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Introduction: How to reason

Section 7: No way

Some negatives can be proved - so perhaps we can prove that God does not exist.

There's a common fallacy, often used by believers, that you can't prove a negative. They argue:

a. you can't prove something doesn't exist

From that point they move to:

b. therefore you can't prove God doesn't exist.

Most believers stop there. A few move from statement b: to

c. therefore God exists.

Unfortunately for believers all these statements are false.

Not everything possible exists

Let's start with statement c. Taken with statement b, it asserts that if you can't prove something is false, it must be true. In other words, almost anything you say is true just because you say it.

According to statement c, if you can't prove that a man called Peter Jones didn't drive from Los Angeles to Washington in May 2006 in a pick -up with the registration 123 ABC, therefore a man called Peter Jones did indeed drive from Los Angeles to Washington in May 2006 in a pick-up with the registration 123 ABC.

Statement c. is plain wrong. The fact that something might exist does not mean that it must exist.

With no other evidence, therefore, at this stage we can only say that God might exist. We cannot say he must exist, nor can we say he cannot exist.

Drinking tea on the sun

What about statements a. and b? Can you prove something doesn't exist? And if you can, can you prove that God doesn't exist?

Take these two examples:
1. No man called George Maria Washington has ever sat for half an hour naked drinking tea on the top of Mount Everest.
2. No man called George Maria Washington has ever sat for half an hour naked drinking tea on the surface of the sun.


How good is your reasoning?

Can you distinguish lies from truth? Or a good argument from a false one? Can you when tell someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes?

We keep physically fit by exercising regularly and eating healthy
food. The same is true of our minds - we need regular mental exercise and a good diet of solid facts and logic.

This chapter offers basic reasoning skills to help you understand the contradictions that lie at the heart of all religion.

0.1: Basic principles
Start at the beginning

0.2: What do we know?
Separate fact from fiction

0.3: Start with the question ...
... not with the answer

0.4: All the evidence ...
... not just some of it

0.5: Cause and correlation
They're not the same

0.6: Don't jump to conclusions ...
... or you could land in the ...

0.7: No way
Proving a negative

0.8: Occam's Razor
The simplest solution

0.9: Facts, knowledge and science
What we know and how we know it

0.10: Know or believe?
The impossibility of God

0.11: Reason and faith
Understanding the difference

0.12: Summary




Finished the introduction? Move on to

Chapter 1
Defining God


Does God exist? Before we try to answer that question we need to have a clear idea of who or what God is. How do we describe God? What versions of God are on offer?



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We can't say the possible doesn't exist

These are both negative statements. Can we prove a negative? Sometimes.

Look at statement 1 first. It looks very unlikely, but not impossible. We can't verify the name of every single person who has climbed the mountain to the top of Mount Everest and whether they have drunk tea there, clothed or unclothed. We may suspect that no-one with that unusual name has made their way to the highest point on the earth's surface and drunk that refreshing drink there, but we cannot prove it.

So we have a negative statement that can't be proved. But if we can't prove this simple negative, does that mean we can't prove any negative at all?

We can say the impossible doesn't exist

No, it doesn't. Look at sentence 2. We know that this never happened. Even if there was a forgotten civilization that somehow sent a man to the surface of the sun it is impossible for a human being to sit there naked doing anything except burn to a crisp within half a second.

In other words, you can prove a negative if it applies to something impossible. There is no giraffe having a conversation in mediaeval Dutch with a group of geraniums as they sit around a swimming-pool in orbit around Mars. There is no Santa Claus flying around the world bringing presents to millions of children every Christmas Eve. No man or woman is capable of flying like Superman. Impossible phenomena by definition cannot exist.

Does this apply to God? If God exists, he transcends natural laws and can do anything. Does that mean we cannot prove he does not exist?


If want a quick answer to that question, skip forward to Section 10. But if you'd rather go more slowly, continue reading this introduction and move to Section 8: Occam's Razor


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If God existed, he would...

admire the beauty of a universe that he did not create

recognize that eternity is meaningless

deny both heaven and hell

disown all men and women who speak in his name

denounce the harm caused by religious "morality"

help the human race to thrive without him

If God existed, he would be an atheist.


What is the difference between science and faith?

science is certain of nothing and requires proof of everything

faith is certain of everything and requires proof of nothing

Which do you trust?


"I know there is no God"
or
"I believe there is no God"
???

Check the answer


wear the Scarlet letter





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