This is why Neil deGrasse Tyson needs to be in the scientific hall of fame. Instead of criticizing a child for asking a strange question, he applauds him for thinking of such a strange question. A brilliant, compassionate man.
Entire books have been written that explain the existence of a god. I'm not gonna do it on Tumblr. My a, b, c, and d questions provide the only possible answers. Your ice cream example didn't. You're afraid to humor me and just answer the questions. Fine. Nevermind then.
I’m not humoring you because I neither wish nor need to be treated like a child by going down a line of A, B, C, or D questions. I do not need to be led by the hand in order to come to a logical conclusion, as I possess the necessary cognitive abilities to see the logic (or lack thereof) behind any “If A then B” statements you may postulate.
I hope it has occurred to you that I have read some of the books you’ve alluded to, and have digested them to the best of my abilities. I disagree with many, many of the arguments postulated in them based on their lack of evidence, logical fallacies, and the like.
I will leave you with a thought: You came onto the atheist tag offering a kindly-worded, multiple-choice question, which I answered with my own personal caveats. You then proceeded to ask me the next question in a list, based on the answer I had given previously. This sort of flow-chart questioning is indicative of a mind that requires a set of guidelines in order to pursue a conversation. I offered twice to have an adult conversation with you about your assertions and evidences to the existence of your choice of deity, and twice you brushed me off; once responding that some “liberal atheist” did the same thing to you before because of an inherent “bias,” the second time, you brush me off with this response.
You’ve openly wondered why atheists (and the people you label as “liberals” with no actual idea of their political orientation) are seemingly unsocial and angry, and I can say that it is times like these that contribute to many of the “angry atheists” that we see today. Many of us would LOVE to have an intelligent conversation with theists who are as open to our thoughts and ideas as we want to be towards theirs, but then when the theists treat us like children, idiots, or pitiable people who need to be handled like spun glass, we do get angry; because many of us were raised to follow these Flowcharts of God’s Existence, and eventually drifted away from them because we found the logical fallacies associated with them. So, in the opportunity to find something new and exciting in the realm of theology, we find the same dozen arguments we’ve deflated time and time again, sometimes wearing a new hat, sometimes presented in a different light, but it’s the same tired arguments again, and again, and again, and again. It’s mind-numbing tedium, and the frustration sets in when we realize that no matter how many times, we calmly, coolly, and politely point out the flaws in the theists’ arguments, they’ll either close their eyes, cover their ears and scream “I CAN’T HEAR YOU! LALALALA!” or throw their hands in the air with a “Fine. Nevermind then.” and walk away.
If you really believed that I was heading for a lake of eternal fire post-mortem, you either are a horrible person, and lack the empathy to put some real effort into saving me, or you don’t really believe it yourself. You are more than welcome to message me again if you want to have a grown-up conversation, but please, if you’re going to walk out on this prospect, please realize that it’s YOU who looks bad by giving up before you’ve even started.
Every world spins in pain.
The beauty and savagery of nature leads a man to his personal revelations about the nature of the universe and humanity’s place in it. =)
If religion was true you wouldn’t need to brainwash children.
If it were true you wouldn’t need to worry about converting me.
If it were true it would be self evident.
It wouldn’t be a religion, it would just be life.
Hear hear!
Now that I think about it, don’t you think the devil would have given up on the pitchfork by now? Maybe we should change his symbol to be a combine harvester. Surely the devil isn’t opposed to technological progress?
So wait…
Our sign is an agricultural tool.. and yours is a torture device…
Thats good PR.
It’s not a pitchfork, it’s a trident. Didn’t you all know that Satan’s “pitchfork” was actually a trident used in early church artwork in order to demonize the Roman god Neptune? There’s no biblical canon stating that Satan/Lucifer/The Adversary has any choice of weapon. You’re basically drawing your conclusions from religious fan-art. Very classy.
The other thing that annoys me about this is that the church immediately assumes that if one’s religion isn’t Christianity, you’re automatically a satanist. It’s subtle antagonizing such as this that has led to the deep schism between Evangelical America and the rest of the US.
