what is the scientific rationale behing god?
357386
I think an anthropologist would say that belief in a higher power was a way for humans to rationalize the unknown and frightening (e.g., fierce animals, lightning, fire, starvation, illness, etc.); and that soon after it began, opportunistic humans took advantage of the fear and turned superstition into a business, organizing sacrifices, providing privileged communication with the god(s), collecting offerings, recruiting acolytes and suppressing dissent, all in the name of tribal safety and prosperity. Now we call these entrepreneurs preachers, pontiffs, imams, rabbis, etc. and with the assistance of compliant civil governments, they can aspire to more effective means of retaining belief and power.
592235
Dear musical_k,\n\nRegarding miracles...\n\n1. It is rational to believe that God exists (e.g., see http://www.godsci.org/gs/godsci/evidence.htm for scientific and intellectual evidence for the existence of God).\n\n2. If God exits, he can perform miracles.\n\n3. Given that it is rational to believe that God exists, it is therefore rational to believe that miracles are possible.\n\n4. I choose to be consistent and rational in my world-view and in my beliefs. Therefore I believe that miracles are possible.\n\nCordially,\nJohn
36695
O.K. admiralbob! I'm glad your not in charge of everything. Everyone wants to prove how things work, but they can't answer the question as to who made it all happen.....Anyway I've got broadband but the download is taking a minute so based off of others speculation and the website that I observed, I would say SURE THING. God is intelligent so why wouldn't he use science he created it? But yeah! They should use it to teach if they have found that proof! It would really back up the bible too.
1143395
Sure... Ta for asking.\n\nI have come to this decision based on my upbringing, education, research, and experience.  I have found no evidence to support the claims outlined by any religion (and I have researched most of them), and infact find stacks of evidence that questions the validity and even the source of all the 'divinely inspired' books.  For me  science has plausible, logical & evidenced based answers to how we have developed by impersonal means.\n\nNatural disasters are impersonal, viruses and diseases kill all the time, and of course people kill people and animals.  Nature has many examples of downright evil design like parasitoids or just plain stupid design like the blind spot in our eye.\n\nA study of history shows the development of religion and it is plain to see how it is borne out of fear of the unknown, and for the main religions they have been spread alot by blood.  I also find the concept of god illogical, and find the holy book versions to be mean and sadistic.\n\nI have never ever witnessed anything I can't explain naturally.\n\nSo quite simply I have nothing to suggest a god exists -so to me it is a non concept up there with santa and the tooth fairy, therefore I am atheist.
518129
Man created god to explain what he did not understand,\nthrough science began to unlock the mysteries of the universe.\ngod is dead
1003977
Have you thought of a wonderful god who doesn't have a creator?\nWhat about the beautiful creator who doesn't have his or her own creator as well.\nThe first cause argument is so old and lame.  If you need a creator to explain everything, explain where the creator came from, please.
588666
I had resolved this for myself in a debate with an atheist who said he "believed" in coincidence.  I asked him where coincidence COMES FROM.  No good answer but he is looking.\nI found that science is how we go about study of how Gods' handiwork is put together and that we will only get to learn so much but not any more than is allowed.  Also, there is growing scientific evidence that events in scripture have actually occured....
1088092
Many Christians often ask "why" rather than "how".  Even with all the facts that one could possibly obtain about the universe, even if scientific methods reveal exactly how the universe came into being and what caused actions and reactions to occur, there is still a nagging question of why any of this should exist.  It might be determined how the universe exists; e.g., random actions that culminated in what we observe now. But Science cannot satisfactorily answer "why" the universe "should" exist.  It can only point to how it came into being and how it exists and what forces and materials constitute it and manifest it.  The "why" question here is not a question of how it came to be, but what reason it should come into being.  Christianity is more concerned with the question of whether there is something behind the reason for the universe existing, rather than the question of how the universe came into being.  Science cannot answer whether there is a reason for the universe existing.  On another note, do you notice that even scientists have to have faith--in science?  A scientist cannot verify or repeat all the experiments and observations ever claimed by all other scientists; a scientist has to trust that his community holds truth in high regard.  So even a scientist relies on the notion of faith.
717194
The god is vastly less likely to occur seeing as it is immensely more complex and the chances of ANYTHING happening without cause are like 0:infinity.  It's like saying that life just spurted out of the ground without the amino acids or basic cell structure forming first, but more illogical.
852256
It's interesting because I use the same thought process as you to arrive at a totally different conclusion.  For me it is like, God doesn't fit into my "nice neat little box" so he can't exist.  That might sound close-minded so I'll elaborate.  In my eyes, science is beginning to understand more and more of the world and our origins.  Now when I look at the overwhelming evidence of evolution and even just the happenings around me, I form a general understanding of the world that I am comfortable with.  Now when something enters my world view (God) I have to examine the evidence and tinker with the idea to see if it fits.  The problem with God is, I've seen no evidence and he just plain does not fit.  With science, no matter what your mindset, the evidence is right there for you to see regardless of your bias or what conclusions you draw from it.  Basically, if I saw real evidence of God, I could attempt to rearrange the rules and see if he fits, but I don't believe I should have to break the rules to even see evidence of him.  That makes it sound like the first step to becoming a Christian is to delude yourself.
