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Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
#21
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
(December 20, 2016 at 5:51 pm)RiddledWithFear Wrote: Question here, and I know it's a stupid question, but bear with me. When you analogize a god or a number of gods to the tooth fairy, etc. are you saying they are equally improbable? In that sense, are you saying straight-out they don't exist, or just that they are highly improbable of existing?

They can be compared.  A child will believe in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus because they are told this --by authority figures they trust-- in such a way as to be convinced.  They are also convinced by a simple experiment where a tooth is placed under their pillow and is replaced by a coin.  The parents insist that they had no part in the exchange, and the child is bewildered that it could be done literally under his nose!  He now has physical evidence for the belief and no reason to suspect that he is being lied to and misled.  If he is suspicious and makes inquiries, the parents can weave all kinds of tales to explain any discrepancies because the creature in question is magical and this makes all kinds of explanations seem plausible.

Apply that approach to religion and imagine that, in the example above, the parents never tell their children the truth about the Tooth Fairy and they and their peers grow up convinced that it's true, complete with increasingly dissonant explanations for why they or their children do not get their teeth exchanged for coins anymore.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."

-Stephen Jay Gould
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#22
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
No such thing as God, I would never celebrate Christmas because God is bullsh**.
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#23
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
(December 21, 2016 at 12:43 pm)zebo-the-fat Wrote:
(December 20, 2016 at 5:51 pm)RiddledWithFear Wrote: Question here, and I know it's a stupid question, but bear with me. When you analogize a god or a number of gods to the tooth fairy, etc. are you saying they are equally improbable? In that sense, are you saying straight-out they don't exist, or just that they are highly improbable of existing?

The probability of gods, pixies etc. is so low as to be not worth considering

Exactly.  While they likely don't all have "the same" probability, statistically insignificant is what it is.
Have you ever noticed all the drug commercials on TV lately?  Why is it the side effects never include penile enlargement or super powers?
Side effects may include super powers or enlarged penis which may become permanent with continued use.  Stop taking Killatol immediately and consult your doctor if you experience penis enlargement of more than 3 inches, laser vision, superhuman strength, invulnerability, the ability to explode heads with your mind or time travel.  Killatoll is not for everyone, especially those who already have convertibles or vehicles of ridiculous size to supplement penis size.
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#24
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
(December 21, 2016 at 1:23 pm)Cyrinistar Wrote: No such thing as God, I would never celebrate Christmas because God is bullsh**.

Come over to my corner of the dark side:

On Christmas day, take sinful pleasure in committing all 7 deadly sins.

Extra credit if you can combine the food and sex ones . . .
 The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it. 




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#25
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
(December 20, 2016 at 6:18 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Well we have 'made up' tooth fairies, leprechauns, and werewolves, but they all pale in their 'made-upness' when compared to all the shit Joe Smith came up with.

[Image: quote-mormonism-it-seems-to-me-is-object...235132.jpg]
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#26
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
Magic is magic.  I see no real difference between Christian beliefs, Muslim beliefs, Hindu beliefs, Wiccan beliefs, people who believe in psychics, or magic spells, or superstitions, or astrology, or Voodoo, or past lives, or that they have alien hybrid lizard children on the Moon, or fairies...  It's all the same, really.  Christianity is only more special than belief in Zeus because we climbed Mount Olympus and Zeus wasn't there.  The only reason it's special is because it is vague enough to remain "undisprovable".  In that regard psychics, Bigfoot and Nessy are equally as special.
Have you ever noticed all the drug commercials on TV lately?  Why is it the side effects never include penile enlargement or super powers?
Side effects may include super powers or enlarged penis which may become permanent with continued use.  Stop taking Killatol immediately and consult your doctor if you experience penis enlargement of more than 3 inches, laser vision, superhuman strength, invulnerability, the ability to explode heads with your mind or time travel.  Killatoll is not for everyone, especially those who already have convertibles or vehicles of ridiculous size to supplement penis size.
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#27
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
(December 20, 2016 at 5:04 pm)PETE_ROSE Wrote: People often equate belief in God or Christianity with following a certain prescribed set of rules or things they must accomplish.  This is where Christianity differs from all other religions.  Salvation has nothing to do with following rules or living a certain way.  Yes those things may come, but they are not a prerequisite.

How convenient. Although useless, if it's not required for 'salvation'. I can stick with living as an atheist and achieve the same results, with none of the strictures.

(December 20, 2016 at 5:04 pm)PETE_ROSE Wrote: It appears to me the Bible itself, and the events depicted in it, and the life of Christ, are among the strongest evidence for God.

Then it falls at the very first gate. Bring me a talking donkey and a bottle of water that spontaneously transmutes into wine - then we'll talk about gods.

(December 20, 2016 at 5:04 pm)PETE_ROSE Wrote: The Bible is testable.  If you find it to be true then what it claims should hold some weight.  At the end of the day it is still entirely up to the individual if they desire to subscribe to it.

Maybe, and maybe not; but nobody is questioning the existence of the bible.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist.  This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair.  Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second.  That means there's a situation vacant.'
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#28
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
(December 21, 2016 at 1:26 pm)Alasdair Ham Wrote:
(December 20, 2016 at 6:18 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Well we have 'made up' tooth fairies, leprechauns, and werewolves, but they all pale in their 'made-upness' when compared to all the shit Joe Smith came up with.

[Image: quote-mormonism-it-seems-to-me-is-object...235132.jpg]

LOL, I'm not sure Sam appreciates just how much more idiocy the Mormons have come up with . . .
 The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it. 




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#29
RE: Why I'm an atheist, a point of confusion for many theists
(December 21, 2016 at 1:06 pm)Tonus Wrote:
(December 20, 2016 at 5:51 pm)RiddledWithFear Wrote: Question here, and I know it's a stupid question, but bear with me. When you analogize a god or a number of gods to the tooth fairy, etc. are you saying they are equally improbable? In that sense, are you saying straight-out they don't exist, or just that they are highly improbable of existing?

They can be compared.  A child will believe in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus because they are told this --by authority figures they trust-- in such a way as to be convinced.  They are also convinced by a simple experiment where a tooth is placed under their pillow and is replaced by a coin.  The parents insist that they had no part in the exchange, and the child is bewildered that it could be done literally under his nose!  He now has physical evidence for the belief and no reason to suspect that he is being lied to and misled.  If he is suspicious and makes inquiries, the parents can weave all kinds of tales to explain any discrepancies because the creature in question is magical and this makes all kinds of explanations seem plausible.

Apply that approach to religion and imagine that, in the example above, the parents never tell their children the truth about the Tooth Fairy and they and their peers grow up convinced that it's true, complete with increasingly dissonant explanations for why they or their children do not get their teeth exchanged for coins anymore.

Good point, I've had more evidence to suggest that the tooth fairy is real in my life than Yahweh.
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