I need Research backup for atheism debate

[wangsit]

[pineapplebunnybounce]

Hey, welcome.

You ask for a lot of things ... most are unnecessary for the "atheist" argument.

But I'll weigh in on a few things that are already up my alley.

1) Clinical trials of prayer studies are like ... LOL ok? Prayer studies are a joke. I've never looked one up in my life. Because you cannot control for shit. You are trusting that the people who said they prayed, prayed. How do you know the ones who were not prayed for were ACTUALLY not prayed for? It's crazy, they have loved ones too, some religious. The inability to even control for the one variable you're testing for just makes the entire study worthless. I'm also of the opinion that money is better spent researching real stuff. And even if it can be controlled for and it showed efficacy beyond placebo effect, it does not follow that god exists. The entire thing doesn't make sense to me.

Edit: 3) I don't see the point of this exercise, as well. Because there are plenty of fiction out there with no contradictions in them. Having no contradictions =/= real. It's irrelevant to whether or not god exists.

4) Give them a textbook. If they are delusional enough to deny textbook science using evidence from a bible, they're too far gone.

[wangsit]

[pineapplebunnybounce]

1) Because it cannot be controlled, all results are meaningless. It doesn't matter if they got published, it's meaningless. There's no point looking into it.

3) Yes but even if the bible has no contradictions, it wouldn't mean god exists.

4) If they don't understand evolution and they want to reject it, no need to take them seriously. They're a waste of time.

[Crossless2.0]

At the risk of sounding flippant, when you debate with these people, the following three perfectly reasonable tactics will usually suffice to bring their "arguments" to a screeching halt (if not cause their heads to explode):

1) When they make unsubstantiated claims, as they must, ask for evidence;

2) When they try to appeal to the Bible as evidence that this or that happened, interject with, "You mean allegedly, don't you?"; and

3) Learn the various logical fallacies and call them on it whenever they commit one, as they inevitably will.

Remember, atheists don't bear the burden of evidence. If people want you to believe in their imaginary friends, it's up to them to persuade you.

Read through the threads here and on other such forums. You will be more than adequately armed to shoot fish in a barrel.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Wangsit, if they refuse to accept evolution ('believe in evolution' is the wrong phrase), I would suggest beating them soundly about the head and shoulders with a fossil.

Boru