count back up ) I believe that the only way for anything to exist is that something greater makes it. The need for a Creator makes the size of space irrelevant, and gives me no reason to believe in alien life. If it exists, fine, that will not change my views on God, but I simply don't believe in life on other planets, or the face of Elvis on the surface of Mars, or any similar theories. Christian NO MATTER HOW MUCH BIG IS THE WORD SIZE ,THE DATA MUCT BE TRANSPORTED INTO THE CPU. - Vinod Sharma Anonymous wrote: OK. I read a c++ book. Or...a bit of it anyway. I'm sick of that evil looking console window. I think you are a good candidate for Visual Basic. - Nemanja Trifunovic
Christian Graus wrote: Evolution is unproved, illogical, and in violation of natural law. Don't underestimate the power of mutation, selection, and crossover. Evolving Inventions[^] (Unfortunately, the entire article is not available on the web. I read the paper version of it.) ------------------------------------------ "What happened in that Rhode Island club is shocking. To think that over a hundred people would attend a Great White concert." - The Onion
-
I think that it's highly probable that an infinite number of monkey-like beings using an infinite number of keyboard-like tools in a parallel universe might closely resemble our Nish, but it's doubtful that they could match his post count on their CP-like forum. "Please don't put cigarette butts in the urinal. It makes them soggy and hard to light" - Sign in a Bullhead City, AZ Restroom
Very true... I think the amount of energy expended in such an exercise multiplied by a few million parallel-Nishes would inviolate some thermodynamic law somewhere. I just hope Chris Maunder has a 32 bit width message counter. My world tour What I do now.. "I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered" George Best.
-
Konstantin Vasserman wrote: But for millions of people religion is the primary reason they cannot accept the fact that the chances are that there are many alien life forms in the universe I guess so. It must be totally against their mindsets to try and accept a concept that will disagree with their religious beliefs. Konstantin Vasserman wrote: And while I am here I might as well just go ahead and mention god and Britney Spears... Uhm okay. I dont know if anyone will be insulted because you mentioned both of them in the same sentence. Nish
Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]
]I guess so. It must be totally against their mindsets to try ]and accept a concept that will disagree with their religious ]beliefs. Which is why I hope I am alive when (notice WHEN not 'if') "First Contact" (or whatever you want to call it) happen, just to see the silly religious believes of billions of minions who cannot think for themselves be shattered into equally many billions of pieces. I do not often quote Vladimir Lenin, as I do not think he was correct. But as the Swedish saying translates to "Even a blind hen will find a kernel now and then"...and he did hit the nail on the head with "RELIGION IS THE OPIATE OF THE MASSES" /CMH (ANd yes I have my flame proof protective suit on now)
-
Richard Stringer wrote: Not even close to the truth. So, produce an alien...You can't! Probably never will. You can't show me proof of life on other planets any more than I can show you proof that God exists. You simply believe they exist>>>>Look up the definition of faith. Gary Kirkham A working Program is one that has only unobserved bugs I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks
Gary Kirkham wrote: You can't show me proof of life on other planets any more than I can show you proof that God exists But I can prove that life exists - I can't prove that God exists. There are different meanings of the word 'faith'. All require you to accept something without any evidence. However we have evidence that there is life so that can be removed from the realm of 'faith' and into that of 'known'. Remember that anything not specificaly prohibited by nature will happen. Richard In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. Orson Welles
-
Richard Stringer wrote: Why ? Lets suppose that a listener was somewhere out there listening for us. Lets say he was on a star system 500 Light Years out ( fairly close in galatic terms ). If he hears the very first signals emitted from the earth it will still be another 400 years or so before he picks it up. And 900 years or so before we get a reply. Well, when we look at the sky, we are seeing a slice through space-time. Now, given the age of the universe (~13 billion years), I don't think it would be unreasonable to suggest that intelligent life could've evolved elsewhere 10 million years ago. If they happened to be 10 million light years away, we'd be receiving those radio signals right now. It wouldn't be signals directed at us, rather, we'd be picking up signals which happened to escape into space. (To flip the argument around, earth is broadcasting its radio signals into space right now - perhaps millions of years from now, maybe the human race will be extinct, but alien races of the future will see our radio signals.) What I'm saying is that we should be able to pickup ancient radio signals which leaked into space from an alien race without their intentionally sending it to us. While this is a