To M. Pigliucci

E G M (e_g_m@yahoo.com)
Mon, 30 Mar 1998 12:44:38 -0800 (PST)

Massimo Pigliucci said:
<<The evidence for the existence of god is pretty much the same as the
evidence for the existence of elfs, witches, the sun-god, astrological
forces, and Santa Claus. No more, no less. It is only because religion
has a long (and bloody) history in our society that you feel you have a
claim to some sort of intellectual respectability. But let us not fool
ourselves: the burden of proof is *entirely* on the theist position, and
it is intellectually dishonest to pretend otherwise. >>

The history of humans has been very bloody, and this include the
history of religion which is not exempt from original sin.

The burden of proof for the non-existance of God is *entirely* on the
atheist position. Theist may argue for the existance of God for
apolagetic purposes, but they know that all the argumentation in the
world does not do a dent without the convicting power of the Holy
Spirit, who is the *source* of confidence for the mind of the
believer (and not vice-versa). Those with the gift of faith need very
little proof, those without it are never satisfied (even in the NT are
examples of people that saw miracles first hand and yet did not
believe).

By the way, the Bible starts very early with a blood bath as a prelude
to centuries of human violence - Cain killed his own borther. This
is (for me) not a sign of an incompetent Creator but the consequences
of fallen humans who reject God's provision.

Finally, the evidence for Darwinism is pretty much the same as the
evidence for the existence of elfs, witches, the sun-god, astrological
forces, and Santa Claus. No more, no less. It is only because
Darwinism has a long (and bloody - indeed) history in our society that
you feel you have a claim to some sort of intellectual respectability.
But if you were to remove your philosophical footing for just a
second you would see why it is that you believe in it. If evolution
did occurr all the way from the Big Bang to today, it certainly was
not in a Darwinian fashion.

Greetings


==

EGM
"in ipso enim vivimus et movemur et sumus sicut"

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