An Alternative to Religion

Finding the right religion may be less important than finding the alternative to having one. (better in HQ)

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[YY4Me133]

Theists don't have "little evidence," they have *no* evidence.

[YY4Me133]

@RedCrescentDemon There's no reason to discard what possibility? Any silly idea humans come up with, including gods (thousands of them), invisible garden faeries, the Bogeyman, monsters under the bed, anal-probing extraterrestrials...? I don't have to "brace" myself to deal with new information. I simply have to be open to it. I'm open to evidence for anything, including gods, I just haven't seen evidence that any god(s) exist(s).

[TheAwesomeMaths]

@Evid3nc3 Why do you misrepresent history?

[YY4Me133]

@metalshredhead1 Things exist because they can. If a planet can't support life, it won't. If tholins are, indeed, the precursors of life, and are as abundant as they seem to be, all that's required for life to begin is conditions conducive to the interactions that lead to life forming. That scientists don't have all the answers doesn't make the baseless assertion that an amorphous intellect "spoke" things into existence a valid argument.

[metalshredhead1]

@YY4Me133 You make a good point, namely that; "Theists start with assumption that a god exists, then interpret evidence in such a way as to support their position." But remember, "evidence" can be defined as, "The available body of information indicating whether a belief is valid." So for example, Derren Brown is able to induce a state of suggestibility where the subject is made to believe he or she is intoxicated and experiences the well known side effects of said state. (cont'd)

[YY4Me133]

@metalshredhead1 While I like Christopher Hitchens, if he "admitted" that the "fine tuning" argument is a "strong" one, I have to disagree. Even if the universe seems "fine tuned," that's not evidence that a god had anything to do with it. Theists start with assumption that a god exists, then interpret evidence in such a way as to support their position. That's not following evidence, that's manufacturing evidence.

[YY4Me133]

@metalshredhead1 Earth's orbit around our sun is elliptical; the distance varies by approximately 3,110,000 miles. That's a bit more than a hair's breadth.

[metalshredhead1]

@YY4Me133 (cont'd)

Precisely, the fact that if the distance between the earth and the sun were changed as much as a hairs breath, life would cease. This, for the theist, is evidence. Not empirical evidence. But nonetheless, evidence.

[metalshredhead1]

@YY4Me133 (Cont'd)

Based on the aforementioned, a typical theist might assume the definition of the word, "evidence", to instead mean; "The available body of information indicating whether a belief is valid." Therefore, a typical argument for the theist, and a strong one at that (as admitted by Christopher Hitchens himself), would be the "fine tuning" argument. The "evidence" for that argument (in this case), would be the incredible life permitting conditions of the universe. (cont'd)

[metalshredhead1]

@YY4Me133 Chrysippus of Soli (who was famous for changing the focus of logic from single subject-predicate statements to complex ones) states that the "or" connective and only the "or" connective can be used in the following way: "A cup of tea OR coffee"; "Are you coming out OR not?". With this understanding, one can see how the "raw" definition of the word, "evidence", can be changed to suit its manipulator. (Cont'd)