little tangental to the subject, given the vast periods of time involved in the formation of the universe and the formation of solar systems and evolution of life, it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that civilizations might've existed 100 million or possibly even 1 billion years before the present. Even if a civilization has a 10,000 year head-start, it's likely that the alien species would have technologies that are unbelievable and their civilization would be hard to imagine. Yet, that is exactly the type of alien species we are likely to encounter - i.e. one that is at least 10,000 years ahead or behind our own. (The Star Trek idea of multiple races of roughly equivalent technology is next to impossible on a statistical basis; although I did hear that they explained it by saying that the multiple races were actually one race which was seeded on multiple planets by an "elder race".) Richard Stringer wrote: Three may be other paradigms that use different methods of communication - gamma rays x rays hell who knows. I was using the word "radio waves" in the broadest sense of the word - i.e. electromagetic radiation. X-Rays, Gamma rays, visible light, and radio waves are all part of the electromagnetic spectrum. I was thinking of somethin
Brit wrote: (The Star Trek idea of multiple races of roughly equivalent technology is next to impossible on a statistical basis; Not true. If you make the assumption that life needs the heavier elements to exist ( and this is a pretty safe assumption ) then life couln't have got a foothold till around the third generation of stars - I.E. it would all have began at a relative equal point in the existance of the universe. Admittedly there would probably be a 1000000 year or so overlap but even so this is still roughly the same time whem you consider the age of the universe. It is my understanding that we are searching only a very small bandwith of the available electromagnetic spectrum and concentrating of the bandwiths around the hydrogen atom. We have only recently ( since hubble ) been even able to look in the xray and gamma spectrum and are doing that more on a macro scale rather than a micro scale. And also remember that life may and probably will be abundant - intelligent life will be rather rare and probably scattered out over ranges that exceed 1000000 LY. Richard In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. Orson Welles
-
Ryan Binns wrote: I guess I'll believe it when I see it Just curious but when did you see God?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaMacbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er Shog9: Paul "The human happy pill" Watson
Paul Watson wrote: Just curious but when did you see God? I haven't of course :) I guess I believe in God for a different reason. If it wasn't for the support of some of my Christian friends when I was a teenager, I would have committed suicide long ago. I saw something in them that I knew I didn't have. They were happy, nothing seemed wrong. I guess I was naive but I wanted that. That's why I believe. I've seen what God's followers are like from a first-hand perspective. I haven't seen God, but I've seen how he is portrayed by people and I like it. I guess I believe because it works for me. It may not work for other people. That's not a problem. Everybody's different. :) PS. Sorry about the delay replying. It wasn't because of the question. I was at a friends birthday party last night. Great fun! :-D Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact" -
Thinking about it, religious folk always say God was not created on this world, so wouldn't that make it an alien? ;P
Anonymous wrote: Thinking about it, religious folk always say God was not created on this world, so wouldn't that make it an alien? I guess it would :) Except that they also say that God is not a physical person/thing/alien/whatever, but a spiritual one. Don't ask, I can't quite explain it, even though I'm a Christian... :~ Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact" -
Christian Graus wrote: Nope. In your finite wisdom, you've failed to ask Him. I have Christian, I really have. I am not opposed to wanting to believe, I have asked, I have an open mind to this. I don't see having faith as an easier route in life, but maybe a more fulfilling one. Christians believe that God has a plan, that your life is mapped out and known to him. That things happen by his will, bad or good that there is a reason that he knows. In fact that that is true for every human, believer or not. Some people spend all their lives looking and God never reveals himself to them. Others see him in their first years. That I have not seen him yet is by his choice, he has a plan for me. Isn't that how it goes, from your perspective?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaMacbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er Shog9: Paul "The human happy pill" Watson
