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Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
#51
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 10:11 am)Rhythm Wrote: Yeah, you gotta give credit where it's due, eh FNM.  People have spent alot of time trying to hammer god into something demonstrably true.  Of coure they're going to have -something- to show for their trouble.  I actually like the general thrust of pre-sup...in that it asks one to consider which worldviews, out of an endless sea of candidate worldviews, explains the most, and are the most coherent.  Obviously, christian presuppositionalists believe that the christian worldview does, but the same method could be applied to -any- worldview....and it;s not a bad exercise.  I think where pre-sups shine is in demonstrating that some other argument claiming to rule god out simply can;t do so.  They're better leveraged against competing worldviews than they are at establishing the truth of their own, but that's pretty much explicit in their design...so I guess it shouldn't be surprising.

The thing is, just describing them as you have here you think to yourself, "Well, that's total bullshit," but the arguments have been refined so much to be slippery and hard to nail down that when you get someone that really knows what they're talking about, there's no kill-shot to bring it down.

I guess, though, that is a testament in itself as to the validity of Christianity when it is forced to be weaselly just to avoid falling flat on its face right out of the gate.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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#52
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: Has there ever been a Christian argument, or something a Christian said, that made you, for even a split second, question whether your current atheistic stance is right?

Even if the argument turned out to be completely fabricated or disprovable, did it at the very least draw you closer to believing the Bible is God's Word and all that such a belief entails?

If not, has there ever been an argument that you didn't know how to answer, or that surprised you  against your expectations?

Not looking for "All Christian arguments are idiotic" replies. This is an honest question.

Randy's minimal facts of the resurrection. Hehe
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
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#53
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 10:28 am)popsthebuilder Wrote: [...] Good fights in an upright obvious fashion whereas evil fights in the dark, hidden in its very nature.

Well, then how do you explain Batman?  
He fights in the dark, hidden in his nature... His -very- nature, whatever...
...
Because he's Batman.

If you're calling the Dark Knight evil - we're going to have words.

Big Grin
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
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#54
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: Has there ever been a Christian argument, or something a Christian said, that made you, for even a split second, question whether your current atheistic stance is right?

Even if the argument turned out to be completely fabricated or disprovable, did it at the very least draw you closer to believing the Bible is God's Word and all that such a belief entails?

If not, has there ever been an argument that you didn't know how to answer, or that surprised you  against your expectations?

Not looking for "All Christian arguments are idiotic" replies. This is an honest question.

Depends on the time frame.

Earlier in my journey from don't-care-ist, to religion despiser, I wasn't able to spot the flaws and logical fallacies inherent in every Christian argument brought to bear to date.

But now, thanks to Al Gore and the invention of the interwebs and the printing press, they are much easier to spot. Kinda like bird watching.

Oh look! He's trotting out Pascal's Wager! How cute!

Uh oh! The mighty Kalam! Yikes! Infinite infinites or some such. Watch your step around the fallacy of equivocation and the fallacy of composition! They're nasty to step in! Poor Kalam is DOA!

Or the mundane variants of appeal to popularity, punishment (a fav amongst the baptists!! Look out my pretty! God's gonna gitcha and your little dog too!) or authority.

If there is an argument for the Christian god not involving one or more fallacies, I've yet to hear it.
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#55
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: Has there ever been a Christian argument, or something a Christian said, that made you, for even a split second, question whether your current atheistic stance is right?

Even if the argument turned out to be completely fabricated or disprovable, did it at the very least draw you closer to believing the Bible is God's Word and all that such a belief entails?

If not, has there ever been an argument that you didn't know how to answer, or that surprised you  against your expectations?

Not looking for "All Christian arguments are idiotic" replies. This is an honest question.

