1. Is there a God?
2. Is there life after death?
These are the convenient short version of two hypotheses:
1. There is a spiritual God that created the physical universe.
2. There is spiritual life after physical death.
There are four possible combinations of answers. I concentrate on the yes/yes and no/no possibilities. The reason I dismiss the yes/no combo is it means we're living a useless life under a cruel God where we're nothing more than entertainment. The no/yes combo doesn't make much sense either. If we're spirits in an existence with no God, then why would we choose all the pain and suffering of a physical existence?
In the discussion I start off wearing my computer science hat to look at the evidence to answer the questions.
I start with digital computers (the kind most of us use) and talk about how everything that a computer does is based on just four building blocks (known as Not, And, Or, and Exclusive Or).
I then move into physical matter. All the physical matter we know of consists of three building blocks - Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons.
A few of these elements combine to make four compounds which form the two building blocks of DNA (known as A-T and C-G). Where one basic digit of a computer can have one of two values, a DNA "digit" can have one of four values.
The common theme here is that all the complexity we see in matter, life, and even the computers that mankind has created are all based on just three or four building blocks.
Let's go a step further and look at human language and I'll just use English as an example. Our language has 26 building blocks - many times the number we've seen in the examples we've already covered. Add in punctuation and the nuances start to explode.
What's the difference between "Let's eat, grandma." and "Let's eat grandma"? It's the same three words concerning grandma and dinner - the difference is whether we're having grandma for dinner or as dinner.
From my computer science perspective, I see programs whether it's in a computer we created or what we see in our physical world. Most people never write programs, but that doesn't change the fact that where there is a program - there was a programmer.
When we look at the Bible, we find that God spoke the universe into being. Considering how much more complex human language is compared to matter and life, it doesn't seem too farfetched that the language of God can do these things.
Going back to those two questions - does the evidence support yes/yes or no/no?
If there were proof then the matter would be settled, but just as what we experience when serving on a jury, we usually have to make critical (sometimes life or death) decisions based only on evidence.
So, are you a yes/yes or a no/no? Also, what does it mean if you're wrong?
How meaningful is life and how does that affect our daily lives?
If you're a yes/yes then life if full of meaning.
If you're a no/no then all that matters is what turns you on. Whether you enjoy helping others or just want to engage in sex, drugs, and rock and roll, it's all about you.
The yes/yes, no/no difference matters greatly for the United States. In our founding document it states that our rights come from God. If there is no God then we have no rights - only privileges granted by the ruling class. Sadly, we see that the transition is nearly complete where we have no rights, only privileges.
For those of us on the yes/yes side, what does it mean if we're wrong? Well, it doesn't matter because we'll never know. What have we sacrificed? The short answer is sex, drugs, and rock and roll. We'll get to the long answer on about what haters hate.
If you're a no/no, well, you're in for a nasty surprise that lasts for eternity. On the other hand, if you're right then you'll never know it.
Even if you're one of the no/nos that was a "good" person who was into helping others, that bad surprise is still waiting for you. The formula for salvation includes repent and be baptized. As simple as that seems, we have different denominations simply because we can't agree on what constitutes baptism. Repentance on the other hand is fairly easy to understand - it's turning away from what God hates. Let me wrap this up and we'll look at what the God haters hate.
But John, how about some physical evidence to back you up.
One source for that is Biblical Archeologist Johathan Gray. He's published several books and you can find many of his interviews online including those he's done on The Power Hour on GCN. There's been a lot of evidence unearthed over the years and this used to be reported in newspapers in modern times. At least up until the Darwinian religion took hold and the evidence counter to this new (or old) ideology had to be hidden or disposed of.
I've put one of Jonathan's reports in my blog - 3,000 Year Old Aircraft From WW II. The "settled science" of dating objects is exposed with the ice ring lie. Science says that the ice rings are showing us annual events. The WW II aircraft shows how wrong that is. Even with that indisputable evidence, science continues to insist that these are annual rings.
The Christophobes have nearly free reign in our country and the world. It's sad to see, but then again it's what was prophesied.
In my research, I've notice that many (or most) that call themselves no/no atheists are not people that don't believe God exists, but rather they hate God and his rules.
Sadly we even see this in many churches who believe they are more compassionate than God. I'll refer you to my post on Consensual Relations to save space here.
So what do the haters hate?
Let's look at the top ten list from the Old Testament:
1. No other Gods
2. No Idols
3. Not take name in vain
4. Keep the Sabbath
5. Honor your father and mother
6. No murder
7. No adultery
8. No stealing
9. No false witnessing
10. No coveting
This is summarized into a few categories in Revelation 21:
Cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, sexually immoral, magical arts, idolaters, and liars.
When we look at today's politicians, business leaders, and celebrities - what do their actions tell us?
Christians are called haters and the Bible is called hate speech because those that hate God want to live a lifestyle where they can do whatever they want with whomever they want and have no consequences.
For the spiritual watchman (read The Watchmen of Ezekiel) I offer the insight of devout atheist Penn Jillette - If this is what you believe, that someone is going to spend an eternity in hell, then how much do you have to hate someone to NOT share the gift of the Gospel of Jesus?
Who are the real haters?