Paul Watson wrote: Isn't that how it goes, from your perspective? Even I find it difficult to understand this. Yes, God knows everthing that will happen, yet he still gives us the freedom to make our own decisions. It's like if I took you to the edge of a high cliff and gave you the choice to jump or walk away. I know what you'll do (I hope :~ ) but you've still got the choice. That's what God's like. He gives us the choice to believe in him, yet he already knows what we're going to choose. I find it hard to understand why God tells us in the bible (just assume for argument's sake that it's true, please :)) that he has already knows who will believe in him, yet he also tells his followers that they should tell other people about him. It seems a bit illogical, doesn't it? There are quite a few things in the bible that can't be explained using logic, which is why Christians talk a lot about faith (the belief that something is true without having any proof). Faith is the basis of the Christian belief - the belief that God is real without really having any proof or first-hand experience. Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact" -
Konstantin Vasserman wrote: But for millions of people religion is the primary reason they cannot accept the fact that the chances are that there are many alien life forms in the universe I guess so. It must be totally against their mindsets to try and accept a concept that will disagree with their religious beliefs. Konstantin Vasserman wrote: And while I am here I might as well just go ahead and mention god and Britney Spears... Uhm okay. I dont know if anyone will be insulted because you mentioned both of them in the same sentence. Nish
Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]
Nishant S wrote: I guess so. It must be totally against their mindsets to try and accept a concept that will disagree with their religious beliefs. As far as I know the bible, it doesn't say anything about life on other planets. I'm a Christian, but I have no problem with it. It would be really cool :) If people use religion (I assume here you are talking about God and Christianity) as a basis for saying there is no life other than on earth, then I don't think that they have interpreted the bible correctly. People have wrongly taught Christianity for a long time from the point that there is no life other than on earth, when the bible doesn't actually say that - it only talks about earth. Just my two cents :) Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact" -
Paul Watson wrote: Isn't that how it goes, from your perspective? Even I find it difficult to understand this. Yes, God knows everthing that will happen, yet he still gives us the freedom to make our own decisions. It's like if I took you to the edge of a high cliff and gave you the choice to jump or walk away. I know what you'll do (I hope :~ ) but you've still got the choice. That's what God's like. He gives us the choice to believe in him, yet he already knows what we're going to choose. I find it hard to understand why God tells us in the bible (just assume for argument's sake that it's true, please :)) that he has already knows who will believe in him, yet he also tells his followers that they should tell other people about him. It seems a bit illogical, doesn't it? There are quite a few things in the bible that can't be explained using logic, which is why Christians talk a lot about faith (the belief that something is true without having any proof). Faith is the basis of the Christian belief - the belief that God is real without really having any proof or first-hand experience. Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact"Ryan Binns wrote: Faith is the basis of the Christian belief I think this is true of all the religions in the world. Whenever you mention god, you have to abandon logic if you want to believe in him/her/it.
Regards,Rohit Sinha
...celebrating Indian spirit and Cricket. 8MB video, really cool!
-
It is a possibility that alien life exists, but it is also possible that for some reason it does not. My article on a reference-counted smart pointer that supports polymorphic objects and raw pointers
Heh heh heh. What a diplomatic answer. :-D
Regards,Rohit Sinha
...celebrating Indian spirit and Cricket. 8MB video, really cool!
-
Paul Watson wrote: Isn't that how it goes, from your perspective? Even I find it difficult to understand this. Yes, God knows everthing that will happen, yet he still gives us the freedom to make our own decisions. It's like if I took you to the edge of a high cliff and gave you the choice to jump or walk away. I know what you'll do (I hope :~ ) but you've still got the choice. That's what God's like. He gives us the choice to believe in him, yet he already knows what we're going to choose. I find it hard to understand why God tells us in the bible (just assume for argument's sake that it's true, please :)) that he has already knows who will believe in him, yet he also tells his followers that they should tell other people about him. It seems a bit illogical, doesn't it? There are quite a few things in the bible that can't be explained using logic, which is why Christians talk a lot about faith (the belief that something is true without having any proof). Faith is the basis of the Christian belief - the belief that God is real without really having any proof or first-hand experience. Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact"Ryan Binns wrote: That's what God's like. He gives us the choice to believe in him, yet he already knows what we're going to choose. That is how I think about it as well. We have the choice, but his infinite wisdom shows him what we are going to choose. Apparently that is the reasoning which allows Christians to sleep at night when they know whole societies (e.g. those on Pacific islands centuries ago) are born damned, born destined for hell with no chance of being able to choose God. Because God already knows they won't choose him. I wonder if in the past or future there has been or will be a soul that chooses opposite to what God forsaw?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaMacbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er Shog9: Paul "The human happy pill" Watson
