OT 4 More Things Atheists Should Stop Saying

OT 4 More Things Atheists Should Stop Saying Jan 5, 2021 20:02:54 GMT

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Post by FilmFlaneur on Jan 5, 2021 20:02:54 GMT

Jan 5, 2021 19:56:50 GMT movieliker said:

Jan 5, 2021 13:31:18 GMT Eva Yojimbo said:

4) Maybe "falsehood" is the wrong word, but you're essentially saying it's rational to believe something with no evidence or reason to think it's true other than that it makes you happy. Would you say any of these statements are rational:

"Believing I have a billion dollars in my bank account makes me happy. You can't prove I don't, so I'll choose to believe it."
"Believing I'm the reincarnated spirit of Jimi Hendrix makes me happy. You can't prove I'm not, so I'll choose to believe it."
"Believing in The Flying Spaghetti Monster makes me happy. You can't prove it doesn't exist, so I'll choose to believe it."
"Believing in Santa Clause makes me happy. You can't prove he doesn't exist, so I'll choose to believe it."
"Believing we're all living in the matrix makes me happy. You can't prove we aren't, so I'll choose to believe it."
"Believing Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election makes me happy. You can't prove he didn't, so I'll choose to believe it."

God is no different than any of these things.

The only difference between belief and knowledge is the confidence level. Knowledge is something you might be 99.99% certain is true, while you can believe anything that reaches a subjective threshold that you think is true. So how confident are you that God exists? 50%? 66%? 75%? 90%? And what evidence/reasoning did you use to get to that level, keeping in mind that "it makes me feel good" is not evidence that God exists?

Oh my goodness Eva, this is so stupid. You are lucky I'm home sick. Otherwise I wouldn't have the time to go through this foolishness.

- I can prove how much money I have in the bank. So believing isn't necessarily.
- I don't believe in reincarnation.
- I've never heard of a Flying Spaghetti Monster.
- I used to believe in Santa Claus when I was a child. But then I grew up.
- I don't see any evidence for believing in a matrix. And no compelling reason to believe in any matrix.
- I never voted for Trump. I don't want him to be president. And all the judges --- even ones he appointed --- say there is no evidence of fraud.

I have good reason to believe in God. No good reasons to believe in those other things.

As far as I understand it, you believe in (the notion of) God making you happy, not that He necessarily exists. Whether or not the deity exists is besides the point since it cannot be objectively proved. Unless you are saying more that the deity must, because you are happy - which indeed would be irrational.