Re: What is wrong with this argument?

From: grazer (rmessenger_at_gmail.com)
Date: 03/26/05 

Date: 26 Mar 2005 15:17:38 -0800

>What is wrong with saying that God works in Mysterious ways?

It's an excuse used by theists to justify inconsistancies in anecdotal
'evidence' of god's work. For example: "My friends mother got breast
cancer, so we prayed for her every day, and she got better by the grace
of god." "But thousands of people die of cancer every year!" "The ways
of God are mysterious."
As (mostly) rational people, atheists realize that there is no *more*
reason to believe in a God than there is to believe in a purple monster
with big teath living in our ventilation ducts. For example: "My friend
tapped on his heating vent and before him, he saw a sign of the purple
monster" "I have seen no such creature" "This monster works in
mysterious ways." This statement plays on the fact that I have never
actualy seen the inside of my heating vents.
Most atheists choose to define their view of the word around them using
science. Take, for example, the statement "There is no god"; Many
theists believe that to take this as true requires just as much of a
'leap of faith' as the belief in God. This is not true; given any
statement, the validity of which is unknown, and _for which there is no
evidence_, the likelyhood of it being true to the likelyhood of it
being false is not 50:50!
If I say that I believe that all earthquakes are caused by gremlins
living about 400km underground, would you believe me? You can't prove
me wrong. What if I go on television and tell the world of my belief;
would they all be taking a 'leap of faith' to dismiss my 'theory'? What
if millions of people shared my belief; would it be any more likely to
be true? What if the gremlins work in mysterious ways? lol

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Genius of Charles Darwin
    ... they have no evidence. ... Science is not a worldview, ... If the god of religion A is conceived of as natural and testable, ... evidence of god's existence theists, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Genius of Charles Darwin
    ... even the theists on this newsgroup - AAQ, ... given up their belief in god? ... evidence for my assertion is that empirical evidence, or lack thereof, ... reality and being anti-science are NOT different - they coincide ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Genius of Charles Darwin
    ... they have no evidence. ... Science is not a worldview, ... even the theists on this newsgroup - AAQ, ... If the god of religion A is conceived of as natural and testable, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: CD Sales Down
    ... As long as the other believer and I can agree that in concept One God is God then we have to be believing in the "same" God if there is only One. ... Suppose guy A believes his god created the universe and then abandoned it. ... Neither guy can or will show you evidence to support his view. ...
    (alt.guitar)
  • Re: Mission Impossible: Having a Substantive Debate with Conservatives
    ... My book lays out how Reaganomics transformed America into a nation of ... You might try asking for evidence ... appeal to tradition (similar to the bandwagon fallacy): ... disasters occur because God punishes non-believers; ...
    (soc.retirement)