(October 8, 2020 at 11:07 am)HappySkeptic Wrote:(October 7, 2020 at 11:14 pm)Gwaithmir Wrote: No, it's the theists who can't be reasoned with.
I have to disagree. Paine was an outspoken Deist. He was not an atheist, though some called him that. He believed that the existence of God was absolutely proven by the natural world.
He was using atheists as a convenient irrational person for his quote. I have not found a single reference online that agrees with your interpretation. If you can find one, I'll look at it.
Well, while he wasn't an atheist, Paine certainly wasn't an evangelist. After reading The Age of Reason a few times and some of his other essays, I'd have to disagree with you. He considered Christian fundamentalists to be blockheads who couldn't be reasoned with and I agree with him that you certainly can't convert atheists by quoting the Bible at them.
https://www.learnreligions.com/top-thoma...on-4072775
"The world is my country; all of humanity are my brethren; and to do good deeds is my religion." (Thomas Paine)
