[Al Skierkiewicz]

Tristan, Andy, Ken and everyone,
Interesting posts so far. I thought I might add a little testimony here. I too went through a time where I doubted the existence of GOD. It was in my enlightened youth during college when all the world seemed so ordered that a supreme being couldn't possibly exist. So, you see, I understand all of your points thus far. I can't prove the existence or non-existence of God but I believe he exists. I can't prove that the Christian God is the only one, but I believe that an omnipotent God would reveal himself in any form that an individual or group might be more willing to accept. So for the Greeks and romans it took several different gods, for Hindus or Buddhists something completely different.
There were a few things that began a change in my beliefs from atheist/agnostic to where I am today. The first was travel which opened my eyes to the natural wonders that abound on this great green planet. The biodiversity is beyond understanding in that pure luck, evolution and coincidence could not have come up with the varieties we have. How does a life form evolve into a narwhal or a kangaroo without some push? The shear amount of geographical features and plant life also astound me. In these things there is so much beauty. If you have ever stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon and seen it for more than the biggest hole on the face of the earth or watched the sunset over the west rim or it fall into the ocean off Hawaii it somehow will touch you forever.
The second thing to change my mind was having children. What a wonder that we are able to put two beings together and form a third. To watch a child grow and learn is too astounding to not have some other force involved.
So I am not giving these things for an argument or explanation just a description of one person's experience and transition. There were a few poignant lines in the movie "Oh God" with John Denver and George Burns that seemed to me to say it best. God said that he gave us a free will but that meant he could not come in change our thoughts or actions. He gave us all the natural resources and intelligence we would ever need and we could use them any way we choose. That meant we could use them for exceptional good or we could screw it up, our choice. We could love our fellow man and advance or we could hate and subjugate and decline. He could make it rain whenever he wanted but why screw it up for everyone so he made it rain inside John's car. The point is for me is that everything could easily be part of God's plan, evolution, the planets, stars, mole rats and the bible, Koran or Stonehenge. These things are not mutually exclusive in my mind.