(March 22, 2012 at 9:38 am)mediamogul Wrote: Another thing is that people continue to use arguments from centuries ago that have been thoroughly refuted. First cause, teleological argument, argument from design, etc...
My favorite is when they try to argue for their specific flavor of religion based on scripture ot personal experience. It is usually after you ask them why they don't believe in any of the other religions. Then they usually dodge the next question which is "Don't all religions claim essentially the same thing?" The real answer is that yes all religions claiming a god or gods claim the same thing. What they claim is that they know god exists because their scripture says so. They know their scripture is true because they have experienced god in the way their scripture describes. It is circular. Scripture is true because god exists. God exists because scripture is true.
I also love when I say "why do you believe in god" and then someone says "look around you". That's so annoying.
In the bolded: this is sooo frustrating. I had Bible study group last week (I'm a closet atheist still) and someone studying history at university brought up the topic of Biblical contradictions and how he has to constantly write in his papers that the Bible is flawed, but he is still strong in faith because he's a believer. This was met with 'the Bible has paradoxes'...
Anyways, pretty much all that was said in defence of the Bible that night was exactly what you've outlined. I was trying to push the boundaries and test the people a bit. My friend said 'we believe in the truth. God doesn't lie'. I told him that's what every believer says about their religion. He asked me 'is God a perfect God'? I replied with 'yes'. Then he said 'then scripture must be the absolute truth' *smile*.... *FRUSTRATION*
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle
