Christoid Logic

[God of Mr. Hanky]

The Epicurus thread reminded me of a conversation that I once had in university with an extremist christian kid. 

It was after a physics class and a group of us had gone down to play pool in the student hall.  The kid asked me if I believed in god and I said not really and then he started ranting about the day's class.  The conversation went something like this:

Kid:  "The big bang theory is obviously wrong.  I don't know why we study it at all."
Me:  "Well, there's significant evidence to support the theory."
Kid:  "Can't be..."
Me:  "Why?"
Kid:  "Obviously because you can't create something from nothing."
Me:  "Well, by that logic, where did your god come from."

Kid:  "He's god."


Of course, it ended up with me explaining to him that that made zero sense using his own logic and asking why can't he simply accept that while there is evidence supporting the original origins of our particular universe, the overall understanding is beyond our current ability of understanding.  Its fine to make something up if you need the comfort to sleep at night but its no better than believing that glitter farting magic unicorns are real.


Is it just me or do most conversations with theists just end up being similarly idiotic?

He may not have presented it well, but his point is valid. 

If I allow that an eternally existing god is possible, then yes, I must allow that an eternally existing universe is also possible. If the evidence indicated that the universe has existed eternally, or back when we didn't have evidence one way or another on that question, your counter argument was fine. But, now that the evidence indicates that the universe has a beginning, that counter argument no longer holds.

Who said the beginning of our universe is the beginning of existence? It may have arisen as part of an endless cycle, it could have sprung from a different, or even a dying dimension. Lack of evidence for such ideas doesn't make them any less logically valid than theistic ideas, which also have the problem of infinite regress. So let's not be stupid and bow down to deities who clearly won't even lift a finger to announce their presence without the suggestion of their so-called prophets. What isn't known isn't known, deal with that!