Great Debates: Does God Exist?...LeannaBard and George-ananda

[LeannaBard]

I haven't heard any argument. You say there is explanitory power, but in what exaclty. What explanation are you giving. I say there is no evidence to lead me to believe there is a creator. None of the experiences you listed have been explained as being truly spiritual or anything of that nature. Sometimes it is coincidence, sometimes they are exaggerated to seem impossible but it is a result of confirmation bias. Sometimes it is truly coincidence. It has never seemed to me to be best explained as something spitual or beyond what we know to be natural. You haven't even truly stated much about your position. All you have to offer is that easter teachers offer an explanation that you find to be the best. I am not convinced. I think the explanations lack any supporting evidence and basically amount to wishful thinking.

 

[George-ananda]

I haven't heard any argument. You say there is explanitory power, but in what exaclty. What explanation are you giving

What I meant by explanatory power is the worldview I'm arguing for has mechanisms to explain things that the standard materialist worldview can not. Back to my Near Death Examples, where people report things they couldn't have known through normal channels. The materialist would say it was a coincidence or it didn't happen. It has no way to explain the event. Now, in the Hindu/eastern worldview there are astral and mental bodies that interpenetrate the physical body. So at death these energy bodies separate from the physical body and can explore and move about without a physical body and hence report things that couldn't have been known to the physical body alone. So this worldview has explanatory power to explain things the materialist view can not. That's what I meant by having explanatory powers.

I say there is no evidence to lead me to believe there is a creator. None of the experiences you listed have been explained as being truly spiritual or anything of that nature. Sometimes it is coincidence, sometimes they are exaggerated to seem impossible but it is a result of confirmation bias. Sometimes it is truly coincidence. It has never seemed to me to be best explained as something spitual or beyond what we know to be natural. You haven't even truly stated much about your position. All you have to offer is that easter teachers offer an explanation that you find to be the best. I am not convinced. I think the explanations lack any supporting evidence and basically amount to wishful thinking.

OK, I hear you but I'm not sure where to continue from this point. Unless you have something to continue, I want to thank you for debating with me. And best wishes and enjoy the forum.

 

[LeannaBard]

What I meant by explanatory power is the worldview I'm arguing for has mechanisms to explain things that the standard materialist worldview can not. Back to my Near Death Examples, where people report things they couldn't have known through normal channels. The materialist would say it was a coincidence or it didn't happen. It has no way to explain the event. Now, in the Hindu/eastern worldview there are astral and mental bodies that interpenetrate the physical body. So at death these energy bodies separate from the physical body and can explore and move about without a physical body and hence report things that couldn't have been known to the physical body alone. So this worldview has explanatory power to explain things the materialist view can not. That's what I meant by having explanatory powers.

You could make up any explanation and say it had better explanitory power than someone who didn't have an explanation yet. That doesn't make the explanation true, or the worldview surrounding it true.

OK, I hear you but I'm not sure where to continue from this point. Unless you have something to continue, I want to thank you for debating with me. And best wishes and enjoy the forum.

As my position is simy a rejection of theist claims, there is not much for me to say. You haven't rely argued in favor of an actual point, just stated that you believe a certain explanation. I was hoping for a little more, but thank you for your time anyway.