Stayathomem0m made a point in a previous (closed) question?

Question

She stated that there was no evidence to dis-prove God. To this I say that I believe that there is a teacup the size of a small pony in orbit around the sun and that it holds the elixiar of all life.

Now I ask, do you believe also? If not, show me the evidence to dis-prove my theory of the great teacup?

ps - Yes I know this is Dawkins argument but I want to see peoples take on it.

By the way I want to make a point of stating that I am not attacking any religion or anyones beliefs, just an argument i.e. - If you can't dis-prove something, it exists.

Answer 1

Actually, it isn't originally Dawkins' argument. It's Russell's teapot. And you're right, just because it can't be disproved doesn't mean that it, by default, exists. In fact, in the absence of any reasonable substantiation, it's philosophically responsible to default into skepticism.

Answer 2

Ooooh! A Teacup the size of a small pony! I need to get my solar orbiter ready so I can sample the sweet sweet elixir of life. Although, I imagine the darn thing is probably guarded by the invisible pink unicorn, in which case I will never be able to touch it.

Answer 3

Well, if millions of people claimed to have had their lives transformed by that teacup, if societies had been transformed by that teacup, it would bear investigation. As that is not the case, there is no argument.
I agree with you, however, that saying there is no evidence to disprove God is pretty pointless.
As far as I am concerned, God is proved:
1. Objectively, when I look at nature around me. To believe all that just happened gradually by a series of strange coincidences over billions of years, - well, I just can't handle that one.
2. Subjectively, I have experienced God in my life.

Answer 4

The teacup thing not a very good argument. It offers no evidence for or against, and it offers no compelling reason for or against, it's just a contrived point of view intended to provoke thought.

Against that, you have literally billions of people who claim to have made contact with an unseen deity and are developing active relationships with him.

You have to admit that the witness list for the defense is quite extensive. Your tea cup really doesn't stand up to them.

Answer 5

There is plenty of evidence to disprove god, what happens is that Christians and other believers ignore it. You can never prove anything at all, pace Hume, and non existence even more so, but thats only to a 100% standard. We can 'disprove' god more than almost anything else in the normal use of the word's meaning.

Answer 6

You're right. Considering the fact that you can make that exact same argument for every other god out there, I have no idea why people think that statement is supposed to convince anyone. Remember: You can't disprove Yahweh, but you can't disprove Allah, Brahma, Zeus or Thor, either.

Answer 7

Your great teacup theory is not mentioned in God's Word the Holy Bible so I can't believe it.

Answer 8

For the zillionth time, you can't prove a negative!

And your so-called theory doesn't have evidence to support itself

Edit: Ok, how about this. If you can't prove there isn't a two-headed Zeus (Aton, Hera, Athena, etc.) out there 3000000000000000 miles away, therefore it must exist?????

Answer 9

I posted a question very similar to this! there is no existing proof that a magic talking banana didn't create the universe and everything in it, but I don't bow down and worship bananas, because that would be crazy.

Answer 10

It is not the case that if I cannot disprove something that it exists. That is simply foolishness. No one but a philosopher would suggest such an idea.