Evangelists seem to think the onus is on the atheist to disprove the theory that there’s a God. They seem terribly impressed with themselves when they say “you’ve no proof He doesn’t exist.”
While it’s true we atheists have no proof He doesn’t exist, it’s only for the same reason religious people have no proof that He does.
“But wait a moment,” says the evangelist. “What about the bible? The bible says He exists, and believing in Him is the first commandment.” It also says we should stone gay people and adulterers to death. It also says we should cut the hand off a woman who touches a man’s privates. (These references are all from Deuteronomy, if you’re wondering.) That doesn’t mean it’s a novel idea.
“And who wrote the bible?”
“God did.”
“How do you know God wrote the bible?”
“Because it says so right here. See?”
Now, those of you who bothered taking philosophy in university, or say, ever bothered to read a book other than “the good book,” you’d know this is circular logic.
“Sorry. I have somewhere else to be right now.” This is probably the best answer you can give to this sort of person.
Now, I’ll even give the religious a little leeway, because I recognize that the vast majority of Christians believe that “God is love,” or some other hippy thing like that. That’s fine. My problem is when they start trying using it as an excuse to hate on gays. And it’s amazing how quickly the “good book” goes from being a book of love to a book of hate. It is frightening how fiercely people are willing to be in hurting other people when they feel morally justified. So don’t get me wrong. It’s not the “God is Love” people I’m against. It’s the “Death to Faggots” people I can’t stand. It’s the “Alla Jihad” people that have to go.
You have to wonder about those fanatics – the really crazy fuckers who fly bombs into buildings or carry them into busy temples, nightclubs, or what have you? Even if there were a God, which there isn’t, but even if there were, do you seriously think that the way He wants His children to behave? You think He’s gonna be proud when you show up in heaven and say, “check it out! I killed me a score of six and wounded like a hundred more.” I’d think he’d just want to put a bullet in your head, ‘course there wouldn’t be much point in that, seeing as you’re already dead and all. And if you believe in God, and heaven, do you think people like that really belong there? Because that doesn’t sound like heaven.
The way I see it, God is sort of like Santa Claus for grown-ups. Or the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny, or whatever. Most adults stop believing in the really silly ones, like the Easter Bunny, but they hold onto God. Why they do this has always been a bit of a puzzle to me, since I found it easy enough to just throw God into the proverbial toilet bowl with the Tooth Fairy and the rest of the mythical creatures quite early in life. Maybe they’re afraid that death is the end, or they’re hedging their bets for later in life. I’m not going to get into that now because I think I’ve ranted enough about that for the day, but not to worry. There will be more to come.
Oh yeah, I gave this the title “Why There Clearly Isn’t a God,” so I should at least honor that by listing one good reason, of which there are really so many. The easiest, though not necessarily the most obvious or most air-tight is the principle of Ockham’s Razor. I’m not saying the simplest theory is the best, but if you’re going to make assumptions anyway, you might as well make as few of them as possible.
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