321194
"God" is a phenomenom that arises naturally in the minds of any group of people who get smart enough to even vaguely comprehend how complex the universe is.  If you lock a small child who has no knowledge of god in a dark cupboard, the child's mind will invent a "higher power" as a sort of defense mechanism.\n\nThis doesn't really prove or disprove the reality of "God" (with a big G), but is an interesting detail about humans minds.  It also accounts for the fact that throughout history people have developed various random theologies to account for what them see & feel, and to help them cope with oth the wonder & the death they see around them.
790629
You must first wonder what the hell he was doing for the previous trillion,god zillion years.\nWas he standing in the middle of nothing and being the god of nothing?\nWhat the hell was his reason for being?\nHe couldn't be considered a god at that time.\nWouldn't he have to be god of something?
605799
Your question refers to science filling in knowledge that had once been attributed to God's doing.  The latest controversy being Intellectual Design/Creationism.  In years gone by, it might have been simply the weather that the gods/God was responsible for.  This concept of God is generally known among clergy as the "God of the gaps" That is, "if you can't explain it, then God is responsible"\n\nThis makes for a fairly small concept of who/what God is, as far as I'm concerned, and one that leads eventually to a vanishing God as science progresses.\n\nBelief in god in whatever form (Allah, Christ, Hindu, etc) has existed in every culture in every time period. Many smart people have spent their lives trying the impossible, to figure out God.  And indeed, some, don't try to understand God, but to simply try their best to follow what they see as God's will for their lives.
224242
Answer:   The atheist Bertrand Russell wrote in his book "Why I am Not a Christian" that if it is true that all things need a cause then God must also need a cause. He concluded from this that if God needed a cause then God was not God (and if God is not God then of course there is no God). This was basically a slightly more sophisticated form of the childlike question, "Who made God?" Even a child knows that things do not come from nothing, so if God is a "something" then He must have a cause as well, right?\n\nThe question is tricky because it sneaks in the false assumption that God came from somewhere and then asks where that might be. The answer is that the question does not even make sense. It is like asking, "What does blue smell like?" Blue is not in the category of things that have odor, so the question itself is flawed. In the same way, God is not in the category of things that are created, or come into existence, or are caused. God is uncaused and uncreated - He simply exists.\n\nHow do we know this? Well, we know that from nothing, nothing comes. So if there was ever a time when there was absolutely nothing in existence then nothing would have ever come to exist. But things do exist. Therefore, since there could never have been absolutely nothing, something had to have always been existing. That ever-existing thing is what we call God.
391847
The irrationality of religion has a scientific basis.  It goes back to our cave man days when man was very insecure living in a hostile environment.  The cerebral cortex of our brain (the complex thinking apparatus) is a relatively recent addition.\n\nThe more primitive underlying limbic system, the seat of our ancient emotions or innate temperaments, is in all of us. Humans use both systems. In times of trouble, people still pray for intervention by the god(s). Prayers are requests by persons to have the laws of the universe repealed in their favor.\n\nPeople who are rational, relying on their cerebral cortex, look at all the absurdities in religion.  Christian dogma expects people to believe the fairy tale of Noah's ark, although it is patently impossible to squeeze even samples of billions of the world's animals into one small ark. Rational persons consider such stories ludicrous.\n\nThe bible account of the creation of man and the universe is in such contradiction to irrefutable facts that a rational person cannot help but laugh about such fantasies.\n\nHave you heard the saying "there's no atheists in foxholes?"  Its because in times of danger, humans revert to the primitive part of their brain for security. We needed religion to survive in a hostile universe back in the cave man days. Now, in the modern era, we can see all the absurdities of the varius religions....but, obsolete genes do not disappear overnight, and so you will be seeing people "so religious."
766537
It is not the purpose of most religions to explain the physical properties of the universe.  It is not God's stated purpose to teach the physical workings of the universe.  The bible pretty much leaves an open question regarding man's future and ongoing exploration of the physical universe.\n\nSo, yeah, I'd expect astronomers (atheist or otherwise) to tell us more about the universe that God.  I don't think that violates any expectations, religious or otherwise.
452041
Science deals with the natural world.  It cannot prove the existence of the supernatural.\n\nHowever... science, rational thought, and logic can disprove the existence of some god or gods.  For example, Zeus and his cronies were supposed to hang out on Mount Olympus.  We can concretely say that Mount Olympus is not the home of the gods.  We have disproved the greek gods.  Likewise, you can logic and reason to disprove the christian god.  However... most people have a blind spot towards this information.  That's fine.  You can believe in whatever you want... provided you are not a danger to yourself or others.