Atheists fight back

I don't have faith in God, nor do I believe in God, but I guess you could say that I hope there is a God. This is because if man is all there is, then our history might soon be appended with "The End" with no possibility of appeal.

I do believe in the notion of a spirit, though, chiefly because of this. Consider the body of a man one second before death and one second after death. Assume if you like that they were injected with drugs that stopped their heart without damaging anything. Between the time of life and death the body goes from being alive to being meat. As far as I can make out, the chief difference between the two states is that a type of energy has petered out, and this is perhaps the soul.

Is the soul immortal?

The first law of thermodynamics states that "energy is conserved in all thermodynamic processes." Another way to express that is "energy can neither be created nor destroyed", and from the second law we find that "energy can be converted from one kind to another".

So, it seems there is some rational basis to conclude that this little light of mine is going to continue to shine on if my sense of self is linked to this energy. I am not willing to definitively answer that question by the only method known to me, but it is something to ponder for my duration.

When it comes to religion, though, I am ambivalent about them (except when they are working to restrict my freedom). On the one hand, religion seems to comfort people frightened by the prospect of worms playing pinochle on their snout, or they offer a social community (which is important and healthy), or they can simply be a place to hear choirs sing.

On the other hand they can be a dangerous tool when wielded as fuel for violence, since members are infrequently affected by the helps that come from reason once inflamed.

David Morris sounds to me like he has had enough of the bad side of religion, and writes about it here:

The End of Reason