-
Paul Watson wrote: Just curious but when did you see God? I haven't of course :) I guess I believe in God for a different reason. If it wasn't for the support of some of my Christian friends when I was a teenager, I would have committed suicide long ago. I saw something in them that I knew I didn't have. They were happy, nothing seemed wrong. I guess I was naive but I wanted that. That's why I believe. I've seen what God's followers are like from a first-hand perspective. I haven't seen God, but I've seen how he is portrayed by people and I like it. I guess I believe because it works for me. It may not work for other people. That's not a problem. Everybody's different. :) PS. Sorry about the delay replying. It wasn't because of the question. I was at a friends birthday party last night. Great fun! :-D Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact"Ryan Binns wrote: I saw something in them that I knew I didn't have. They were happy, nothing seemed wrong Not to take anything away from your Christian friends but I am happy in life, nothing wrong and yet I have no religion. I know many other people like me. We have faith in life and ourselves, we do not need a 3rd party. But as I said, different strokes for different folks and all are good. Each good path leads to the same result IMO (though I wish religious folk would stop telling me I am going to hell :).) Ryan Binns wrote: I've seen what God's followers are like from a first-hand perspective. I haven't seen God, but I've seen how he is portrayed by people and I like it I am glad you have found good practising Christians, seems a rare thing these days (for all religions actually.)
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaMacbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er Shog9: Paul "The human happy pill" Watson
-
Gary Kirkham wrote: You can't show me proof of life on other planets any more than I can show you proof that God exists But I can prove that life exists - I can't prove that God exists. There are different meanings of the word 'faith'. All require you to accept something without any evidence. However we have evidence that there is life so that can be removed from the realm of 'faith' and into that of 'known'. Remember that anything not specificaly prohibited by nature will happen. Richard In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. Orson Welles
I guess we'll just have to disagree.:-D Since it is Sunday, I will close with this... If you believe in God, and what's in the Bible, there is a 100% chance you will meet God someday...The chance of you ever meeting an alien is approaching zero.;) Gary Kirkham A working Program is one that has only unobserved bugs I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks
-
There are billions and billions of stars stars in our galaxy and there are billions of galaxies like ours out there. Only a baby would say (if it knew how to speak of course) that earth is the only planet with life. Yet I find that there are unbelievers everywhere. Just wanted to know how of you believe there are alien life forms out there. The others (if they decide to participate in this thread) please give valid reasonable points. And kindly dont mention religion, god and brit spears. Nish
Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]
Yes. Of course I beliee in Alien life. No idea if it's like ourselves but I definitly believe. :-) Regards, Brian Dela :-)
-
Ryan Binns wrote: Faith is the basis of the Christian belief I think this is true of all the religions in the world. Whenever you mention god, you have to abandon logic if you want to believe in him/her/it.
Regards,Rohit Sinha
...celebrating Indian spirit and Cricket. 8MB video, really cool!
Rohit Sinha wrote: I think this is true of all the religions in the world. Whenever you mention god, you have to abandon logic if you want to believe in him/her/it. Absolutely :) God is something that just doesn't make sense (if you understand what I mean) Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact" -
Ryan Binns wrote: I saw something in them that I knew I didn't have. They were happy, nothing seemed wrong Not to take anything away from your Christian friends but I am happy in life, nothing wrong and yet I have no religion. I know many other people like me. We have faith in life and ourselves, we do not need a 3rd party. But as I said, different strokes for different folks and all are good. Each good path leads to the same result IMO (though I wish religious folk would stop telling me I am going to hell :).) Ryan Binns wrote: I've seen what God's followers are like from a first-hand perspective. I haven't seen God, but I've seen how he is portrayed by people and I like it I am glad you have found good practising Christians, seems a rare thing these days (for all religions actually.)
