burden of proof

Six Reasons to Believe in Circular Logic, Superstition, and Persecution

“EveryStudent.com is a safe place to explore questions about who God is and what it might be like to know God.”

When I first read the mission of this site, I thought, “Okay, so these folks really want to openly discuss their beliefs.” Of course, after I started digging around a little, I found the following list of six definitive reasons why GOD exists. So much for open discussion.

Six reasons that god exists

1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.

2. Does God exist? The human brain’s complexity shows a higher intelligence behind it.

3. Does God exist? “Chance” or “natural causes” are insufficient explanations.

4. Does God exist? To state with certainty that there is no God, a person has to ignore the passion of an enormously vast number of people who are convinced that there is a God.

5. Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.

6. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.

To quote Jules Winnfield on Pulp Fiction, “Well, allow me to retort.”

1. One, the complexity of our planet points to the Christian God as creator? I know they said “deliberate Designer”, but I highly doubt that they were referring to Kronos, Ahura Mazda, Quetzalcoatl, Amun, or his noodly excellence. Looking at something and not understanding immediately where it came from is no reason to abandon logic, throw up your hands and attribute such acts to a celestial magician (especially when there are any number of “creators” to choose from). Science, with all of its discoveries, continues to pull back the veil of ignorance once planted by religious superstitions of the past. Have patience and I am fairly certain we will continue to learn more and more about our origins. I’ll almost bet those origins won’t contain any “let their be life” moments or the instantaneous creation of fully developed plants and animals.

2. This is more or less a restatement and clarification of the previous question. Except instead of “complexity of planet”, they have chosen “complexity of human brain” which raises no question which can’t be answered with the above explanation. In true Christian argument fashion, the same old questions are reworded and repeated.

3. Of course “chance” and “natural causes” are insufficient explanations. But, to me and so many others, so is “Big Daddy in the sky did it.” Pointing back to #1, give it time as the scientific method, i.e. properly examining a hypothesis by experimentation and analysis of the data, reveals the truths of our origins. But seriously folks, stop living in the past. We are here now, and we need to live our lives in the present to ensure a healthy future.

4. This one is just plain stupid. That something is popular makes it true? What a keen notion. A large number of people once thought that the earth was flat and was the center of the universe. Large numbers of people have believed many false things. To lean on your popularity shows a lack of any real evidence to support your claims.

5. God does not pursue us. This is a baseless claim. People pursue God because they pursue answers to difficult questions. They feel the need to believe in an afterlife of rewards to make up for a life filled with sickness and suffering. Surely all of this bad will be made up for with something? Ah! Heaven! With it’s golden-paved streets and harp-toting angels, I will be able to put aside all of the bad things I have to deal with here on Earth.

6. Again, this is merely a restatement of #5 pointing specifically at Jesus. If someone were to call themselves the son of God today, would he be received as the second coming of Christ? No. In fact, I’m sure there are more than a few rooms in asylums worldwide filled with second comings. People to whom God speaks nowadays are either committed or elected.

Proof of God

There is nothing short of a visit from the man himself that would make me buy into such a deception. But would that even convince me? Would we even accept that we had just been visited by the almighty? Would we shake it off as a bad dream? Would we tell ourselves to lay off the weed?

What if we have already been visited by him?

Could God even prove himself? He could have presented himself in any form he wished and you may have written him off as a random bum, a religious zealot, or a kind face on the subway. Before this turns into a Joan Osbourne song, let me get to the point. Would God’s inability to prove himself lend to a lack of omnipotence? Some might say that faith cannot exist with proof. God sure didn’t have a problem revealing himself to the people of the Old Testament. Of course, those stories were written by the very people who he revealed himself to, which might mean they have some sort of bias. If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission produced a report about how amazing nuclear energy was, we might be a little skeptical.

The following excerpt from The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy pretty much sums up the story.

Now it is such a bizarrely improbably coincidence that anything so mindbogglingly useful [the Babel fish] could have evolved by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes something like this: “I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”

“But,” says Man, “the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.”

“Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

The homeless you pass without a second glance. The atheists whose rhetoric you scoff. The gays you treat like second-class citizens. Any of these could be your God in disguise administering your final exam on the teachings of his son. Jesus Christ, the teacher of forgiveness, acceptance, and brotherly love did not give exceptions. Why should you? Think about that the next time you spit on an atheist’s backpack. Because if God doesn’t kick your ass, I sure as hell will.

Santa For Big Kids

Remember when you were young? I do. Life was simple. No work, no debt, and no worries. I had so much to look forward to as a child. One of my favorite times of year was Christmas. I would behave, clean my room — come to think of it, I’d do damn near anything at the prospect of Santa Claus paying me a visit.

Santa Claus, Father Christmas and Saint Nicholas are just a few of the names this jolly old elf goes by. He represents all that is good in the world. He rewards those who behave and follow the rules with presents and good cheer. Santa is not without his stern side. He scolds those who misbehave and leaves them with nothing but a bundle of twigs or a lump of coal. How can you ensure that Santa Claus will bring you gifts? It’s easy: follow the rules.

Did you ever try to catch Santa Claus when you were little? My parents told me that I shouldn’t go looking for him or he might not leave me any presents. Well I sure didn’t want that to happen! I definitely followed that rule! Lesson: Don’t question Santa’s existence.

Do you remember those doubting Thomas’ at school that didn’t believe in Santa? What’s up with them? What’s not to believe? Follow the rules and reap the benefits. Not too hard.

Remember when you got a little older and learned that it really was just a load of shit? Remember how much it hurt? I felt lied to. It stung. I had put so much faith and effort in believing only to have it all washed away. Sure, I had never really stopped to think about the mere physics of Santa traveling the earth, the existence of flying reindeer or why rich kids got more toys than poor ones. Why question when it’s so much easier just to believe. Believing filled you with this sense of spirit that no science could ever take away.

Enough of the analogy. There is no god. No proof of god’s nonexistence is no reason to throw all of your eggs into religion’s basket. Morality and virtue exist outside of the church. You would know this were it not for your ostrich in the sand approach to logic, reason and probability.

You are a pawn in the greatest sham of all. You take in and spew out stories of man getting nailed to a plus sign, a whale swallowing a sailor gone overboard, pillars of salt, talking serpents and lakes of fire without stopping to question the reality of any of it.

Why did God perform so many miracles and communicate so much with man around the years leading up to 1 C.E. yet has been more or less absent from the scene since? Why did God work through great men like Moses, Jesus, and Abraham then, yet now only has Jerry Falwell, Fred Phelps, and Pat Robertson to relay his messages?

Think it over. There’s not going to be anyone at the Pearly Gates to tell you that this Santa story was also a steaming heap of bullshit served a la religion. Life’s too short to waste it on bedtime fairy tales with wonderful happy endings. Live your happy endings now, and stop using your bullshit as a political power tool to restrict the rights of those of us who think freely.