'There's no such thing as an Athiest'

[Anonymous]

Before I start, I'm going to state, I'm a believer. I've strayed and come back multiple times. However, being a believer does not mean that I am so close-minded as to be able to ignore the huge flaw in the following writing. Such flaws are glaring to a thinking person.

The writing is as follows, and was apparently posted in 2002 on this site.

' Are you an Atheist? Well I am going to prove to you that you are not an Atheist in its true sense.

You may think that this is a rather arrogant thing to say, but if you bear with me you will see that the logic in this statement is irrefutable. First of all I want to define 3 different stances that people have about the existance of God.

1. Believer: A person who believes in the existance of God.
2. Agnostic: A person who isn't sure whether God exists or not.
3. Atheist: A person who doesn't believe in the existance of God.

If I were to say that there was no such thing as gold in China, then to prove my statement, I would have to search every square inch of that country in order to confidently say there was no gold. I would also have to search every person to make sure that there were no gold fillings and search every aeroplane in Chinese airspace. Such a mammoth task would be near impossible but would be necessary in order to prove my statement.

Now lets look at the amount knowledge that a human being can possess. It is obvious that even the smartest person who has ever lived couldn't possess even 1% of all the knowledge in existance. But lets imagine that there existed an Atheist who possessed 1% of all the knowledge in existance. This is of course a huge exaggeration, but for the sake of this argument lets say that someone did possess this amount of knowledge. If this person was honest, they would have to admit that the other 99% of knowledge that they didn't possess could have the evidence that proves God's existance. So as you can see from this very simple example, it is impossible to absolutely state that there is no God. Now back to the example. If I found gold in the tooth of one Chinese citizen, then I could truthfully say that there is gold in China even if that amount of Gold was very small.

To conclude: If you claim to be an Atheist, then with respect I say to you that you are actually and Agnostic in the true sense, although I can respect that you may have chosen not believe in God without proof and in that sense you have chosen to be an Atheist, but your claim to be an atheist is not a scientific one, rather a belief or religion.

To say that there is no God requires absolute knowledge. Knowledge of not only our 4 known and understood dimensions but all the higher dimensions as well and that would be impossible for a 3 dimensional creature such as yourself. However, If you had absolute knowledge then yes God would exist, because you would be God. On the other hand, to say that there is a God only requires personal experience or an understanding that the design in creation warrants a designer. But ultimately there really can only be 2 types of people, believers and agnostics. Those who have seen first hand or can see evidence that gold exists in China and those who believe that gold doesn't exist in China, but can never really be sure that this is so.'

Now the problem here is the argument uses the word 'believe'. To believe is to hold a personal conviction. I can tell you I believe in 6 foot talking bunny rabbits named Harvey that are invisible. You can tell me I'm wrong because you don't see them or interact with them, and you may be right, but that doesn't mean I don't believe in it. Beliefs can be based on opinions just as easily as facts. Therefore, someone can believe there is no God, even if they can't prove it. Faith isn't about proof anyhow. If you could prove it as a cold hard fact, it wouldn't be faith, it would be indisputably proven.

Jesus himself was shown in the bible as being tempted to prove he was God's son by jumping off of a building and letting angels save him.

“He put Jesus on the top of the Temple building and said, “If you are God's Son, jump off.” Then he tried to use a memory verse to convince Jesus. The devil said,” It is written in the Scriptures, ‘He has put his angels in charge of you. They will catch you with their hands. And you will not hit your foot on a rock’.” However, Jesus answered with another memory verse, “The Bible also says ‘Do not test the Lord your God’ “

Secondly, and in the same vein of thought, it is stated that an Atheist cannot prove the existence of God because he does not have absolute knowledge. A Christian also does not have absolute knowledge. He may have a personal experience, or a big old heaping pile of faith, but he does not have any more knowledge than an Atheist. Therefore, that argument proves only that Agnostics exist.

To close, it uses the word believe. This makes the entire argument devoid of any worth because the example requires proving the gold does not exist, and changing it from something you believe into something you know.

While I admire the authors intentions, it is dangerous to try and change minds and hearts with something that is as faulty as this. Only faith with a strong foundation can withstand the battering winds of doubt.

[Author]

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