RE: Popular arguments you think Atheists shouldn't use
September 6, 2014 at 6:37 pm
(This post was last modified: September 6, 2014 at 6:38 pm by Dolorian.)
(September 6, 2014 at 5:00 pm)Blackout Wrote: This is a very interesting thread - I've always thought there were arguments us (atheists and non theists in general) use when we shouldn't, either because they are mean (with the sole intent of bashing the believer) or perhaps because there are some logical fallacies involved.
1 - Atheism is right because most scientists worldwide don't believe in gods - This is as bad as saying theism is right because most people believe in some type of god
2 - Religion is wrong because it hurts society - Just because something is bad it doesn't mean it is wrong - God could exist and be an evil bastard
3 - Assuming reasons why people believe - This is annoying for theists and sometimes we may be wrong - We can take a guess and say 'oh you're a Christian because your parents are Christians' but that doesn't prove anything at all, it's just a conjecture and even if someone is only a Christian because of childhood indoctrination that doesn't make Christianity wrong
4 - Demanding idiotic evidence to believe in god - EG 'I demand that god literally shows up in front of me' - I think a bit of sustainable evidence would be enough
5 - Generally pointing out flaws and issues with a specific religions or all religions, just because religion is wrong (or at least we think so) that doesn't mean gods do not exist, in fact a god could exist and not be the god of any known religion. Proving religion wrong doesn't prove theism wrong
These are some I can think of right of the top of my mind.
Those are some good ones.
1. Yep, just an argumentum ad populum.
2. I am guessing you meant to say that just because something hurts society, it doesn't means it is false. Agreed tho.
3. Yeah, this can end up being quite condescending and very similar to the Christian who thinks that one is an atheist because one only wants to sin or something along those lines.
4. Some people do indeed go to absurd lengths on this, yet I think that it is quite reasonable to set the bar high when it comes to the standard of evidence for the existence of a deity. Especially when the theists arguing for it make so many additional claims about it.
5. That much is true, but then again very much all the people who are trying to convince one of the existence of God adhere to a religion, so it is natural that one would point out the flaws of religion when confronted with arguments to it's favour.
