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Oh hai! In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded the skys an teh Urfs, but he no eated dem.
Teh urfs no has shayps and has darwk fase, and Ceiling Cat roed invisible bike ovah teh wawters.
At furst, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sez, "I can has lite?" and lite wuz.

Here

Seems rather silly that God would punish the universe for a couple of humans making a mistake... What an asshole.

OK, Over-Exaggeration-Man, calm down. It doesn't explain everything, but it certainly explains the formation of the universe as we know it, including our solar system, planet, and with the help of evolution it even explains our existence... All without God. It might not explain where the energy originally came from, but it certainly refutes the whole "God created man from dirt" thing, and pretty much the whole Bible, which refutes your entire belief system. So you see, it doesn't have to explain everything. It explains enough. And if you weren't sure, no, we haven't stopped trying to fill in the missing pieces.

See also gnolam's post above.

What does it even mean to know God on a personal basis? Think about that for a second. What good is that? I picture sitting down having a beer with him, talking, joking, etc. That's stupid. For starters, you presumably have no body any more, so you're what? A floating cloud of consciousness? To me it sounds more like the promise is that you'll finally get to understand the universe. The ironic thing is that instead of learning about it with the scientists and supporters of the scientific method, you instead opt to refuse that knowledge and hope to learn it all after you die. Do I have that right?

I'm sorry if I sound overly condescending, but your beliefs (which in the general sense I once held myself) seem completely ridiculous to me. I understand though. When you believe these things it's so easy to believe that you're right (especially with social engineers drilling it into your head in churches, with the tone of their voice, and the words that they say), and so scary to consider being wrong (after all, the people who are wrong "are tortured for all eternity in a fiery prison"; plus most of your peers are probably religious and would exile you for questioning their beliefs).

@Mark Oates: OMFG, that's awesome.

This is what you think. If you disappear when you die, it makes it even more pleasant to be alive. To enjoy life. Life is a party, once you're dead, you leave the party. You have to enjoy the party as much as you can, because once you leave, there ain't no coming back.

But this is just a matter of different views. You need God to give you a reason to live, others don't.

In the realms of the gaming universe, this statement would be considered a headshot. A "masterkill" if you will.

My biggest trouble at trying to wrap my head around god was trying to get someone to describe God to me. Religion is easy. A set of customs and traditions, rituals and shared beliefs, often filled with anecdotes describing practical philosophies, typically controlled by a central authority.
God, on the other hand.. "You just have to believe!"

Nope. Only two.

That I can't not agree with.

No, it's not the case. Religion evolves dramatically, and although the written is "unquestionable truth", interpretations vary accordingly to the situation. The interpretation is also pretty much dependent on the interpretor of course, while the language of science is a lot more strict and not allowing multiple interpretations.

I like the comparison of a bible with a dictionary: you can describe anything using the words in the dictionary, with bible the things aren't as flexible but nevertheless..

Okay, but when the stuff didn't exist there was no heat.

4 4me

No, because according to our resident expert, the bible is the bible and is absolute. And given that, any "interpretation" is incorrect and likely heresy.

Since the bible doesn't change, the religion around it can't either.

Edit: debate ended, at least for me.

Your ignorance and complete misunderstanding of the Big Bang doesn't mean it "doesn't explain anything". Stop being so caught up in your shell, and go do some real research to better understand what it is you are talking about instead of trying to disprove and demote something that you truly know nothing about.

Dunno where this stigma about not questioning religion comes from in the non-religious community. I guess it's natural to assume there's no way anyone could possibly question what they believe as much as you or they'd naturally just come to the same answer you consider obviously correct, huh?

Room treats me just fine, thanks old chap. Sorry your isolated personal experience continues to suck an egg.

All religion is based on the same historical texts, amirite?

You seem quick to jump to conclusions. I grew up "Christian", went to church every week, had a religious family, religious friends, etc. I'm not an outsider to religion at all. Of course, since every fucking church has their own interpretations and ideas you can easily argue that your church is different from mine, and from the ones I've visited, and from the radio and TV programs I've heard/watched. Sure, yours is completely different from every other Christian experience I've seen. Absolutely. As you were then.

What did you question of the room?

Nothing I said implied you were. Your post I was replying to, however, assumed a) people accept the interpretation given without question, b) an interpretation is necessary at all (personally, I didn't go to church for years and just did my own research), c) questions would automatically have a negative effect like they're new or something, etc, etc.

Dude, I play nothing but Devil's Advocate around here. What kind of questions wouldn't I ask if I did Bible studies? Can you even imagine? Most of my friends read more atheist than theist apologetics anyway ...