(January 9, 2017 at 5:59 pm)Vast Vision Wrote: I cannot think of a weak atheistic argument spontaneously; I might be enlightened.
What is atheism? The mere absence of belief in a world view for which there is no valid proof whatsoever. What theists believe to be a testament for the validity of their belief, has not to be one. I have never seen Atheists making statements theists often attribute to them.
(January 1, 2017 at 5:10 am)paulpabl Wrote: There's so much evil/pain/death in the world therefore no god. Probably the worst argument for atheism I've heard.
How is this a weak argument based on the nature of the god probably most of us are thinking of? When the god who is said to be a merciful, all-loving and all-forgiving planer, causes such a massive amount of suffering in the world and is willing to bring down endless agony to those with nothing but a honest fallacy - the inability to recognize him in the creation, as the mind engineered by god himself would not allow so.
Theistic response however is weak. As they say that god is not within the boundaries of logic and works in a way not understandable for humans, they admit, that their belief is irrational, since gods very actions are claimed to be irrational ("not bound by logic").
(January 9, 2017 at 5:53 pm)Alex K Wrote: Strongest against: Fine tuning, contrary to what some deniers say, several physical constants and combinations thereof cannot be changed by more than a tiny fraction without wreaking havoc on our universe's ability to support life.
The absence of a plausible explanation at this moment is no proof for the opposite view. Magic can never be a good answer. "I cannot comprehend how this works, it must be the work of a wizard!"
In response to the question addressed to me.
It's a weak argument because it assumes knowledge of God and God's methods of running the universe.
None of us have any evidence of God, God's nature, God's existence, God's methods.
So to say God doesn't exist because he wouldn't allow evil makes no sense. How do you know God wouldn't allow evil? How do you know he's merciful? How do you know he isn't showing mercy and he offers tortured people some amazing heaven later.
If God is more intelligent than we are by a significant amount then it's plausable we wouldn't even begin to understand his methods.
It could be like when a human holds a feral cat down in order to extract a thorn from it's paw. That cat has no forward planning, doesn't understand the concept of planned altruistic behavior beyond the emotions it feels perhaps towards it's own family members possibly. As far as the cat's concerned this human is a threat and should be attacked at all times.
I haven't seen evidence so far that a being like this exists out there, that has created the universe and is more intelligent than humans. But if a being like that did exist I'm not going to pretend I'd know all about how this being would go about bussiness.
Saying God doesn't exist because bad things happen put's you in exactly the same boat as theists who say god exists because good things happen. Sportsmen who think God helped them score the goal. A muslim I know who said he knows God exists because water is so refreshing and nice.
Are you ready for the fire? We are firemen. WE ARE FIREMEN! The heat doesn’t bother us. We live in the heat. We train in the heat. It tells us that we’re ready, we’re at home, we’re where we’re supposed to be. Flames don’t intimidate us. What do we do? We control the flame. We control them. We move the flames where we want to. And then we extinguish them.
Impersonation is treason.
