I don't believe in atheists.
Sure, I know there are plenty of people who claim to have had a personal experience with atheism, but I just don't buy it. I think they're just expressing their own personal need to disbelieve in something.
Scientifically, it is impossible to prove non-existence. That means that, from a scientific perspective, you actually can't prove that there aren't elves living in my apartment. All you can do is offer counter-examples—you've never found any elves. At the best, a scientific enquiry can convince us that it is very unlikely that there are elves in my apartment.
The logical reason for this rule against proving a nonexistence is simple. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean its not there. To use a slightly less fantastic example: Herman Melville was convinced that the "Blue Whale" was a myth, and that the sperm whale was undoubtedly the largest creature on earth. He had never seen a blue whale. Many scientists of his day agreed with him. Yet blue whales do exist. Likewise, logically, scientifically, the fact that I have never seen an elf does not mean that they aren't here. Even if there was absolutely no evidence for the existence of elves, it is not logically possible to rule out the existence completely.
As for God, the same applies. Even if there were no evidence whatsoever for the existence of God, the basic rules of logic say that it is not possible to rule out his existence completely. But there is evidence for God's existence. People may debate the interpretation or the validity of that evidence, but it does exist. The testamony of multitudes beyond counting is evidence. The existence of this world is evidence. The concepts of good and evil, and the fact that human beings understand them, are evidence. There is evidence scattered throughout the universe.
I can accept that this evidence is unconvincing to some people. I can accept agnosticism as a philosophical position. I happen to think that it is an intellectually cowardly position, but I believe it. But atheism is simply not tenable. To say with certainty that no God exists displays either arrogance or ignorance.
And I just don't buy it.
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5 comments:
Good argument. And remember, they are not elves. They are gnomes!!
(it's testImony)
There's a psychologist who wrote a book on atheism entitled "The Faith of the Fatherless." He got tired of his colleagues telling him that his belief in God was only the projection of a Father figure. When he studied the lives of famous atheists, he found that all of them either hated their fathers or had fathers who were absent. So he argued that they disbelieved because they were projecting their father-animosity at God.
Corn Gnome!
I can understand your opinion on atheism. But agnosticism is intellectually cowardly? You're taking away all of my choices! :P
How is it "intellectually cowardly" in your opinion?
If you have time to respond, awesome. :o)
~
Anactoria
anactoria.blogspot.com
(Damn beta Blogger!)
I don't think you know what Atheism is...maybe look it up?
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