Originally posted by Engine
Atheists can't ever prove non-existence, but cling to their atheism anyway despite how empty the premise is.
It's pretty easy actually -- take any two different monotheistic religions and believe in them completely. Bingo: No gods. Mission accomplished(TM).
Religious people are godless atheists about every religion but theirs. Atheists just go the one extra.
As to an empty premise -- I'm confused: what's empty about "there is no god"? In some respects universe is far more amazing and beautiful without a god than with one. With a god, everything is easily explained and par for the course. Without the use of a celestial corps of engineers (and a cute little song in the German language) the whole thing becomes mind-boggling amazing.
Unless you're on about the impossibilitiy of proving the non-existence of something. But then again you can't ever prove the non-existence of the invisible purple duck in the corner of your room, but I think most of the BBS would rule it out as unlikely on the balance of evidence. And most aren't really going to lose sleep over it either.
And indeed the religious can't ever prove that their religion is The One True Religion(TM) because they can't prove that Thor and Guan Yin are pants and don't exist. Which is another point against the religious too.
I'm an atheist based on the evidence at hand: but I'm an agnostic at the heart of it. Anyone with good sound evidence of a god existing could sway me, but they've tried a lot over the years, and so far I'm atheistic. No god is the best fit, especially given all the different religions in the world.
There's three alternatives: only one set has got it right, all of them have got it partly right, or none of them have got it right. Most religious people are adamant that all the other religions of the world are just making it up. So given that even the religious insist that most religons are making it all up, why not give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they've got it partly right, and apply Occam's razor at the same time, ending up with the simplest explanation: that they're all making it all up, all the time.
Indeed atheism is the consensus opinion that best fits most
religious people's beliefs, on average, in that they all agree that most religions are absolute pants. So averaging it out, we're all atheists, especially the religious people.
The evidence I've seen so far points to God as being unecessary to the running of anything other than many people's psychological longing for a grown up to be in control of things and for there to be life after death. Gods seem to be a social fiction. A rule of thumb: anything statement involving a god is more honestly reduced to the statement: "I have no idea...".
"God created the universe" is more honestly rendered: "I have no idea how the universe was created".
"God will judge us all in the afterlife" is more honestly rendered: "I have no idea what will happen when I die".
Sure we have a belief in how the universe was created or what happens when we die -- but there's nothing concrete to back it up. Why bother anthropomorphising ignorance into a human-esque god? It's interesting to say the least that people will often say "God knows" when they really haven't got a clue.
Well I have to take the invisible purple duck for a walk now...
And to all the atheists out there:
Goodnight and God bless!
