RE: A discussion with tack
July 10, 2011 at 9:14 am
(This post was last modified: July 10, 2011 at 9:30 am by The Grand Nudger.)
We actually know a great deal about the kinds of things people 5000 years ago thought about. It's all over everything they made, just like it is today. We have mountains of data as to where concepts of god come from. Specifically we have mountains of data as to where both the god of the NT and the god of the OT come from (it's a very interesting discussion, and the case can be made very easily that they're not the same god). It's just as clear a case as the Tannu, unless you believe that it is not. Why aren't you suspending disbelief for the Tannu god Tom Army in the way that you are suspending disbelief for Zues, Athena, etc?
I don't understand why you (or anyone for that matter) insist that we don't know these things. There's an entire field of academic research devoted to it. There's even a sub-field devoted to nothing else within that field. Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Religion. There are real people, in the real world, who consider real evidence and make this their life's work.
It may be an interesting discussion, theorizing as to why god would do this or that, or how....but I can't help but make the comparison to Santa. How do his reindeer fly? Can we show logically that his reindeer can fly? What are the philosophical implications of flying reindeer? In what way does this sort of discussion about god differ from the discussion about Santa and his reindeer?
A quick note about atheism, I can't speak for all atheists, however. It is not because I am already an atheist that there are explanations other than god. It is precisely because there are other explanations that I am an atheist.
It is not the atheist who wishes god to be beyond explanation, or states that there "could be no" evidence, it is the theist that insists he must be, that there cannot be. Again, this was not always the case. God/gods didn't "exist outside of this universe" until theists had to account for the curious lack of god IN this universe. As an atheist, I can say "show me the evidence", I'd be forced to change my position wouldn't I? It is the theist who maintains that no such evidence could exist, and yet they see it everywhere. It's dishonest, a debating tactic, no statement of truth.
I don't understand why you (or anyone for that matter) insist that we don't know these things. There's an entire field of academic research devoted to it. There's even a sub-field devoted to nothing else within that field. Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Religion. There are real people, in the real world, who consider real evidence and make this their life's work.
It may be an interesting discussion, theorizing as to why god would do this or that, or how....but I can't help but make the comparison to Santa. How do his reindeer fly? Can we show logically that his reindeer can fly? What are the philosophical implications of flying reindeer? In what way does this sort of discussion about god differ from the discussion about Santa and his reindeer?
A quick note about atheism, I can't speak for all atheists, however. It is not because I am already an atheist that there are explanations other than god. It is precisely because there are other explanations that I am an atheist.
It is not the atheist who wishes god to be beyond explanation, or states that there "could be no" evidence, it is the theist that insists he must be, that there cannot be. Again, this was not always the case. God/gods didn't "exist outside of this universe" until theists had to account for the curious lack of god IN this universe. As an atheist, I can say "show me the evidence", I'd be forced to change my position wouldn't I? It is the theist who maintains that no such evidence could exist, and yet they see it everywhere. It's dishonest, a debating tactic, no statement of truth.
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