Joklem wrote:
edit: point of view of someone who was never indoctrinated -- the concept of an eternal all-powerful benevolent creator who is concerned with our well being and our after-life is as ridiculous as Santa Claus to us.
Perhaps it is ridiculous to hold that concept of God. But what about the concept of an all-powerful creator who just made everything (the direct "cause" of the Big Bang) and had no other motives other than to create the universe and tip the first domino that has lead to the existence of life?
To me, atheism is just as bad as religious fundamentalism. In both cases, you are being extreme, cutting out any possibility that other truths could exist. Atheism is simply a different manifestation of the same arrogance that fundamentalists use to condemn people to hell.
Both sides use the argument from ignorance, which is why I think I'm agnostic, but I'd like to believe in God (if for no other reason, it would give life more meaning for me):
Quote:
Arguments from ignorance can easily find their way into debates over the Existence of God. This, both from the theistic side (e.g. "You don't have evidence that my God doesn't exist, so regardless of my evidence - he exists!") and from the atheistic side (e.g. "You don't have evidence that your God exists, therefore he doesn't exist, regardless of whether I actually possess Evidence of absence"). Again, it is important to note that it is a fallacy to draw conclusions based precisely on ignorance, since this does not satisfactorily address issues of philosophic burden of proof. In other words, a complete lack of evidence either way results in agnosticism, thus each side must prove that they have satisfied their own burden for providing proof (evidence).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance
