RE: The God of Convenience
January 1, 2015 at 11:37 pm
(This post was last modified: January 1, 2015 at 11:41 pm by Thumpalumpacus.)
(January 1, 2015 at 8:48 pm)Lek Wrote:(January 1, 2015 at 8:21 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: If someone tells you they rode dragons with F'lar during Threadfall, do you seek a reasonable explanation, or do you write the idea off?
If say, a billion sane and educated people with no prior "illusions" told me that, and I couldn't find any scientific explanation for it, then I would consider other options.
Are you asserting that a billion people have been in the physical presence of your god? That would be news, don't you think? Why have we not read of it?
Because they don't claim to have experienced their god in a verifiable manner. And there's a reason for that: it doesn't happen.
(January 1, 2015 at 8:48 pm)Lek Wrote: You're right about what you say here. But you're limited to the box you're living in because you won't accept anything that doesn't follow the laws of nature.
Can you point to one thing that unquestionably exists that doesn't follow those laws?
The box I live in unquestionably exists, and I'm having so much fun exploring its many still-mysterious facets that spending time worshiping a hateful monster of a god doesn't hold much charm for me. The fact that this god-thingy doesn't have a single shred of evidence in favor of his existence, on this or any other "plane", "dimension", or any other hidey-hole you invent to explain his absence, means that not only do I find him morally repugnant, but so unlikely as to not merit further attention -- no matter how many people have been successfully programmed to suspend their disbelief.
(January 1, 2015 at 8:48 pm)Lek Wrote: We admit that we aren't aware of any other life in the universe, but we feel fairly confident that there is because it makes sense to us. Why can't there be another type of existence. Is our universe the only thing that exists?[
My answer is one of the most liberating, and valuable, sentences in the English language: I do not know. I am happy to consider any other type of existence you might have in mind. But you'd best have evidence in proportion to the extraordinary nature of your claim, if you wish to convince most skeptics, this one included.
