Posted: Jul 01, 2020 9:51 pm
Rek Init wrote:Now, I'm skeptical that such experiences exists as I've never encountered one myself, so I suppose I'm in agreement with Michael Ruse who argues very similarly that atheists who "demand/request evidence" from theists are essentially straw manning theists, since they're not claiming they can evidence the existence of God. They're simply claiming they believe in God, and will insist that scripture says the only direct evidence is the first-hand revelation, one's own direct experience of the Holy Spirit.
Meditation has very clear benefits proven by science. So it's not a waste of time.
Regarding the quote, Many, many theists don't just say that they "believe" in a god, but that it actually exists, and intervenes in our life. That's a positive claim, which needs to be demonstrated. In the same way, some of them believe that the Bible is the word of God, which also has to be demonstrated.
Of course no one can prove if you believe in something or not. I regularly watch the shows you mentioned earlier, and I've never seen a case where they do the mistake you talk about.
The only thing one can say is that there is no evidence that people are "linked" to God, as so many claim, in very different ways : God talks to me, I feel him all the time, He blessed me, etc. In these cases, Matt Dillahunty usually says something like this : "I agree that you have an experience, but I don't believe the explanation you give for it." And that's an important dstinction here. People who claim they've been abducted by aliens did have an experience, but it's their interpretation that is questionable, and needs evidence.