Nope most of not if all of their questions are self defeating when you open a bible and did it draw me closer to believing the christian god no.
There hasn't been a question i couldn't answer and the questions that cannot be answered like how do you know a god doesn't exist it is a 
unfalsifiable question that can be turned around like so how you do you know a god does exist without using any sort of personal experience
and faith, then would have to have credible hard evidence of the paranormal and magic to support your position about god existing. Some questions
like were did we come from or the universe we give a answer to the best of our knowledge and current scientific understanding its those in the crowed
who don't want to hear what science has to offer is science deniers.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization join today. 


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#56
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: Has there ever been a Christian argument, or something a Christian said, that made you, for even a split second, question whether your current atheistic stance is right?


Not in my adult life.  Since I was raised to be a Christian, I believed that absurd nonsense as a child, but while growing up, its inconsistencies and absurdities bothered me.  So after looking for proof of god and religion, I found that the arguments in favor of god and religion are all fallacious garbage.


(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: Even if the argument turned out to be completely fabricated or disprovable, did it at the very least draw you closer to believing the Bible is God's Word and all that such a belief entails?


That describes all of the arguments for god and religion.  They are all fallacious and ridiculous.  Including the drivel you put forth in a later post in this thread.  Indeed, your later post is an exercise in begging the question.


(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: If not, has there ever been an argument that you didn't know how to answer, or that surprised you  against your expectations?


When I was young, I was surprised at the audaciously stupid arguments that some people put forth for their silly, ridiculous beliefs.  Now, no matter how stupid the non sequitur, I am not surprised.  Religious stupidity knows no bounds.


(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: Not looking for "All Christian arguments are idiotic" replies. This is an honest question.


One does not always get what one wants.  All of the arguments in favor of Christianity are fallacious.  If you are too stupid to see the fallacies, that tells us something about you.

This, by the way, is why some religious people resort to saying that they believe by faith; that is, without evidence.  Some Christians are smart enough to see that the arguments are fallacious.  But, unfortunately, are not smart enough to reject faith.

"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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#57
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
I'll admit I'm sometimes surprised by some arguments - None of which have changed my mind but simply showed me a different perspective on one or two issues. For example, I used to laugh at people who criticize "atheist fundamentalists" like Dawkins because arguably all they do is write books and give lectures - Then someone who was an atheist as well pointed me out that the bible is just a book as well, and so are any other texts - That was thought provoking and changed my mind on a set of things - Namely I don't think people literally commit harm just in the name of religion but there's a competition between many variables that lead people to violence. Indeed, the bible is just a collection of silly words, it's not like there's a gun pointed at people's heads telling them they have to accept the bible as divine. Some arguments and opinions by Reza Aslan got me thinking as well.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you

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#58
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 2:02 am)SamS Wrote: Has there ever been a Christian argument, or something a Christian said, that made you, for even a split second, question whether your current atheistic stance is right?

Even if the argument turned out to be completely fabricated or disprovable, did it at the very least draw you closer to believing the Bible is God's Word and all that such a belief entails?

If not, has there ever been an argument that you didn't know how to answer, or that surprised you  against your expectations?

Not looking for "All Christian arguments are idiotic" replies. This is an honest question.

No, I've considered the arguments, but never during that time did I find any of them at all convincing.

They all boil down to "never mind the facts we know how about the facts we DON'T, eh EH!"



You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.

Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.




 








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#59
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
(July 17, 2015 at 11:38 am)KevinM1 Wrote: Randy's minimal facts of the resurrection. Hehe
I now doubt Jesus existed because of Randy. Thumb up
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. - Denis Diderot

We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing. - Gore Vidal
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#60
RE: Honest Question to Atheists - Best Argument?
As to the OP and SamS, short answer is no to all. No argument or position (at least since the age of 13) has changed my atheism, even made me question.

An argument is just that, an argument. You want me to consider your belief? Give me proof. Verifiable proof. A simple enough request but one that never seems to be provided. All I ever get is more argument. For me this is not a debate.

To Pops, what can I say? Continue flip flopping and spewing out the next non sequitur statement as this seems to suit you. As far as I'm concerned nothing you say is compelling.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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