RE: Is it a good idea to be an atheist?
March 19, 2015 at 12:49 pm
(This post was last modified: March 19, 2015 at 12:52 pm by JuliaL.)
The point that the burden of proof belongs to only positive claims has been beaten to death in this thread.
The failure to recognize where the burden of proof lies removes any barrier to uncritical acceptance of any claim without evidence. This is common and leads to shouting.
On the largest scale, without some evidence on which to judge, there is no reason to accept one god rather than another. On millions of lesser topics, conflict arises when competing claims are put forward without evidence with their advocates each pushing their own agendas. Generally these take the form of, "God told me that (fill in desirable good here) was mine and I should take it from anyone who currently has it."
My objection to violence between stupid theists, each with the (uncritical acceptance of the) above generic argument, is that their wars tend to spill over and affect me. This is, by definition, bad.
The failure to recognize where the burden of proof lies removes any barrier to uncritical acceptance of any claim without evidence. This is common and leads to shouting.
On the largest scale, without some evidence on which to judge, there is no reason to accept one god rather than another. On millions of lesser topics, conflict arises when competing claims are put forward without evidence with their advocates each pushing their own agendas. Generally these take the form of, "God told me that (fill in desirable good here) was mine and I should take it from anyone who currently has it."
My objection to violence between stupid theists, each with the (uncritical acceptance of the) above generic argument, is that their wars tend to spill over and affect me. This is, by definition, bad.
So how, exactly, does God know that She's NOT a brain in a vat? 
