Zeke: I was going to answer all of those, but Bitt beat me to it Your (possibly unintentional) point -- that we seldom throw out ideas altogether, though they do experience substantial revision as we build on our knowledge -- is taken, but it doesn't invalidate mine.

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(in response to my trivia questions) Let me guess, you read the answers in some ancient, outmoded fairy tale book?

Nope. You won't find the answer to either in the bible. But you will on the internet. Right here on the internet, if you give me a minute.

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No. You're wrong. I feel nothing of the sort in my soul. I don't even have any notion that I have a soul.

Then what is the point of living? Can´t you for just one moment consider that there might be a reason that we´re all here?

Who cares why? Stop worrying so much! We're here, so let's enjoy it and dedicate outselves to making life (for everyone) better! And anyway, how could the answer "I'm here because something I can't interact with nor understand put me here" be satisfying?

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There is absolutely no scientific evidence that there is intelligent life outside of the planet earth. Yet almost any scientist and any person will entertain the idea that there could be life out there. Why be so adamant about not considering that there could be a higher reason to your existence?

If there are aliens, there aren't any close enough to matter (i.e. to communicate with us in my lifetime), so I don't let the possibility affect my life. In this respect, my views on extraterrestrials are roughly equivalent to my views on gods. However, gods are even less meaningful, because by their very definition they can *never* have a measurable impact on my life. Essentially, even if gods do exist, for practical purposes, they don't.

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People find the possibility of aliens existing a fascinating subject.

Not really, at least not as anything more than fodder for decent science fiction. And the only reason it's even good for science fiction is that in stories, the aliens are actually there and can interact with the story, giving them the same appeal as unicorns, gnomes, Morlocks, or any other kind of fantastic character. Even as a hypothetical fantasy story, a god who can't be seen, never takes observable action of any kind, and doesn't talk to any of the main characters just doesn't have gripping power.

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The Protestant view is that both humans and the church itself are corruptable, but that the Bible is not.

What about translations of the bible, by the way? I'm guessing here that you probably don't read Greek, and even the Greek texts were translations of older texts that have not been preserved. What if something super important got left out or mangled?
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MkIIa #40104178, 22GB