Okay, my turn.

Quite frankly, I am a wee bit offended with the tone of this thread. Not by what was said, but rather the way in which things were said. Both sides of the argument seem to take the position held by the ‘cool’ fourth grader who knows the ‘truth’ about Santa Claus and looks at the other kids with disdain. Oh I know it was not overt or even intentional but if you read back through the thread, that’s the feeling I get anyway.

Personally, I think that it’s a combination of both sides of the coin. God being the why and science being the how. I think I’ve already expressed the whole time issue (What is a day to God?) but all that aside, creation and the meaning of life is a lot like playing the guitar (Bear with me. This is a somewhat cumbersome analogy). From a technical aspect, playing the guitar is about science and math. Really. It can be broken down into numbers, plot points on a graph and a nice, squiggly line on an oscilloscope. But when you play, are you thinking that? Maybe you are, I don’t know. I am not a very skilled guitarist. Yet. But I know when I am playing, I am playing what I am hearing in my head, what I am feeling in my heart. Emotions. Feelings. I am trying to get those across to you, the invisible listener. You can have all of the technical skill in the world, but with no heart, it’s just an exercise. On the flip side, you can have all the heart in the world, but without the technical skills, the best you’ll ever do is strum Kumbye-ya around the campfire.

The day that playing the guitar becomes an equation without heart, without passion, I will put it down and never pick it up again.

To me, that’s the same thing that can be said for life. I think we can all agree that life can be broken down into scientific equations. But without hope, without ‘something’ else, it’s nothing. It’s pointless. Music and literature and friendship and love, like religion, gives me hope. The point has been made countless times in this thread that life is difficult. Living and being a part of this world can be tenuous at best. My faith provides me something that I have not felt in a long, long time from mankind, outside of my family. It allows me to love and to feel love. It allows me to feel connected.

I may be wrong. I may be totally off base. If I am, so be it. I will cling to that ‘something’ that allows me to feel. If your ‘something’ is science, then cling to that. I admire the posts in a way because you all have shown something rare. It demonstrates passion in your beliefs and in the dark of night, it’s these beliefs, no matter what they may be, that will get you through to the dawn.

Arguing religion is like making out with your pants on or drinking non-alcoholic beer; what’s the point?

And that’s my two and half-cents worth. I apologize for that really stupid analogy too! :D

H60