JustTheFacts comments

Who is "us"? The Tokyo - Osaka line is a regular commute for many a salaryman.

To the contary. Absolute certainty is a fool's gold.

There is no evidence against either

Lack of evidence is not evidence!

It is unscientific to set limits without having proof.

No limits have been set. Science will consider all theories with evidence to support them. Theories without evidence that are not derived from logic and previously discovered truths, will be left to religion.

In the end, this all comes down to evidence.

This is NO peer reviewed evidence for an afterlife or God.

Those who chose to ignore this fact, remember that you are typing on one of the pinacles of scientific achievement: computer -> Transistor -> Quantum mechanics. The modern world is built on logic and evidence (aka science).

If you disagree with the scientific method, feel free to turn off your computer, TV, lights, mobile phone, give up flying and turn down that life extending medical treatment.

Did Time and matter have a beginning? Can you tell me where the molecules came from then?

Yes! Using logic and evidence, experiments like the LHC at CERN, will help us understand the fundementals of matter, and the time at the very beginning of the Big Bang

The problem with evolution is in essence you believe that something comes from nothing.

Incorrect. Complex life forms develope from simple molecules over a very long period of time.

can we really conceive an idea of nothing?

Clearly you can't, but many of us can.

matter just appeared in time

Incorrect. Time and matter are inextricably linked. Neither existed before the other.

The bang violates the concept of time and conventional science. It's origin and by extension the origins of the primordial ooze requires almost as much faith as believing in god does.

Incorrect. The "Big Bang" theory is derived from modern physics, and is supported by a large body of evidence: redshift of galaxies, cosmic microwave background.

The difference is more than semantics

An agnostic's mind is "open" to the possibility, but would need a lot of evidence to be convinced. This is science.

An athiests's mind is "closed" to the possibility, regardless of the evidence. This is religion.

Ah_So: You are describing a person who is "strongly agnostic". People are often mislabeled as "Atheist", when in fact they accept the possibility, though not probability, of a God.

Everyone has the right to believe in an afterlife, however irrational that may seem. The problem comes when people commit irrational acts upon others based on that belief

evidence OR hope?

I look at the wonder of nature and the order of it and know that man has nothing to do with it

Is this knowledge based on evidence of hope?

Open mind = Empty mind

There is no peer reviewed evidence to support an afterlife.