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Originally Posted by Yakk
It is no more or less ridiculous than belief in the flying spagetti monster, invisible pink unicorns, or running around with your skin painted blue so the UFO over-masters will take you to space.
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Except that the first two examples are established to not exist, especially the first one, which was invented in the last decade. And frankly, you're still being a complete damn jerk for comparing people who believe in a deity to whackjobs who form UFO-based cults.
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The only "existance of God" that cannot be disproven is a claim without any conseqence in this universe. It is, effectively, utter and complete nonsense wrapped up to look pretty.
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OK. Put your money where your mouth is. Prove there is no god. And I mean PROVE it, not just "I, Yakk, believe there is no god."
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So long as those who believe in the existance of God don't try to infect me, my children, or anyone placed under my care, and they don't place any restrictions on my behaviour based on their ridiculous beliefs, I am fine with their ridiculous beliefs.
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Apparently not since your earlier post advocated that you want to "undermine the acceptance of religion, and (mostly) cure it."
That isn't exactly showing even a modicum of tolerance.
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Once they step beyond that, they are harming me, and as a matter of self defence I am justified in harming them.
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I agree that they should not project their religious beliefs onto you or try to force you to behave in certain ways just because their religion tells them they must behave in those ways. However, the vast majority of religious people lead quiet lives in which they do not attempt to oppress anyone. They are completely undeserving of your hate-filled ridicule.
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Evidence that the non-existance of God is false can exist. As an example:
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Yes, we all understand that if God actually comes down here and proves his existance that his existance will be proven. But the abscence of that proof is not itself proof that god does not exist.
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A big glowy person with a white beard showing up, talking at the same time to everyone at the same time, explaining that they made the universe, demonstrating millions of physically impossible tasks, demonstrating personal knowledge of everyone he talks to -- that is an example of some pretty strong evidence that "God does not exist" is wrong.
So "God does not exist" is a testable belief.
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In the same way that "it is impossible to move faster than light" is a testable belief - but not one which we can test at the current time. Until God comes down here and proves his existance, we cannot test his existance.
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It isn't possible to prove anything, period. Not beyond a shadow of a doubt. But you can test things -- take what you believe, predict what will or will not happen, and see if you are right. Beliefs pass many such tests are often called "proven". Beliefs that fail such tests are called "disproven".
"God does not exist", as a belief, has produced predictions. These predictions have tended to pan out. As such, one could say "God does not exist" has been "proven".
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Your logic is as faulty as your attitude. You say it's not possible to prove anything, then you say that the nonexistance of god has been proven. We'll get back to this idea once you can keep the same premise solid through two paragraphs. Until then, kindly back off the many intelligent and kind people who happen to believe in something you don't.
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Meanwhile, the weakest "God does exist" "statement", the one that cannot be disproven -- it doesn't produce any tests or predictions that can be checked.
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That's exactly my point. That's why it's called faith. Others have faith that god exists. You have faith that he does not. Neither group can possibly prove their faith right or wrong.
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As an example, the Flying Spagetti Monster "global warming is caused by lack of pirates" can be demonstrated to be false -- in this case, because their graph of # of pirates is way off (not even close to the right shape).
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Spreading bullshit 3 feet thick through a thread won't disguise the fact that you're dead wrong, and it certainly won't disguise your complete lack of respect for those who happen to believe in a deity.
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Or the Christian Bible's implied approximate 6000 year age of the Earth -- it predicted certain things that didn't pan out (and really surprised people when they discovered them!).
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I'm not trying to prove to you that god exists, and I'm not going to debate the immensely flawed bible with you. We both know the bible has logical contradictions galore. That does not, however, preclude the possibility that a higher power than humans exists somewhere in the universe. It does not preclude the possibility that the universe was somehow created, nor does it preclude the possibility that you are dead wrong about the non-existance of a deity.
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I consider them to be wrong, and that they hold a ridiculous belief. I may respect them for other parts of their lives, but their religious belief reduces my respect for them.
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That's nice. Keep the disrespect to yourself in here. Debate the issues, not the people.
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Somehow, I think the responses of people who "believe" in the Christian God and people who "believe" in Socrates will be different.
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Maybe. What's your point? Leave them alone. They're not hurting you.
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I have chosen to value Truth, Intelligence and Honesty. Not above all other values, but I hold them to have some value.
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Then perhaps you could redirect that intelligence of yours to examining the niceties of social behavior, and maybe even adapting a few of them. It's not polite to tell someone their belief is ridiculous, especially when you can offer no concrete evidence that they are wrong.
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I dislike lieing. I dislike it when people are basing their actions off of ridiculous motivations, and those actions interfear with my goals.
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Some guy down the street believing in god won't get in the way of your goals any more than 2 homosexuals wanting to marry will turn you gay. Relax, and back off.
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If that where true, you might have a point. But even as I speak, the government subsidizes Churches. Their morality is imposed upon me in my private affairs. And occasionally religions convince people to blow themselves up, threatening aquantances of mine. Some of them are beating up gay people, others of them are blocking funding for effective stem cell research.
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And the tide goes both ways. Religious people throughout history have been tortured, mutilated, burned at the stake, and killed in many other nasty ways by those who decided their beliefs are ridiculous. Attack the individuals who beat up the gays, attack the individuals who try to impose their morality on you, but leave the group alone. I am certainly not ascribing your horrendous attitude to all athiests, neither should you ascribe overbearing morality to all religious people.