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[Jackrabbit]

Quite frankly, if we get everyone to agree that 4chan is weird, we'll have accomplished more than this entire thread.

[RAM]

I regard this thread as a great accomplishment, I mean, honestly, who could have thought it would go this long without being locked?

[Jackrabbit]

Too true. We may have been brash at times, but I think we came away as better people.

Or as people, certainly.

[Leafsnail]

I think this thread has kept going since it always seems to derail or die before something lock worthy happens.

As for 4chan, I regarded the fact that they had no problem with putting Hentai on the front page as evidence that I should steer well clear.

[Muz]

Dude, what happened to the (anti-)religion discussion?

[Leafsnail]

Well, going back to the first post, which is supposed to set the scene for the thread:

So, how do you atheists, explain all these above?

I have had a experience that I'd describe as meeting God (it was not a near-death experience)

I've met anime characters and characters from novels in my dreams, but that doesn't mean they exist.  If you've been thinking about something a lot, you can have a dream or sometimes even an image of it whilst awake (I usually get these when I'm tired).

but even without it I wouldn't be able to understand how you think you're alone in the universe.

I'm not "alone".  There are many other human beings on this earth with me.  Billions.  All of them just as capable of perception, intelligence and emotion as I am.

Everything is so perfect,

But it isn't though, is it?  If life were perfect then everyone would get an equal chance in life, but they don't.  Some people are born into rich families and get whatever they want, while others inherit horrible genetic diseases that kill them quickly.  The same goes in nature too - why would a benevolent God create a world which had a worm that lived by burrowing through childrens' eyeballs?

there's a reason for everything

Well, no, there isn't.  If I throw a dice and it comes up 6, it doesn't mean I've rigged it.  If I buy a lottery ticket and win, it doesn't mean I've cheated.  Some things are random.

and there are so many "coincidences", how's that?

What is a coincidence?  Isn't it just something that appeals to the human brain's concept of "strange"?  Let's take a random example.  David Beckham was born on May 2nd.  The Queen was born on February 6.  Wow!  There's a 1/133225 chance of that happening!  But the thing is, something has to happen.  And sometimes that thing is strange.  When, for instance, was the last time that you were surprised that a really interesting and exciting coincidence didn't happen?

How did everything start?

This is a difficult question, but "God did it" doesn't solve anything.  Where did God come from?  Why did God make the universe as he did?  How did God make the universe?  How does God operate?  How can you detect God?  Simply invoking God doesn't solve any of the important questions.

[G-Flex]

There are "so many coincidences" because million-to-one events are bound to happen pretty damn often when you have a billion chances of them per day. Also, you tend to remember when things are unusual a lot more than you remember when they aren't.

[MrWiggles]

Where did God come from is a weak retort to the god did it answer to universe creation.

The retort I think is better, is that an answer that can be applied to everything is an answer to nothing.

What coincidences?

I look. I see none.

Douglas Adam Puddle story come to mind. Life came to be for this universe, the universe didnt come to be for life.

If the universe did come to be for life, then why is majority of the universe deadly for life?

[Jackrabbit]

Since Toady seems to be moving in on off topic stuff, this topic is the walking dead.

[G-Flex]

What do you mean? This thread is surprisingly on-topic for how long it is.

[Vester]

It gets derailed every now and then, but it's still talking about its subject matter for the most part.

[Jackrabbit]

Well, nothings been achieved, though that's not so bad, but when it derails, it does so for pages at a time, long enough to warrant a lock.

[G-Flex]

Honestly, right now it seems like the only person trying to derail the thread is you. The rest of us were talking about the original topic.

[Jackrabbit]

...

That's fair. Sorry.

[Zironic]

how can you achieve anything in a forum thread?

I believe in nihilism/buddhism. Either nothing happens or we all are worshipping the same God in different forms.