Posted: Nov 16, 2016 11:47 am
chairman bill wrote:You could simply say that you have no interest in their superstitious beliefs. If they say their beliefs aren't superstitious, point out that superstition is the belief in supernatural agency, and if they believe a god created everything, that is by definition a superstitious belief.
I've twice left preachers thinking about how to respond, and as I've walked away, reminded them not to step on any cracks in the pavement. On a remote coast path in Wales, I might be tempted to check that nobody is watching, then give the buggers a quick shove
Guess I might have a persecution complex, but being approached by 2 men in suits on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path was a defining moment. Afterwards I regretted not having yanked their ties off.
I managed to get into an argument with the Presbyterians this year on the golf course. There is something very inconsistent with their arguments. They did not believe the God of Abraham applies to Islam, which has a separate god. They put me on the spot with their proof of God which was that the universe MUST have had a creator. This is dumbest explanation for the universe I know. I responded with the first cause argument, as to what created God.
I agree that ALL religion is based on the supernatural, when there is no evidence at all of anything supernatural.
To stay sane to the challenge of theists I use a few intuition pumps, otherwise I can see why so many fall into the trap of religion.
Occam's Razor: I don't need to complicate the universe by inventing a supernatural God.
Sturgeons Law: While I don't think everything in religion is 100% crap, at least 90% of it is.
Pascal's Wager: Could be applied to atheism. If I assume no god, I don't waste my life in superstition and worship, especially as I am told I can still repent and be saved seconds from the end of life if I still have the presence of mind.