As the originator of this thread I must now share something important. I, just like everyone else on MIMF, am in search of Truth. I do not claim to know everything nor am I in the possession of the Philosopher's Stone. Those who join in this thread wanting to have a verbal slugfest may find themselves sorely disappointed. My only wish is that we who partake in this thread will be as true Gentlemen and Ladies worthy of Respect and Love and that we will strive to build each other up and not tear down enlightening discourse or character assassinate. Let us all focus on the questions and not the person's character whom we disagree with. With that, I welcome all who may wish to join in.
In Peace,
CD
Now, to add some more necessary material:
One presently rather popular argument: fine-tuning. Scientists tell us that there are many properties our universe displays such that if they were even slightly different from what they are in fact, life, or at least our kind of life, would not be possible. The universe seems to be fine-tuned for life. For example, if the force of the Big Bang had been different by one part in 10 to the 60th, life of our sort would not have been possible. The same goes for the ratio of the gravitational force to the force driving the expansion of the universe: If it had been even slightly different, our kind of life would not have been possible. In fact the universe seems to be fine-tuned, not just for life, but for intelligent life. This fine-tuning is vastly more likely given theism than given atheism.