(July 28, 2010 at 1:13 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: You're suggesting that theism postures observable existence (to your own demands) and therefore bears a burden of proof.
It does. It claims that wishes are granted according to prayer, which, if indeed true, should have an observable effect in the world. Prayer has been shown not to do so, in a double blind trial. Theism, or versions of it, also claims that the laws of nature are occasionally suspended, when people visit special holy places, or when they ask for it. No amputee has ever grown back a limb, and never has there been a confirmed miracle with no naturalistic explanation. Admittedly, science has nothing to say about the non-existence of a deist, non-interventionist god, but a theist god has been proven to be either non-existent, arbitrary in his actions, or very ineffectual.
'We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.' H.L. Mencken
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
