i have decided to switch to all lowercase titles

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

-- Pink Floyd, Time 

This post is a continuing thread from the previous post. It contains some random thoughts which are just rehashes of old theist and atheist positions. I doubt this covers any new ground.

Here goes.

(1) It is unfair to ask atheists to prove the non-existence of God, as is sometimes done.

To prove the non-existence of X, one must search the entire universe of discourse (in this case, the entire universe) for X, and when X is not found, only then the conclusion can be drawn that X does not exist. It is a negative search. And very expensive to do.

On the other hand, it is not so unfair to ask a theist to prove the existence of God, because this is a positive task. Someone needs to find only one instance of God and produce him to prove his existence.

Of course the standard response to this is that God is unknowable and all mysterious and such **wooooooooh**. The curtain usually falls on rational discussion at this point.


(2) There are problems with the definition of "God".

First of all, there seems to be a wide lack of consensus on what God is. Ask a Hindu, Christian, Jew, and Muslim individually what God is, and you get very different answers. Some of the answers are scary.

Even so, there are some common attributes that most people assign to God. One of these attributes is: Omnipotent. Apart from the obvious question of, "How on earth can you possibly know that?", another question can be brought up. If God is omnipotent, can he create a Being that is more powerful than himself? If he can, then he is not omnipotent because he must now bow to this newly created entity. And if he can't, then he is clearly not All-Powerful.

You've heard this before. Can God create a stone that is too heavy for him to lift?

Omnipotence suffers from self-reference. One way to reconcile this is to admit that God cannot be omnipotent--he has his limits. The other way to reconcile it is to suspend logic and disbelief. If there is a third way, do tell.

Omnipotence is also often fucked up the ass by the Problem of Evil, but that is another post.


(3) I don't know why certain people like Behe mess around with science and try to prove its inadequacy to prove the existence of God.

Proving the inadequacy of something does not prove the adequacy of something else, unless you live in a binary universe. It reeks of insecurity. People should simply have the intellectual honesty and the courage of their convictions to say, "I believe in God because I believe in God. It gives me comfort. I have absolutely no idea why, and can provide no explanation. Besides, I don't need to provide an explanation, so there."

This argument will be equally compelling to most fair-minded folks. Instead, these people bash up on science and point to gaps in our knowledge as if that will prove something.

Here's what I would say to Behe and others like him. Do not resort to pseudo-scientific nonsense and tell me that there is evidence all around us that points to an omnipotent, omniscient, and loving God. Do not state conclusively that the complexity of the world can be explained only if we accept the presence of a mysterious yet fair-minded father figure.

Instead, do the following. Either:

(A) Stop being so smug and express doubt.

OR, if that does not appeal to you:

(B) Plump for your belief unabashedly by brazening it out. Do not offer hesitation. And for heaven's sake, do not appeal to logic.

Anything else is dishonest and invites scorn. Oh, and if you do decide to follow the second approach, recognize and respect the fact that other people might have different, equally inexplicable, and cherished beliefs. So leave the automatic weapons at home.


(5) Balajee says: "Most of the Athiests I know have a more condescending attitude towards the rest of humanity."

I recognize this to be true but not universally so. And I would like to point out that atheists don't have the monopoly on condescension. Have you ever told a Pentecostal that you are a Hindu and see no reason to be otherwise? He'll offer you a choice among condescension, distaste, disdain, and pity. Atheists haven't cornered the market on condescension yet.


(6) Some people express surprise at an atheist, "You are godless. You don't believe in prayer. What do you use to draw comfort from in difficult times. What do you use to pick yourself up when you are down?"

Coffee.