Atheists and the myth of California?

Question

Once there was a man who had never seen and was also blind. He had learned to communicte with others as Helen Keller and was perhaps doing well as he lived in Montclair, NJ. He was told by hand signs in his palm of His surroundings. His mother tho didnt want to let him leave the home so she told him he lived in the only state in the country called NJ. One day one of his helpers came and told him in his language she came from California, another state far away from NJ. He was adament....there is NO SUCH PLACE... how could there be? Ive never seen it or touched it...and my mother whom I trust entirely swears its not there. She even dragged him to the car and drove him there but...He dismissed her as a liar and a fanatic and lived the rest of his days with his mom....in the " only state in the usa " called NJ.

Answer 1

whoever posted the "salvation link" is an idiot. this isn't an attack on christianity, in fact it supports it. It's an allegory about people not believing in God simply because they have no empirical evidence.

Answer 2

YES! You have described religious beliefs like atheism and fundamentalism perfectly!

The agnostic would say, "California? I haven't seen it. I heard it's a long way away from New Jersey, but I'm not sure if it's real because I haven't been there."

Then there is the suggestion of the trip:
"Really? We can go there? Wow! Let's go check it out so I can be sure it's real!"

Then after getting there: "Wow! That's so cool! So there IS a place people call California! Well, this is just too much! Thank you for bringing me here to prove your point! Next thing you'll probably say, Helen, is that there really is this place that's supposed to be even nicer called Hawaii. Now, I've never seen such a place, so maybe it's just a myth..."

Guys: If a woman pays your vacation tab like this, I recommend you marry her.

Answer 3

Simple. The person knows that each step is a certain distance on the land. Take him step by step to the boundary line of another state and tell him that when he's crossed over the boundary line. Since state lines are divisions of land, all you need is a supporting cast to affirm the boundary line.

For places across the sea, take him to the ocean, set up a post and have him tie up a string. Take him along the coast, setting up poles and tiying the string along the poles until he has gone along the entire continent. This will prove to him that he is on an island.

Strap him to a guerny at the start point, and carry him in one direction, taking time to allow him to test whenever he wishes to make sure he's facing the same direction as before and that they're still on water. When he reaches land, then he has been proven that there is another land other than the US. Logically, this land will have a different name, unknown to the person.

Answer 4

That is a poor attempt at an analogy. But unless you are just stupid, God exists in some way for all of us. Just look around you do you think ANY HUMAN could "create a cloud" "build a butterfly" -- if so why did it take so long for man to learn how to build and keep up airplanes. The proportionate thrust in a single jet engine scaled down to size is equal to the power the butterfly has to take off. If man created the weather -- then how come so many weather man are wrong most of the time. Faith is also called blind faith -- that is why it's faith. We trust, without seeing, we believe without understanding -- doesn't mean it's wrong to question -- We continue to question, we continue to trust -- something must have kept this planet alive all these years -- and believe even if you believe in aliens (space) how did they come about -- or why are species becoming extinct -- because they are or because we caused their demise. For every conclusion, there exists well, what came before that -- just look around MAYBE to you "God" doesn't exist by that name -- but someone/something/somehow keeps us going.

Answer 5

Very beautiful, though I admit, I was not humoured by the previous posts. Though I usually am. California is just a mythe.. it is.. what? don't believe me? .. California is answer to a question.. California is a name.. at the moment.. a huge chunk of land is most commonly known as California.. most commonly known.. decided by consensus.. yet it is nothing more than a name.. should someone decide to call it New Jersey (NJ).. then who is too tell them otherwise?? You chose a new name.. are you suppose to just accept the majority's name?.. Do you have to call it California because everyone else seems to want too? No.. I don't see why you should have too.. California is just a mythe.. just a name a large group of people agreed to call something.. a definition by popular vote.. kinda like christianity.. just a definition for the existence of man by popular vote.. no reason for either.. simply decided by popularity.. as the mother was most popular too the son.. he believed his mother over all... it's all about who we trust that truly defines our mythes... Yes, I've heard about the Atheists and the myth of California.. as well as the Christians and the myth of California.. and the Muslims and the Myth of California.. and the Jews and the Myth of California.. and the Buddhists and the Myth of NJ.. and the Mormons and the Myth of NJ.. and The Jehovah's Witnesses and the Myth of Oklahoma.. yes.. I've heard all about them.. their names.. their popular votes.. I just wish I could hear of some reasonable facts.

Answer 6

If you want that to be saying "just because you've never seen God, then he must exist" kind of thing, then your wasting your time. What if they had said they came from the state "zahickywoky" the man still wouldn't believe him, and for good reason. And most atheists aren't so because their parents told them there was no God, they figured it out for themselves, so this story is more like christianity than anything else.

Answer 7

that's about right.
How can you prove there's no God?
atheists really can be closed minded.
I don't hold all atheists in contempt, only the ones who dismiss everything outside of what they've read or heard.
On another note, if we are wrong, and there is no God, then we will have lived a life believing in vain, but trying to make the world a better place, while atheists will smugly find that they are worm food and lived their lives in vain trying to go around disproving and proving worthless theories in the scheme of things.
If we are right though, we will find our God waiting to reward us, whilst they find open doors to hell waiting.

Answer 8

Come pick me up and we'll drive to heaven.

Hmmm. Better yet, I'll drive and even pay for gas.

Your story falls apart because you can't prove that there is a heaven. Given enough evidence anyone can believe in California. However, the evidence in favor of heaven is severely lacking.

The rest of the posters are right. Your story actually works better in our favor. Thanks.

Answer 9

Ugh? What's the question again? Does this mean there is no God because we can't see him? I can't see gravity either but I know it is there. Look at the beautiful things in the earth, the complex eye, the hearing ear. These didn't just happen.
You don't need to see a creator to know he is there.
If that is the question?

Answer 10

lol are you saying that too many people believe they follow the one true god because there Mommy's told them so. Even when there are numerous other gods and people tell them about them they are too closed minded to see reality

I love it

thanks for the story I'm going to use that one

Answer 11

Okay! You are the one who believes your parents! I'd like to show you how we came to be and how much we could do with life, but you're not having any of it. Better to believe a lie than believe your parents to be liars, I guess.