[Mr. Blonde]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry

I never once claimed to believe in the supernatural or religion. For the most part, I asked open ended questions to stir debate. The only thing I even hinted about my personal beliefs is that the possibility of after life, or continued existence, makes me happier and gives me hope. That's it.

Any hope or belief in an afterlife is, by very definition, supernatural. If it's beyond the natural world, what we know currently, it is supernatural. And if the possibility of afterlife gives you hope and makes you happier, that's great. But if you want those beliefs validated, Nubblies is not the place -- you will only find pain here. Unfortunately, most of the people who believe in or hope for an afterlife do believe in the supernatural, and are religious or "spiritual" -- so they are who you would want to talk to. Finding belief in the afterlife and good arguments for it among educated and logical people just isn't likely to happen very often.

I guess I get a little tired of the atheist circle jerk on this board. I find it so annoying that everyone seems so sure about something so unknown. I see people comparing belief in god to belief in unicorns and fairies, but I don't think this is accurate at all. Billions of people don't, and haven't for centuries believed in unicorns and fairies. Not saying that makes it any more correct, but it certainly makes it different.

Again, it's not that we're sure, it's that it seems like the most likely/most probable reality given what we know now. I find it very interesting to ponder religion and the supernatural -- I just finished probably the most ridiculous "nonfiction" book I've ever read this morning -- but just because I ponder it doesn't mean it has any merit in reality. The more I read about world religions and supernatural beliefs, the more conflicting viewpoints arise, and the more rational atheism seems. People seem to "need" to believe, and as I said, given the shittiness of the world, I don't entirely blame them.

RE: Unicorns/fairies, it really is still pretty much the exact same thing. As Hitch said and Dent quoted, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Asserting an invisible nonsense creature is in the corner of the room may seem like an immature argument, but it really is pretty much the same thing.

Can you imagine living in a world where people DID believe in unicorns or fairies en masse? you'd be making the exact same argument:

I guess I get a little tired of the atheiunicorn circle jerk on this board. I find it so annoying that everyone seems so sure about something so unknown. I see people comparing belief in unicorns to belief in gods and fairies, but I don't think this is accurate at all. Billions of people don't, and haven't for centuries believed in gods or fairies. Not saying that makes it any more correct, but it certainly makes it different.

If that sounds asinine to you, then welcome to the club. That's exactly how atheists feel, most of the time. It is, indeed, very frustrating to see so many people believe in something that, if we are talking evidence and philosophy, appears to have no actual basis in reality whatever. This is why I am so against childhood indoctrination and bringing children up with religions. I have no doubt this is the #1 reason so many people believe -- the people they trust and love the most in the world, from 0-18, put this belief on them, and that is a hard, hard thing to break. Not always the case, but the overwhelming majority of religious people were brought up in that religion.

Just for the sake of education, the logical fallacy you just used is officially named "argumentum ad populum" - Argumentum ad populum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interesting factor on Christianity's popularity in particular: Constantine the Great and Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I'll try to work harder on being less condescending too, we can do it together!