Because a god is the epitome of supernatural... Unless faith becomes fact, there's so other way to define it. My point being that I can find reasonably strong evidence of many supernatural oddities like I mentioned above (ghosts, Bigfoot, etc) but I would sound delusional to even bring it up and that's without even using the aspect of faith into my evidence as most believers would.
A creator, or god if you like, is the ONLY thing that fits with free will, especially since it violates several long held scientific theories. If science one day discovers that creator or the cause of the apparent free will, you will then consider it perfectly natural, and in fact many people
believe humans are close to developing software capable of the same apparent free will with far less evidence of that than I have of a creator.
I don't mean to sound like I'm attacking your hypothesis either, I appreciate your posts about this as well as other topics - we just have starkly different beliefs and thus, my evidence fits my hypothesis the opposite way.
It's pretty difficult to offend me, even if you did attack my hypothesis. But I don't believe your evidence does fit your hypothesis as I understand it - there is no creator/god and human behavior is just the result of complex reactions? Why would anyone with that as a foundational belief have any interest in morality? There's nothing upon which to levy responsibility. It would be convenient, though.
Oh, no no no... I didn't mean to say that the state is suitable as a moral anchor... Just that I don't believe it to be that much different than religion. The choices of the state are frequently driven by religion despite the supposed separation... Much to my annoyance.
I did get your reference to religion. I just wasn't clear enough with my response. The state IS a religion. It may come to power through conquest, but it retains that power by supplanting the morals and religions of its subjects, and there by destroying the culture that would otherwise resist it.
You can see the results in almost any church in this country by the US and State flags behind the alter, and by the idolization of war and soldiers the ministers push on most state holidays. Of course the state adopts much of a conquered culture's morals, since it has none of its own.
I didn't say that religion causes more war, I said it likely had a higher death count. For instance, WW2 was not a holy war - but it still managed to attempt the extermination of Jews from the planet. When a woman gets legally stoned to death in Iran because she gets accused of adultery, it's not because of a holy war... When a woman gets beaten to death by a mob in India because she's accused of being a witch, it's not a holy war... But all of that is still in the name of God.
In the US alone, since the 1970's around a million babies a year have been aborted. It's much higher in Europe. All the wars and certainly religions killings pale in comparison. It may actually become the determining factor for the destruction of what was once a fairly stable society, ripping someone to pieces because they are inconvenient. You can't blame that on any religion but the state.
Difference in religious beliefs sows division and where there is division, there is an opportunity for conflict. Religion has created a lot of conflict and subsequent death or simply hatred - certainly moreso than atheism. The common tenant for all religions is to treat others as you'd like to be treated.. yet infrequently employed.
And yet the state keeps telling us diversity is strength, and forcing conflicting cultures together. I like how you put it, "where there is division, there is
opportunity for conflict". That does seem to be how political parties in this country see it as well.
