I’m not trying to offend anyone…
Posted on February 25, 2008
by: Dr. Jerome Pestlebottom
…seriously… Just as a warning, this is a clip from a weekly cable access show entitled “Atheist Experience” in which two fellows just sit and discuss Atheism/Theism… This is their response to a caller saying “…atheists have faith, just like theists.” I thought it was a particularly well argued point, which is what kept me watching (it is 11 minutes), and I would recommend watching for the entire length of the piece for the payoff at the end of it… So sit back and enjoy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs3RKZjSzYg
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3 Responses to “I’m not trying to offend anyone…”
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Great video.
I think the caller won that argument. The dude does have a fat head.
I know John is expecting me to respond to this, so here goes… I should start by saying that I agree with most of what the guy on the show says.
However, there are actually many responses to his question of “name one thing, besides religious belief, where [people justifing their beliefs with more than personal experience] would be an unrealistic expectation?” The cliched response is, of course, how do you determine if someone loves you? But it also refers to the whole category of determining the thoughts of another individual through their behaviors. For instance, consider a question like: say a person that you have never met before comes to you with a business proposition. Can I use this person’s body language as an indicator of his honesty?
Where the “guy with the big head” expresses his faith is when he says, “it’s not like science stops working on occasion.” That is a principle (an axiom) from which his entire world-view is developed; he is certain of it. His point about practical knowledge is excellent, though.
It is, unfortunately, irrelevant when asking “what is the likelihood of the existence of God?” when one also assumes that God is invisible, or that God’s interaction with the physical world is not distinguishable from natural forces. Because then there is no data which changes the probabilities. Not seeing a leprechaun does change the probability that leprechauns exist, because the claim is that leprechauns are visible. But not seeing God does not change anything because it is not a negative example of the claim.
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