(October 1, 2013 at 9:08 pm)Lemonvariable72 Wrote: I do not understand why some theists come on with bullshit like Pascal's wager and go all you just don't wanna believe! When you refute their argument
I think that many of them are exposing themselves to skeptics and counter-arguments for the first time. If you're sheltered enough you are unaware that those arguments have long ago been considered and debated. When I was a believer, many of those arguments seemed rock solid.
That is probably also why they react so obstinately; they're in a suddenly very uncomfortable spot. Either they have to consider the counter arguments and put their previously unassailable ideas to the test, or they can simply shut their minds against any conflict. When you do the latter, the only option is to assume that it's everyone else who doesn't want to consider the alternative.
Don't discount the value of presenting them with new ideas and new thoughts to consider. Some who seem to otherwise expertly deflect your reasoning may still be affected by it in the long term. Many of us who left religion for reason have skeptics to thank, even if many of those skeptics never saw their labors bear fruit.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
-Stephen Jay Gould
