When one is sceptical about Scepticality

Skepticism General Skepticism
22

When you say “doesn’t exist” do you mean pre- or post-BB, and does the existence of “time” factor in your alleged claim for “non-existent” humour ;D

23

Seeing as asserting the non-existence of something for which no compelling evidence is available, be it (a, any) god or my sense of humour, constitutes a negative claim, it’s up to those who wish to assert the existence of such things to prove their positive claims. The onus of proof is on theists, not atheists, just as it is on those proclaiming Mefiante Jollitism, not the Mefiante Dourists.

BTW, from this and my prior post, plus its various reactions, in this thread, it should be clear that HTML doesn’t do deadpan intonations or irony…

'Luthon64

24

Well this particular post has shot your “no humour” argument out of the water - HUGE LOL, nice one. I have become a firm believer in Mefiante Jollitism due to your faithful testimony. Glooory. Praise the Lard!

25

You got me there. :stuck_out_tongue:

'Luthon64

26

Can’t believe I missed it! :-[

Beginning to doubt the existence of my own sense of humour instead…

27

This line of thinking works great when a “believer” ask you to proof the non existance of their god. I fully agree with the line of argument in such case. However, I did not ask anyone here yet to proof my postulate of a creator, merely to indulge in the thought excersise. But I take your point.

28

I apologize Coenie777, but at this point we have once again gone into “tongue-in-cheek” mode, which tends to lighten some of these lengthy debates on untestable theories. We are joking bro, and I’m pretty sure the existence of your sense of humour doesn’t need to be “proofed” (ouch, couldn’t resist that one) either ;D

29

Quite so, and I’ve already explained in broad strokes why our ignorance of “cause” and “existence” (and much of the relevant physics) is not sufficient to disqualify the atheist position and force us into agnosticism – see here. Moreover, you have said that “an UNCAUSED first-cause god would not make sense,” which raises the very pertinent question of why require a god at all then. Surely, if god is caused, that’s no better than asserting that the Big Bang is caused – actually, the caused-god hypothesis is hugely more complicated because now we have replaced one causal mystery with a far more difficult one.

'Luthon64

30

I think I foresee an infinite regression of Gods stretching off into into some distant dimension and wonder if they might all be a product of supernatural selection descended from even more primitive gods.

31

QED

Mintaka

32

No Need to apologise, forgot to lighten up there for a moment ;D
My sense of humour obviously need to be prooven now. I thought blind faith would have been enough to save my humour soul, how wrong I was :smiley:

33

Here’s a cause for the Big Bang Terry Pratchett envisions. To me, it seems way more plausible than the God explanation:

’Look, I can stick my hand right in it,’ said the Dean. The wizards watched in horror. The Dean’s fingers were visible, darkly, within the sphere, outlined in thousands of tiny sparkling lights. ’That was a really very foolish thing you just did,’ said Ridcully. ’How did you know it wasn’t dangerous?’ ’I didn’t,’ said the Dean cheerfully, ’It feels ... cool. And rather chilly. Prickly, in a funny sort of way’ HEX rattled. Ponder walked back and looked down at the paper. ’It almost feels sticky when I move my fingers,’ said the Dean. ’Er ... Dean?’ said Ponder, stepping back carefully. ’I think it would be a really good idea if you pulled your hand out very, very carefully and really very soon.’ ’That’s odd, it’s beginning to tingle -’ ’Right now, Dean! Right now!’ For once, the urgency in Ponder’s voice got through the Dean’s cosmic self-confidence. He turned to argue with Ponder Stibbons just a moment before a white spark appeared in the centre of the sphere and began to expand rapidly.
34

Another TP BB theory has a male and female space-turtle having a random romantic encounter in Space, an encounter which later became known as the Big Bang.

I think I foresee an infinite regression of Gods stretching off into into some distant dimension and wonder if they might all be a product of supernatural selection descended from even more primitive gods.
Ooh, very nice Mefiante. The evolutionary process of divine natural selection. That's brilliant. I wonder if any of the gods were atheists ...
35

Different universe, but yeah I LOLed at that one too. ;D

Damn, what good is a “brilliant” if I don’t get even get the credit. I suppose I’ll interpret it as “Brilliant! Even for Mefiante.” I think I could live with that. :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh I’m sure most young gods go through a rebellious atheist phase. It’s not that they don’t know gods exist (this is self evidently true from their point of view), it’s more that they don’t believe in the concept. I think it’s a political stance really, one most of them hold to some extent throughout their eternal lives. At least, those I’ve spoken to seemed very evasive about the whole existence thing. When you try to corner them on it, it usually boils down to: “Well, from your point of view, not really. But hey…”

36

PG … Dude … my bad … sorry. Brilliant post Peter Grant, and nice little smack-on-the-wrist for me too. There is absolutely no doubt that your sense of humour exists (and could even be divine if we believed in those things).

Oh I'm sure most young gods go through a rebellious atheist phase. ... At least, those I've spoken to seemed very evasive about the whole existence thing. When you try to corner them on it, it usually boils down to: "Well, from your point of view, not really. But hey..."
I don't even have a snappy chirp to add to this post - says it all, stunning bro. There's a god in one of Terry Pratchett's books who is an atheist - (can't remember which one). Satire at its best IMHO.
37

No worries dude and thanks. ;D

I loved your idea of an atheist god, just had to run with it. Would really like to read that Pratchett book, I’m busy re-reading them and haven’t come across that one yet.

38

My son assures me it’s “Small Gods” - which he borrowed from my collection and still has at his place. This is probably why I couldn’t find it when I went through my library of TP books last night - friggen kids!

39

I don’t think so, read it recently and the only atheist I remember was Sergeant Simony. I will credit you with the idea until we can locate another source.

40

Found it (I think). It’s “The Last Continent”. I’m pretty sure the god of evolution that Ridcully and company meet up with on a small island in the past says he’s an atheist - just can’t find the exact passage. On well - TP is always brilliant and funny so I guess it doesn’t really matter. :slight_smile:

41

Cool, I don’t think I’ve read that one yet, or at least recently. Looking forward to it. :slight_smile: