"Again, I can not place your argument GG, reading what you write seems to indicate that all the various views of God are somehow true at once-"
That was not my point. My point is not that all views are at once true. My point is that despite the fact that their are many different views of God, the general idea of something greater being out there is shared. And people have good reasons to place their faith in whatever it is they are placing their faith in (most of the time).
"But there have also been a great many atheists (or deists, looking at the founding fathers of our country) who also made great contributions in the world, and to say that their beliefs (or lack thereof) invalidate their contributions is just as false. "
I never said that their contributions didn't count. They do. But the general feeling on this thread has been that the contributions of the believers don't count. I have heard good reasons for people not believing in God, both scientific and non-scientific. Just because I do believe doesn't mean I invalidate them, I just feel that they are not enough to convince me to drop what I believe.
" Can you prove to me that religion is evolving and always offering new answers to new questions being raised in this ever changing world, or does religion merely offer one simple easy answer that it has always offered?"
Well, the Church evolved from it's very beginnings to what it is today (i.e. the priest not saying mass in Latin and more people participation). As for answers to questions posed, I think just as scientists are looking for knew answers to problems they come across, religious people are also doing the same. Look at C.S. Lewis: he tried, through his fiction, to answer some of the questions we have about God. Philosopher Peter Kreeft also has many books that try to answer questions or offer evidence to mysteries of faith. Which leads me to my next response...
"This is your problem. You're seeing the forest without seeing the trees. Even fifth century monks were searching for the trees. A skeptical view of religion has a lot more to tell you about why we are here than blind faith ever will. "
I do ask questions about my faith. I've challenged my faith at times. Anyone who knows me would agree. Some of my questions haven't been answered yet. I think that they could be. What I'm not convinced of is that they can be answered by science, or saying that God doesn't exist. I'm not saying it's out of the question. I just don't think that a belief in God should be written off as insignificant or something to be laughed at.
"I'm sort of like a child genius without being a child or a genius."~Tim Rice-Oxley
