Questions Atheists Outright Evade, Sidestep or Refuse to Answer

[eyeshaveit]

Q - The Question:

[Tallred] certainly believes in some sort of universe, and the one [she] believes in certainly doesn't include gods.

Do you agree with Kevin? If not, why not?

A - The TallRed Toll-Road-Two-Step:

Not really. Here?s why: ?to believe in? something implies holding to a belief where there is either no evidence or contrary evidence. So I don?t need to ?believe in? the universe, with or without gods. I can see the evidence for the universe with my own eyes and in fact can detect the existence of the universe with all my senses.

[TallRed]

That?s not a refusal to answer. The premise is flawed. In its way, it?s a loaded question the same way the classic question ?When did you stop beating your wife?? is.

[Inertialmass]

When I was in high school the Universe that I was taught about and that I believed in did not include deep sea hydrothermal vents with a food chain running from chemosynthetic microorganisms on up to large, creepy tubeworms.  My universe did not include mitochondria living as endosymbionts each with its own DNA, thus informing that life may be seen metaphysically as one big gigantamundo cooperative survival enterprise even more than it was seen classically as some big ol' competitive game.  My Universe back then did not include politicians, preachers, rabbis and catholic priests as sexual predators.

Tubeworms, cooperative endosymbionts, sexual predators in position of authority inhabited the null set back then.  They did not enter the intellectual landscape.  They just were not a part of my belief set or worldview.  I gave them no thought whatsoever.   

Today those are part of my belief set and my worldview.  That's only because good evidence for them appeared over the intervening years.  Not so for god.

[eyeshaveit]

When I was in high school the Universe that I was taught about and that I believed in did not include deep sea hydrothermal vents with a food chain running from chemosynthetic microorganisms on up to large, creepy tubeworms.  My universe did not include mitochondria living as endosymbionts each with its own DNA, thus informing that life may be seen metaphysically as one big gigantamundo cooperative survival enterprise even more than it was seen classically as some big ol' competitive game.  My Universe back then did not include politicians, preachers, rabbis and catholic priests as sexual predators.

Tubeworms, cooperative endosymbionts, sexual predators in position of authority inhabited the null set back then.  They did not enter the intellectual landscape.  They just were not a part of my belief set or worldview.  I gave them no thought whatsoever.   

Today those are part of my belief set and my worldview.  That's only because good evidence for them appeared over the intervening years.  Not so for god.

Forget about what you can't see. Mycologists suspect that there are about 4,000,000 different fungal species, yet less than 150,000 have been identified.

But you live in the boonies and right or wrong you must have some idea (your beliefs) about the physical world you inhabit and its origin and how it all came about.

[Mr. Blackwell]

[Teaspoon Shallow]

Can you demonstrate your god is even possible?

[Brandon]

I respect god But sometimes still have to rely on myself