[Oblivion437]

As an Athiest of today's world, and in this country, I feel privelidged. Religion is only encouraged, those that would force it on you are a rare example, even in the fundamentalist town where I live. My kind never really had an easy life, having to stand before religious figures and defend their beliefs, if they won, they died for heresy, if they lost, they converted. During the enlightenment, and in the 19th century school of thinking Pascal's wager came up. He argued that if one were to believe, they had all to gain and none to lose, thus Athiests had none to gain and all to lose. This is, from a perspective, true. However, for me, I wish to die with the most logical truth in my mind. I don't want to be thinking I'm going somewhere, and then not, it just feels too ridiculous for me. My parents were themselves followers of the non-church going sort, in a mix of various protestant religions. If you ask them, they'll say they're protestant, no particualar branch, just they believe in Jesus Christ and think Catholics, Mormons and Jehova's Witnesses are crazy. I believe all organizations built by man, including religion, are inherently corrupt. The more power they have, the more corrupt they grow, just look at the US today, or the Roman Empire or the Roman Catholic Church, all huge, all largely and obviously corrupt. If you would like to debate the existence of any deity, I'm open to using this thread for such, and will get the ball rolling by saying God does not exist. The very nature of the universe contradicts an organized creator. It at least contradicts denial of aliens. Given the sheer size of this universe (average 200,000,000,000 stars per astronomically high number of galaxies), aliens must therefore exist, and easily within this galaxy. Complex or simple, I put my dollar behind that notion. Given what 'God' 'Allah' and 'Yahweh' are supposed to be, I think not that such a God exists in such a universe, where there is so much diversity, so much reality, yet this God only cares for us, or, as some say, we're his 'chosen creations.' If he does exist, and there are aliens capable of the same reasoning, does he tell this to them (note: I say he as In Genesis it says God created Adam in 'his' image, thus God is a man)? Or do they have equally interesting and diverse religious beliefs? Why is God a man? There is asexual life, sexual life, and even life that can do it both ways. Why would the creator and thus logically supreme ruler of the universe be a man, conveniently this creation story was invented in a time when Men were seen as superior to Women, and thus no respected religion would have a female deity, like Paganism, which lost popularity during the middle ages. Well, that's the ball that has been rolled, thus beginneth our discussion of the universe, man's role in it, and other fascinating stuff.