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaMacbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er Shog9: Paul "The human happy pill" Watson
Paul Watson wrote: I am glad you have found good practising Christians, seems a rare thing these days (for all religions actually.) Unfortunately it is :( Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact" -
Ryan Binns wrote: That's what God's like. He gives us the choice to believe in him, yet he already knows what we're going to choose. That is how I think about it as well. We have the choice, but his infinite wisdom shows him what we are going to choose. Apparently that is the reasoning which allows Christians to sleep at night when they know whole societies (e.g. those on Pacific islands centuries ago) are born damned, born destined for hell with no chance of being able to choose God. Because God already knows they won't choose him. I wonder if in the past or future there has been or will be a soul that chooses opposite to what God forsaw?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaMacbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er Shog9: Paul "The human happy pill" Watson
Paul Watson wrote: Apparently that is the reasoning which allows Christians to sleep at night when they know whole societies (e.g. those on Pacific islands centuries ago) are born damned, born destined for hell with no chance of being able to choose God. Because God already knows they won't choose him. I don't believe that people are born destined for hell. The bible (which is all we really have to go on) states that we all have the choice. It's just that we can't make that choice unless someone tells us about it. For people born centuries ago who weren't told about God, I just have to accept that they are going to hell, because they didn't choose God. The fact that they did not know about God doesn't really make a difference. What allows us to accept that is the belief that God has a reason for everything and is always right. BTW, predestination (the belief that we are destined to go to either heaven or hell and nothing we do will change that) is a fairly old belief, that is not really encountered any more. Certainly Christians do not believe it, for the simple reason that the bible states we have a choice. Predestination was one of the central beliefs of a variation (for want of a better word) of Christianity called Calvinism (started by a guy called Calvin, funnily enough :) and was never widely accepted. Paul Watson wrote: I wonder if in the past or future there has been or will be a soul that chooses opposite to what God forsaw? One of the qualities of God is that he knows everything and never makes mistakes, which makes this situation impossible. If it happens then God is not a god at all, but someone who makes mistakes. I'd rather believe that if there is a God, then he wouldn't make mistakes :). It's an interesting thing to think about, though :) Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact" -
Paul Watson wrote: Apparently that is the reasoning which allows Christians to sleep at night when they know whole societies (e.g. those on Pacific islands centuries ago) are born damned, born destined for hell with no chance of being able to choose God. Because God already knows they won't choose him. I don't believe that people are born destined for hell. The bible (which is all we really have to go on) states that we all have the choice. It's just that we can't make that choice unless someone tells us about it. For people born centuries ago who weren't told about God, I just have to accept that they are going to hell, because they didn't choose God. The fact that they did not know about God doesn't really make a difference. What allows us to accept that is the belief that God has a reason for everything and is always right. BTW, predestination (the belief that we are destined to go to either heaven or hell and nothing we do will change that) is a fairly old belief, that is not really encountered any more. Certainly Christians do not believe it, for the simple reason that the bible states we have a choice. Predestination was one of the central beliefs of a variation (for want of a better word) of Christianity called Calvinism (started by a guy called Calvin, funnily enough :) and was never widely accepted. Paul Watson wrote: I wonder if in the past or future there has been or will be a soul that chooses opposite to what God forsaw? One of the qualities of God is that he knows everything and never makes mistakes, which makes this situation impossible. If it happens then God is not a god at all, but someone who makes mistakes. I'd rather believe that if there is a God, then he wouldn't make mistakes :). It's an interesting thing to think about, though :) Ryan Being little and getting pushed around by big guys all my life I guess I compensate by pushing electrons and holes around. What a bully I am, but I do enjoy making subatomic particles hop at my bidding - Roger Wright (2nd April 2003, The Lounge)
Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late - John Nichol "Point Of Impact"Ryan Binns wrote: The fact that they did not know about God doesn't really make a difference. What allows us to accept that is the belief that God has a reason for everything and is always right. But the fact remains that a human born on a remote Pacific island to which the word of God has not arrived is destined to go to hell right off the bat. In their lives they will never be told of Jesus and therefore never given the choice. As you say though God is always right, that is why that human was born on that island, it was for a reason (one maybe because God knew that even if the human had been given the choice that they would not have chosen him.) So it is a form of predestination, one determined by God. Ah well. I believe that if there is a God that those Pacific chaps would have through leading good lives be welcomed by God into his kingdom once they died. i.e. No choice necessary, just a good life.
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaMacbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er Shog9: Paul "The human happy pill" Watson