Stump the Christian?

[Ravenshire]

*corrected word usage to more accurately portray what I meant in that quote.

Randy, wouldn't the church I used to attend be even better than a forum?!? Lot's of believers around, lot's of testimony for the love of christ, all that happy horse shit. Or, how 'bout the good christer home I was raised in with all the positive reinforcement (and whitewashing of the "darker" elements of the buy-bull) that entails? If my own parents couldn't convince me gawd was real, even though I wanted to believe it, what in the holy fuck makes you think some fucking christer web forum will work?

Not necessarily. With your parents and your former Church, there's probably a LOT of baggage that makes being really honest difficult.

The anonymity of the Internet might actually be helpful.

One other question: you posts don't suggest that you are dispassionately pursuing the question of God's existence. Your choice of words indicates that you are anything but objective as an honest scientist would be. For example, you can't even bring yourself to type "some Christian web forum"...no, it has to be "some fucking christer web forum". Why is that?

I've long since quit caring (or worrying) about a gawd that refuses to show itself (did you even read my post directly above your reply to me?), or more likely, simply isn't there. The evidence doesn't add up, mostly because it's not there either. No, I'm not as lenient in my criteria for evidence as you are. Evidence should be, well, evident. It should also be verifiable, testable and repeatable. None of the crap you've thrown at the wall in hopes something will stick lives up to those criteria.

The criteria you've listed for evidence sounds great for something in a test tube, but not all evidence that you accept in life meets them.

You know, I was going to do up a nice long reply, but quite honestly I'm not up to arguing semantics. The gist is, you claimed that that if we sincerely sought out gawd, it would show up. I did, it didn't, end of story.

And yes, Randy, any claim for which I require evidence (mundane claims require no proof), the evidence does meet those criteria or I don't accept the claim. Just because your standards are woefully low doesn't mean mine are.