GOD IS AN IDEA, NOT A FACT

Any words uttered or symbols presented can make a statement.

A statement is a meaningful communication to someone.

If a statement is not a fact, it's an idea.

A fact is a statement that has been proven.

An idea is a statement that has NOT been proven.

A SCIENTIFIC METHOD

A SCIENTIFIC METHOD is a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION, MEASUREMENT, AND EXPERIMENT, AND THE FORMULATION, TESTING, AND MODIFICATION OF HYPOTHESES.

ANYBODY CAN USE A SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO DISCOVER KNOWLEDGE OR VERIFY INFORMATION OR JUSTIFY BELIEFS.

Science is not some mystical phenomenon that is the domain of the gifted.

SCIENCE MERELY REFERS TO THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED BY USAGE OF A SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

Thus, SCIENTISTS are people who use or have been trained to use a scientific method to discover, verify, or JUSTIFY information or beliefs.

ANY dissemination of information that has not originated by usage of a scientific method has been acquired by using a method antiquated prior to the 17th century.

AND, any so-called knowledge that originated prior to the 17th century and has not been verified using a scientific method is unreliable.

HOW DO I KNOW? (based upon the writings of Chris Redford)

How do I know what is real?
Why do I believe what I believe?
What am I justified to believe?

For years, ancient Greek philosophers argued convincingly that we could know nothing with absolute certainty--that is, until Rene Descartes uttered, "I think, therefore I am." This is the only necessarily true statement that is beyond doubt.

Thus, even if one thinks, then one cannot necessarily justify the existence of other beings; but, if one thinks, one can justify one's own existence as a thinking being.

So, if I purge all of my beliefs and add back only those which I can justify, I can only justify my own existence because my perceptions can be inaccurate. For example, I have been asleep and believing that what was happening was really happening--only to awaken and find out that it was only a dream. Thus I could be dreaming about anything that I perceive to be true.

Therefore, other than knowing that I exist, I don't actually know that anyone or anything else exists so I have to make a presupposition (an assumption) and that presupposition is:

At least some of my perceptions (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) are accurate--that is, that they reflect reality.

Of course, none of my perceptions are necessarily accurate but without this presupposition, I have nowhere to go epistemologically.

[Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.]

Without this presupposition, I can prove nothing to be absolutely true except that I myself exist (but only as a thinking being and only to myself), but I could not prove that anything else exists--not even to myself.

Thus, presupposing that at least some of my perceptions are accurate, how do I make conclusions about reality?

(1) I form beliefs about reality based on physical evidence.

(2) The strength of my beliefs should be directly proportional to the amount of evidence I have for them.

(3) If I ever doubt the validity of a conclusion that I make based on evidence, I can return to that evidence, re-examine it, and see if I come to the same conclusion.

Thus for beliefs to be justified they must be grounded in evidence. Beliefs that have more evidence are more justified, and beliefs that have less evidence are less justified.

(4) It would be unfeasible for me to personally collect all the evidence I use for my beliefs. However, I can gather new types of evidence in the form of the multimedia and testimonies given by other people. But, I cannot place as much confidence in multimedia and testimonies as I can in direct physical evidence.

If I want to maximize my confidence in the physical evidence given to me by other people, I should use such evidence as a starting point and then investigate such evidence myself.

If I refuse to do this with any such belief, I must accept that my confidence is lower than it would be if I had verified such beliefs myself.

NOTES FROM 'THE AGE OF REASON' by Thomas Paine

In the general wreck of superstition, of false systems of government, and of false theology, we lose sight of MORALITY and of HUMANITY.

I believe in the equality of human beings [none are inherently superior to any other].

I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow humane beings happy.

From ESV Bible: 1 Corinthians 15:14 (Paul’s letter to the Corinthians):

14. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

Four propositions undercut the entire foundations of Christianity—THE BELIEF THAT JESUS HAD LITERALLY RISEN FROM A GRAVE:

1. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead involved the resuscitation of his corpse.
2. All statements in the New Testament and other early Christian literature about Jesus’ resurrection are statements of faith, not reports of an historical event.
3. Jesus’ body decayed.
4. Somebody stole the body and disposed of it.
5. His followers lied about his resurrection after he died.
6. Belief in Jesus’ resurrection does not depend on what happened to his body.

Therefore, because nobody living can ever know what really happened to Jesus' body, if there was indeed a man who did die on a cross that came to be called Jesus, it is very likely that the Christian faith is in vain.

Moreover, these differing narratives of Easter in the later Gospels cannot be harmonized to produce a consistent story. They contradict each other too much. It’s clear that the physical resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday is a fictional evolution arising a good half-century after Jesus’ death. It is impossible any longer to accept such a miraculous event.

~ Professor Thomas Shehan

THE MEANING OF LIFE

In all theistic systems--even non-theological mystical systems--there is the assumption of a supernatural realm that transcends normal human perceptions, giving meaning and validity to a person's life in exchange for some sort of obedience or submission to a prescribed way of living (believing, behaving, or worshipping) in accordance with the respective theological or mystical system.

In a non-theistic and non-mystical system, there is no belief in any spiritual realm outside of a person or transcending him or her. The realm of love, reason and justice exists as a reality only because, and inasmuch as, a person has been able to develop these powers in himself or herself throughout the process of his or her self-awareness, self-improvement, and eventual self-fulfillment.

In this non-theistic and non-mystical view there is no meaning to life, except the meaning that the person himself or herself gives to it. Such a person realizes that he or she is utterly alone except inasmuch as he or she cooperates or associates with another.

GOD IS I, INASMUCH AS I AM HUMANE

We can never BE a god, but as we improve and become more in accord with accurate thinking, love, and justice we get closer to becoming our humane godly ideal. 
We must strive to evolve from the superstitious idealizations to humane principles.

The God of Abraham can be loved, or feared, as a father, sometimes his forgiveness, sometimes his anger being the dominant aspect. Inasmuch as God is the father, I am the child. I have not emerged fully from the fantastic wish for omniscience and omnipotence. I have not yet acquired the objectivity to realize my limitations as a human being, my ignorance, my helplessness. I still claim, like a child, that there must be a father who rescues me, who watches me, who punishes me, a father who likes me when I am obedient, who is flattered by my praise and angry because of my disobedience.

Quite obviously, the majority of people have, in their personal development, not overcome this infantile stage, and hence the belief in God to most people is the belief in a helping father—a childish illusion.

In spite of the fact that this concept of religion has been overcome by some of the great teachers of the human race, and by a minority of people, it is still the dominant form of religion.