Why disagree with yourself.?

Question

Ok I understand that I am making conclusions based on assumptions here but I have reason to believe that my answer for this question was thumbs downed by at least 1 atheist. Now when a Christian asks "Atheist can you prove there is no God" the biggest answer is "You cant prove there is no God" Ok so would you agree with my answer here or would you as well thumbs down it.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuExcxi5zBkEwSDgGtCD.tfsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080827123528AA0kcO1&show=7#profile-info-3f10efdc062c7553650a50749b7e7aacaa

Answer 1

i think you're right.

i'm agnostic, so i know what you mean.

since there is no way to prove him, there is also no real way to disprove him.

i'm at a nice medium with that fact.

:3

Answer 2

I'm sure everyone understood the point you were making.  I think you got the thumbs down because you didn't play along with the hypothetical.  You didn't answer the question.

Answer 3

J.P. is correct:  your answer was off-point.  You were supposed to assume for the sake of argument that the assertion was proved, and the question asked how you would respond.  

Answer 4

I can't prove that there is a God or that there is no God. There is no evidence for either assumption

Answer 5

You can't argue the intangible through tangible means, but I can have you bring your 'good book' over and we can go through it together and talk about what sounds like nonsense and contradiction. Maybe relate some real world examples of justice and accountability.

Answer 6

yes but there is a God

Answer 7

It is also not possible to prove there is a god. Honestly, it seems like you're asking for attention.

Also, you weren't answering the question that was asked.

Answer 8

God is just as real as the lockness monster, tooth fairy, and the fat *** dressed in red who squeezes through your chimney to deliver your children presents (sarcasm).. if there is no proof that God exists then that is proof that he doesn't. You can't just make up fairytales and make people believe them to be true. If you want to make people believe stupid assumptions of how the universe was created you better as h**l provide evidence. So yes, i would thumb you down.

EDIT: Oh my gosh..lack of proof, is disproof in this case.. do you still believe in the tooth fairy. You can't just implicate mindless theories on the world without proof..If i said that we were all to die tommorow because gigantic flesh eating monsters live below us and they have ran out of a food supply, are you going to believe me? You can't disprove it we've never been that far underground. This theory of "god" existing has been around for a long time so i understand why you think this way..but it isn't right..we were uneducated back then..and this idea of a higher power is holding us back

EDIT: And I could prove that whether or not you have a cell phone in your hand right now..If i set up cameras in every household around the world which send signals to a satellite orbiting the earth which then transmits the signals to my household where I can spy on you..there..No it's true, I can't disprove God existence..no one can..but does that mean I have to be gullable?

Answer 9

God or no God...

Just look at the possible eternal consequences of both beliefs.

1.  Believe in a God that doesn't exist = In the end, it doesn't matter

2.  Don't believe in a God that doesn't exist = In the end, it doesn't matter

3.  Believe in a God that does exist = eternal reward

4.  Don't believe in a God that does exist = loss of eternal reward

(note: assuming believing translates into following God's will to the best of your abilities/obeying the commandments etc)

(Also note: I'm not wanting to say that people who don't believe in God don't have values or are "bad" people)

(Final note: For an eternal reward, it requires more then simply being "good"  i.e. baptism by immersion by someone holding proper authority etc.)

Answer 10

It may not be possible to disprove God, it is though possible to prove that God is unnecessary to the universe.  This has been done quite satisfactorily.

Answer 11

The reason you are getting thumbs down is because you're arguing the question.

He didn't ask if it was possible.  He said, "If it was ..."

You didn't answer his question.

What you've done is the same as if ---

Him: What if you could benchpress two million pounds?

You: That's impossible.

It doesn't matter if it's possible or impossible.  What *IF* you could benchpress 2,000,000 pounds?  Hypotheticals do not have to be reasonable.  Indeed, they're usually the most poignant when they're NOT possible.

You know the Theory of Relativity?  It started with an impossible hypothetical.  According to Einstein, the thought process that lead first to the Specific Theory of Relativity, then the General Theory of Relativity, was simply this: "What if you could ride a beam of light?"

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Yes, they are the same.  An atheist who responds to "what if he exists" with "well he doesn't so it's a moot point" is committing the same error as you are.

To answer your unintended question: I would blaspheme and curse him soundly, for being a liar and a cheat, for sending Jesus to be the messiah and then his chosen one violating every single one of the messianic prophecies.

(this, of course, assumes that you imply the Christian deity in your own hypothetical).

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I took your mentioning of atheists refusing to answer the converse as an asking of the question.  I was, in essence, showing you that some atheists do NOT dodge the question and can answer the hypothetical, "What if there WAS a god after all?" question.

Since you now have at least one atheist who has answered the question, "What if was proven that there is a God," I invite you now to go back and add to your own answer to the question we are discussing your answer to "What if it was proven that there isn't a god?"

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No.  I would not give thumbs down to your answer as it stands.  Though the initial statement, however true it may seem, has nothing to do with the direct question asked, you do answer that question.

Frankly, I'd probably give you a thumbs up because not many Christians are even willing to stop and say, "What if," they just mindlessly bash their Bible and refuse to even consider the other possibilities.

Good on you.  Honestly.