[AshleyO]

Originally Posted by x-deviant-x

Yes. Now you're closer to getting it. Kind of.

Because no one has definitive proof of God's existence, other than the feeling that the concept of God creates in them, which is different for every individual who believes in God, God is an idea. A concept. You could also say that God is the term commonly used to describe that concept.

That is simply an assumption. I have seen far far too many people become better people because they gave up their beliefs in supernatural agents. The point is, there's no definitive reason to call it "god" beyond trying to imply that it's something more or something that it isn't when you're talking about reality or the human experience. To put it plainly; your assertion that existence IS in fact god, is a useless assertion and an unneeded word to express the real in any meaningful way. You invoke the word "god" because you yourself are trying to turn reality into something more than it is, but you keep proving that this isn't important.

And from the opposite direction, you have no definitive proof that God does NOT exist, because science has neither proven nor disproven said existence.

It. Is. Intellectually. Dishonest. To. Make. A. Positive. Assumption. Without. Proof. Why is this so hard for you to understand? This is exactly like you being CERTAIN that you have cancer despite the fact that your only evidence is flu symptoms. The default position of the negative stance is NOT in the middle of yes and no. It is NO. Like in court, we do not go to court saying that someone MIGHT BE innocent OR guilty (that would actually require to put everyone on trial to prove innocence), but that the negative position is that everyone is INNOCENT until proven guilty. Your god, if you could prove it, would be the realization of guilt.

The difference being is that to those who do believe in God, it is more than a concept. It is a state of being. It is a belief. For me it is existence.

No. Dualism has no intrinsice usefulness in a material world. Again, it's SILLY and unweildy to assume phantasms when you haven't even worked out the simplest explanation first.

For proof, I would say just look back through history at all the things the concept of God has caused and created through the ages, both good and bad.

Religion is capable of good and bad, but for a genuinely good person to do bad, that person would need religion. Seriously, there is NOTHING humanity couldn't have done that was positive if we lacked religion. If that were true, atheists would actually be incapable of doing any kind of good at all. Goodness is independant of religion or belief. But it takes an unfounded belief or a religion to inspire well meaning people to do bad things.