Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: boris@monsoon.Berkeley.EDU (Boris Chen) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Why believe? Message-ID: Date: 11 Mar 91 08:15:48 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: ucb Lines: 39 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article technews@iitmax.iit.edu (Tech News Account) writes: >The claim that god exists, for me, is like the claim that Centaurs exist: > >There is NO evidence FOR the existence of centaurs, and there is NO evidence >AGAINST the existence of centaurs. > >Therefore I *DO NOT HOLD THE BELIEF* that "centaurs do exist" > >In the same way, I *DO NOT HOLD THE BELIEF* that "god does exist" > > >[This position is normally described as "agnostic". When someone says >they are atheist, most people take them to mean they are convinced >that God does not exist. To quote the Merriam-Webster 3rd Collegiate: >[deleted for brevity] >spiritual experience." --clh] Generally, Atheists go by what is called Occam's Razor, where you only believe in what there is reason to believe in, and not in what may possible exist. Of course, in this case, the person does not believe there to be evidence that supports the existence of God, and in fact, to them, to accept the existence of God is equivalent to the acceptance of undetectable creatures living in the closet. Thus, though most people can't prove that there are undetectable creatures living in the closet, they generally do not believe that undetectable magical creatures live in the closet -- to the point of denying their (UMC's) existence. Occam's Razor is of itself a necessary a priori principle, yet I do not think it is applicable in the case of God, since I believe that there is evidence of His existence. +==================================================================+ + Boris Chen || Berkeley, CA || boris@ocf.berkeley.edu + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + "And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares, and... + + neither will they learn war anymore." ---Micah 4:3 + +==================================================================+