I've now read what you've written no less than 6 times.

I suppose I have to ask you a few questions,

How did you determine that a god exists, or probably exists?

Just on a personal level, why not Jainism? On the face of it, it seems to be better than Islam if one had limited knowledge of both ideologies.

A lot of stuff, if read by itself, can make sense if one doesn't explore the other ideologies. That's simply called rationalization. It doesn't mean it's right, it just has to make sense if you've allowed the premises.

Wonderful, a lot of people don't do that. They just hear about this school or that school and apply because their friends will be close.

To be honest, I think you put yourself in the second option in what you wrote. I really don't think I narrowed it down at all.

Aye, you'd be right. Someone who hasn't a clue about science shouldn't be fervently advocating one theory or another. Science is not advanced through a democratic process. even if tomorrow everyone got up and said that earth is flat, it could be demonstrated, quite easily, that it isn't. Scientists don't get paid to have a consensus, they get paid to provide evidence for or against theories.

Isn't a spade just a really big spoon, do we call it a spade simply because of the way we use it? I have no problems if religious institutions are run like a business. It's in their best interest to come up with the best arguments to get the most converts to get more money and people to do the same. This time it's all for a wealth you can't measure in this world, one just hopes to be filthy rich in the end. If that's offensive, I don't know what to say. It's true.


So the question becomes, why would anyone focus on that particular aspect (i.e.the science)?

Fair enough. To that extent I too could conceive of a god who devised all the natural laws, but would you state that he has given purpose to the universe or that we are all predestined to a particular outcome?

You claim to be agnostic, but are you also a deist in the sense that Spinoza was or religious in a cultural sense in that it seems like a good way to live?


All the best wishes,


Faysal

That has nothing to with Islam. Being filthy rich has no importance in Islam. We would never do it for cash, since for us we aren't supposed to get attached to the materialism of this world. That is if you know what Islam is about and act on that, it's not something you would do. So in fact, it's not true and I won't judge it for other religions.

Because that part of Islam is different than other religions. And that aspect of Islam is what intrigues a lot of people. But to make it clear, the Qur'an is a book of "signs" more than it is science. But it doesn't negate the fact that it does have it.

You missed the metaphor, simply the part of the sentence which explained the rest of that.

Have another go?



Edit:

It's called the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy. You can imagine that a man could fire several shots into the side of a barn and then walk up to it and draw a circular target, to claim to be a sharpshooter.







Faysal

I didn't take it like a metaphor, I figured it's best to clear it up incase But what did you mean, just to be sure?

i don't know if god has given purpose to the universe or if we are all predestined to a particular outcome.
i'm an agnostic who believes in god, but not religion.

Imagine a used car salesman telling you you've got nothing to lose, that the price is dirt cheap, that you can literally step off of his lot making the best decision of your life. You know it's a lemon, or very possibly a lemon, and he's working just as hard as his competitor next door.

But it's not really a car, no he's selling you an ideology. You want to be someone who walks away with a favorable afterlife. If someone could guarantee me a spot of eternal bliss, yeah I'd consider it.

He/she earns his commissions from the ultimate boss. That one big accountant who knows just how much you owe him, and if you pay all your dues you might one day start collecting interest.

Okay, so accountants are sometimes boring, and I imagine god isn't boring, but you get the idea.

well this is why i don't belong to any religion.

Lovely, and I can respect you for it.

You could probably say the exact opposite for me, I don't believe in the existence of god, but I believe in the existence of religion.


Okay, so that wasn't very clever. I just have a bit of time to kill at the moment.


All the best wishes,



Faysal

Simply at the end of every question I posed to my person, no scientific method provided me with a satisfactory answer.. I was left with two choices really.. either silence the nagging questions and await such a time when science will provide me with an answer or accept that the true secret of life doesn't have an answer in palpable physical science..

How is it better? I didn't say I didn't read about other ideologies, I stated, it simply wasn't for me.. I can make up my own philosophy just the same, there is no divinity in it. Religion is much more than a code of conduct.. it has to satisfy one both heart and mind!

Everything has a bit of truth in it.. and I used this analogy before from one of my previous posts.
http://www.islamicboard.com/comparat...tml#post844253 (How has LI changed your opinion of islam)



That might work for a period of time, but surely we all evolve emotionally and intellectually with the passage of time!


That is your interpretation.. I don't feel like broadening the field. I can only work with what you yourself post!


In fact though some things are as clear as day.. many things aren't hence they are called theories..you'd need to know a little something about how the scientific method is approached.. I am taking the liberty to quote another one of my previous posts.. in short.. people have to stand there and defend their thesis and even with, there is always critical evaluation

Thus, you'll be waiting an awfully long time for someone to come with proof that this universe came ex nihilo and out of no ones volition.





I have no idea what that means? but I am sure it makes sense in the confines of your mind.. in the scheme of things it is inconsequential to me or to Islam


Why not? It is an aspect of it.. you seem to only find it I am guessing because that is all you are typing into google.. try a different variety of words and you'll get a different set of rationales..

Now, I need to be up at 4:30 AM to cheerio

Yeah, the "right path" is being marketed to you.

I fail to see how Islam is being marketed to atheists when they come to an Islamic forum on their own volition?
By same token, they too come here to market their philosophies/doctrines?.

Surely on a religious forum, catering to Muslims, you'll have to expect a gamut of articles addressing all aspects of Islam no different than a dawkin forum addressing all sorts of atheist doctrines and so-called humanist articles?

^^I was thinking the same. You come to an Islamic forum, so expect it to be about just that.