Atheism or Religion?

The claim that neither religion or atheism is right, is on its surface, a fair pronouncement, that somehow you can weigh one logically against the other and each is equally preferable. But when you dig a bit, you realize it is a hollow claim. It is a claim that presupposes an equal footing, between religion and atheism. Therefore, one cannot disprove the religious position and thus, one has to hold just as much faith that there is no God; as a theist holds that there is. Let us 'dig' in, to see why the claim is a poor one.

When an atheist says there is no God, it is based on probability and that probability is arrived at, based on the improbability of the claim. This simply means, it is improbable based on the simple fact, that there is no evidence to lead to probability. On the other hand, when a religious person says they believe in God, it is not a belief based on probability, rather, is is a belief built on faith and tradition.

Thus, we arrive at two different methods of knowledge. The religious position that holds the God concept as true, is a belief based purely on faith and tradition, whereas, the atheist position against the concept of God, is held as a belief grounded in improbability.

One can say as an atheist, there is no evidence to back up the religious proposition and therefore, there is no reason to hold it up as probable, until such evidence can be presented. A theist on the other hand, cannot say, 'there is no evidence against the possibility of God, therefore God is a probable concept'.

For a theist to say, there is no evidence against the concept of God, is really no different, than that of a mystic, who believes in the tooth fairy and saying: 'one has no evidence against the possibility of tooth fairies, therefore, they should be held in the realm of the probable'.

The very point is, that the concept of God lies within the same category as tooth fairies, hobgoblins, gremlins, ghosts, vampires - et al, none of these arbitrary mind-spun concepts can be disproved or indeed proved, that is because one cannot prove or disprove a negative. What one can do however, is offer a base of probability and simply say, unless you can present any evidence, then your claim is simply an arbitrary speculation and remains in the category of improbable.

Indeed, because the God concept lies in the same arbitrary conceptual category as tooth fairies, that is enough on its own, not only to dismiss it as improbable, but most likely impossible.

What makes the God concept an arbitrary concept, not to be taken seriously as a probable event, is the fact that it is a supernatural speculation. Supernatural means 'above nature'. This alone means it is unprovable by the laws of nature, because to prove it, one would have to do so, through some supernatural means. One would have to suspend all know laws of physics, to grasp 'a straw' that would bring the God concept into the realm of the probable. The fact that it's a supernatural speculation, is enough on its own to dismiss it as nonsense.

There is another point here too, and it is one that theists are liable to forget to mention. The burden of proof in any honest claim; or an attempt at a claim of probability, is that, the burden of proof is with the one making the claim. So, if someone makes a claim that God exists, then the burden of proof is their's. Unless such evidence can be presented, then an atheist has every right, to hold the God concept up, to be as likely as tooth fairies and hobgoblins.




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Defining Mysticism

There are two types of individual in the World. The subjectively led and the objectively aware.

The subjectively led individual follows the lead of his or her spontaneous emotional responses to internal or external stimuli. Such individuals can be said to be following the heart and not the head.

The objectively aware individual follows the lead of his or her internalized, reasoning identifications to internal or external stimuli. Such individuals can be said to be following the head and not the heart.

The mystically minded individual is prone to draw anti-reality subjectively drawn conclusions, not just because of lack of evidence; but in spite of that evidence. Such individuals not only ignore the evidence of their eyes, they have no respect for the evidentially knowable and no respect for reason.

Putting subjectively led, spontaneous emotional responses to internal and external stimuli over and above objective reality, is "putting the cart before the horse".

Emotions are very important and have there place. Emotional indicators are important identifiers to our emotional state of well-being. But, emotions should not be directly acted upon without first analyzing those emotions through conscious deliberation. It would be wrong for example, to initiate force against another individual, because of an uncontrolled emotional reaction to the instant of the moment. The reasonable individual has the ability to objectively Analise their emotions and make an objective decision based on reason, on whether to act on
such emotions or not.

A classic example of putting emotional responses above objective reality, is the belief system of a Young Earth Creationist. Such an individual has an emotional disconnect from the facts of reality, because of religious indoctrination. These biblical literalists ignore the facts of the overwhelming evidence, that planet Earth is at least 4.5 billion years old. They hold on to the belief of a young earth of 10,000 years or less not because of scientific evidence, but because of an emotional response, to a scientific conclusion that they deem is a direct attack on their belief system.

It is no crime to be ignorant of the facts on any given subject. No one person can know everything and we are all ignorant on many subjects, most of the population is ignorant of the laws of quantum mechanics for example; only a few high powered physicists get it. But the mentality of Young Earth Creationist is something quite different ...it is not just ignorance, it is willful ignorance and a deliberate obfuscation of the facts of reality, just to hold up a childish belief system.

The difference between the mystic who puts emotions before reason is that the reasonable person, if he or she is ignorant on a subject, will either investigate that subject to get to the evidence of what is known or they will simply say "I don't know". The mystic on the other hand, often looks for a supernatural explanation for the unknown; they carry around a philosophical world-view that if something is unknown it must have a supernatural cause and is unknowable through objective means.

The fact of the matter is; there are no supernatural answers to objective reality. Objective reality is all there is. The belief in the supernatural is again an emotional response to reality, based on a subjectively defined, anti-reality world view.

The belief in a 10,000 year old earth, a belief in ghosts, hobgoblins, the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and all other forms of mysticism are all emotionally held beliefs. Individuals cling on to these anti-reality myths because of an emotional connection with mystical world-views and because of a lack of respect for reason and the scientific method.

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