Why does the believer in God's existence have the burden of proof?

[Thief]

Lack of objective evidence.

Go look in the mirror.....call yourself and accident.....
be convincing.

 

[Lyndon]

By that same logic, shouldn't you be worshiping all of the gods?
I mean, you wouldn't want to be made a fool for not appreciating the right god, would you?

I believe in multiple gods, but I worship and pray to only one. Worshiping a god is a choice, kind of like following this philosopher or another, some people follow Buddha, some Jesus, some Krishna, same with the gods, follow the one that works for you and makes the most sense to you, or follow none, its your choice.

 

[leibowde84]

There is an entire universe (one word)......and it had a Cause.
Genesis uses the term....word....unlike we usually do.

Ok, but since we do not know that there was "nothing" before the big bang, and, further, even if there was, "nothing" does not mean an absence of anything scientifically, there is no reason to think that the "cause" you point to must be supernatural or even more specifically God. That is what I mean by you jumping to a conclusion that fits your previously held beliefs. In other words, a "confirmation bias".

 

[leibowde84]

Go look in the mirror.....call yourself and accident.....
be convincing.

Is this an attempt at a straw man argument? Why on earth would you think that the complexity of life should necessarily point to God and not a plethora of other options that science has yet to discover. I see this absurd notion a lot from theists on this forum. There is this mistaken assumption that if something currently does not have a certain scientific explanation, that means that the answer must be something that science cannot address. It's almost like they are saying that "science has had enough time to figure it out, so if it hasn't by now, it never will". That is just about as ridiculous as assumptions get, as our current scientific understanding is still extremely limited, but it grows every day. Thus, the whole "something from nothing" or "cause and effect" arguments don't provide even a sliver of evidence either way. They merely show that we haven't figured it out yet. But, it seems like you are just OK with abandoning the possibility of a natural explanation for the universe just because we haven't nailed it down yet. Don't you think that is a bit nuts?

 

[Lyndon]

Just for the sake of argument, pretend that a very powerful God does exist. Then do you not think it likely that that God was somehow involved in the Creationary/evolutionary process. Why not, the only way you can claim God had no involvement in evolution is to prove God does not exist, and as I said before the idea that God does not exist is still an unproven theory.

 

[leibowde84]

Just for the sake of argument, pretend that a very powerful God does exist. Then do you not think it likely that that God was somehow involved in the Creationary/evolutionary process. Why not, the only way you can claim God had no involvement in evolution is to prove God does not exist, and as I said before the idea that God does not exist is still an unproven theory.

Assuming then that God does not exist, would it be possible to prove that negative taking into account that "God" is an extremely abstract/vague concept? My point is that it will never be possible to prove that God does not exist. So, using the lack of this proof as evidence for the existence of God is absolutely ludicrous.

 

[Lyndon]

Every answered prayer is evidence that God exists, God is not an extremely vague concept, but a powerful force that works in the lives of billions of people, at least that's my theory, your theory is that they are all deluded, and God does no exist.

 

[leibowde84]

Every answered prayer is evidence that God exists, God is not an extremely vague concept, but a powerful force that works in the lives of billions of people, at least that's my theory, your theory is that they are all deluded, and God does no exist.

Answered prayer?! So, why are there about 1 million unanswered prayers for every 1 that is answered? I think a much more reasonable explanation is chance. Probability demands that at least some prayers will be answered by cooincidence. Why is that not more reasonable than thinking there was supernatural intervention?

 

[Lyndon]

Obviously you don't know a lot about prayer, people that only get one prayer answered out of a million don't stay religious for very long!!!

 

[leibowde84]

Obviously you don't know a lot about prayer, people that only get one prayer answered out of a million don't stay religious for very long!!!

Obviously you don't know a lot about prayer, as there are millions of religious starving people out there praying for food every day, and their prayers go unanswered. Then one guy in the US gets a check in the mail for some specific amount that he needs and he thinks its a miracle. I don't even know how you could have misunderstood my comment so severely. I'm not even sure what you meant. Did you really think I was suggesting that a single person was praying over a million times. I, of course, meant that on a given day millions of prayers go unanswered and maybe a few don't. How does that give you faith in prayer?

Sorry if I seem rude, but you don't know anything about me, and you certainly don't have a leg to stand on judging me about my knowledge of prayer. I pray every day. Attack my ideas and my arguments, but don't be childish and attack my understanding of prayer.

 

[SkepticThinker]

Every answered prayer is evidence that God exists,

Isn't every unanswered prayer evidence against god then?

And how do you go about demonstrating that prayers are answered at all, and then how do you demonstrate the answer came from the specific god you worship?

God is not an extremely vague concept, but a powerful force that works in the lives of billions of people, at least that's my theory, your theory is that they are all deluded, and God does no exist.

Non-belief in god is not a theory, it is just a lack of belief in a god.

 

[Lyndon]

Non belief is just agnosticism, stating God does not exist is a theory.

 

[leibowde84]

Non belief is just agnosticism, stating God does not exist is a theory.

Agnostics who lack belief are atheists by definition. All that is required is a lack of belief or the absence of theism. The a prefix means "without" and theism is a belief in the existence of God.

 

[SkepticThinker]

Non belief is just agnosticism, stating God does not exist is a theory.

I'm an agnostic atheist.

How is it a theory?

 

[Lyndon]

Agnostics by definition do not have belief in God or no God, you can redefine these words all you like, still doesn't make it true.

 

[leibowde84]

Agnostics by definition do not have belief in God or no God, you can redefine these words all you like, still doesn't make it true.

I think you have that backwards. We are going by the dictionary definition. Look it up on Merriam Websters and you will see that all that is required is a lack of belief.

 

[Lyndon]

Saying you are an agnostic atheist makes about as much sense as saying you are a Christian Satanist. the two words have opposite meanings, look em up in a dictionary.

 

[leibowde84]

Saying you are an agnostic atheist makes about as much sense as saying you are a Christian Satanist. the two words have opposite meanings, look em up in a dictionary.

Does an agnostic "lack a belief in the existence of God"? If so, they can also be classified as an atheist. Look it up yourself. I did, and a lack of belief is all that is necessary.

 

[Lyndon]

An agnostic by definition lacks a belief in BOTH God and the non existence of God. Hence they can not be atheist.

 

[leibowde84]

Saying you are an agnostic atheist makes about as much sense as saying you are a Christian Satanist. the two words have opposite meanings, look em up in a dictionary.

a·the·ism
ˈāTHēˌizəm/
noun

1. disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.
   synonyms: nonbelief, disbelief, unbelief, irreligion,skepticism, doubt, agnosticism;
   nihilism
   "atheism was not freely discussed in his community"