Re: [asa] Re: (Santa?) [christians_in_science] Brilliant article by Dawkins

Hi Bernie,

Approaching this somewhat tangentially;

I think one of the biggest blunders made by certain vocal atheists is to ignore the fact that there is a venerable tradition of philosophical argument in favour of theism while, at the same time, a total absence of any serious philosophical engagement with existence claims for Santa Claus.

This being the case, it should be obvious that intelligent, mature adults have, for centuries, taken seriously the claim "God exists" - making concepts such as Santa, the Easter Bunny, faeries at the bottom of the garden, invisible pink unicorns, orbiting teapots, and so on, totally dis-analogous.

So I agree with what I understand to be your original rejoinder to Ted; that the seriousness with which people meet the claim "God exists" (as evidenced by so many having faith in God) makes the difference between God and Santa. My only point in response was that I think this fact was precisely the basis upon which Ted made HIS remark about God and Santa Claus not being close equivalents.

I'll only add that the dis-analogy remains even if theists are wrong: even if the philosophical arguments all prove utterly fallacious, it is STILL the case that intelligent, mature results take the claim of God's existence seriously in a way quite different from their approach to the supposedly analogous examples.

Blessings,
Murray

Dehler, Bernie wrote:
> Murray said:
> "I think I missed the distinction between Ted's argument and yours. ;)"
>
> Here's the argument: Ted said:
> "God and Santa Claus are not close equivalents. Period."
>
> My point- they are EXACT equivalents if atheists are correct. If atheists are right, Jesus doesn't exist anymore than Zeus does. If Christians are right, of course, there are no similarities.
>
> ...Bernie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Murray Hogg
> Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 3:59 PM
> To: ASA
> Subject: Re: [asa] Re: (Santa?) [christians_in_science] Brilliant article by Dawkins
>
> Bernie,
>
> Dehler, Bernie wrote:
>> Ted said:
>> "God and Santa Claus are not close equivalents. Period."
>>
>> I think you are missing the point. Obviously you believe in God, so for you, they are totally different.
>
> And THEN;
>
>> Where the analogy breaks down is that many people really do believe in God. But no adult really believes in the E.B.
>
> I think I missed the distinction between Ted's argument and yours. ;)
>
> Blessing,
> Murray
>
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Received on Mon Aug 31 19:36:30 2009