William,
WTG: The idea that I might accept something just because somebody said so is hilarious!
DML: Categorically disregarding authority is no better than categorically following them: it is equally foolish.
WTG: I think you missed the 'just' in 'just because' in the last sentence you quoted.
Also, you were making a statement about yourself, which I took as a general statement. I sit corrected.
DML: It's a good thing that nobody in a position of authority ever told you that if you put a loaded gun into your mouth and pull the trigger, you might injure yourself, and you felt the need to prove them wrong.
WTG: That would be a very silly way of testing that claim.
It was intended to be, but putting one's hand in a fire is a pretty silly way of testing the real badness of "hot," as well. Sure, you were only two, but suppose your two-year-old epistemologist was exposed to firearms, and not merely fire?
WTG: It's true that many people are gullible and credulous and easily taken in by charlatans, and that this is a good explanation for the frequency of religious belief.
DML: And, naturally, anti-religious belief. "There is a God" and "there is no God" are equally statements of faith.
WTG: No, they aren't actually. "There is no God" is a rational claim based on evidence. "There is a God" is a statement of faith made in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Do you have evidence of the non-existence of God, or do you merely conflate the lack of evidence of the existence of God with evidence of God's non-existence? I know that I ask questions by way of making an argument, but this time, I really want to know what you consider to be the hard evidence of the non-existence of God.
WTG: I don't think atheism is insulation against nonsense. I think atheism is an indicator that someone is insulated against nonsense.
DML: Not necessarily the only indicator, and not necessarily a reliable one.
WTG: True. And?
Your statement lacks the force it might have had.
Dave
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