Atheist's analogies are ridiculous?

Question

I am talking about the giant tea pots and the pink unicorns and all the other ridiculous analogies that they use.Some of them claim Jesus never existed.The fact is that He did and He continues to inspire millions.

Yes ,even Atheists like Lee Strobel and Kirk Cameron.

Yes Silas you explained it.

Answer 1

Yes. When someone mentions oversized teapots, they are being completely ridiculous but when they mention talking snakes, they are not, right?

Answer 2

I find it very strange that you've heard analogies of giant tea pots and pink unicorns. This is the first time that I've ever heard of them being mentioned.
There are all kinds of claims, but I study history, and have for many many years. I fully believe that Jesus was a real person. I believe all of the historical facts known about him. I don't believe any of the supernatural stories about him.

Answer 3

I think, when someone is using something like that, the sillyness is the entire point. They're simply trying to help you understand how they feel about things, and from your response, they're doing a pretty good job of it.

Of course, argument from analogy doesn't usually prove anything. It's just for clarifying things and simplifying difficult to convey or understand concepts.

A good analogy (har har) is this: Imagine you are being paid to babysit someone's daughter. Now, imagine the daughter keeps insisting that you play dolls with her, despite the fact that her parents told you to put her to bed fifteen minutes ago. She then tries to convince you that playing with dolls is going to be fun. You suggest playing with hot wheels, and then get the box out and start making car noises. Suddenly, going to bed is a much better idea.

The point being, that explaining how much you didn't like dolls would never have been anywhere near as effective, as asking her to play with hot wheels, and putting her in your shoes. Which, really, is all atheists are trying to do when they present you with the pink unicorn analogy.

I hope this helps explain their behavior.

Answer 4

HANG ON!

There is no real proof Jesus did! I remember a guy called Adolf Hitler who has scientific proof that Areans (possibly spelt wrong) were all over the world, did everything great possible in history because of being the superior race. He inspired millions to the point he caused WW2.

The reason for your argument is weak!

Answer 5

Have you been using medication recently, old chap? I haven't heard about any giant tea pots or unicorns (Though some of the crap in revelations sounds pretty similar). I know that Jesus existed and I know that he inspires millions. As an agnostic, "what is!" is very important to me, and the example of Jesus is genuinely humanistic and impressive. My problem is with Christians who remind me more of Adolf Hitler than Jesus Christ. (This is not a dig at you personally, just the Christians who go around telling people to do what THEY say).

Answer 6

This is a good link for downloading King Arthur Gold for free: http://j.mp/1qXIt8I

it's completely free and it's very fast to install
This 2D side scrolling multiplayer game is of the action and war genre, with a particular focus on the war aspect.
It's amazing.

Answer 7

It is never too late to go to college. Go back to your bible and leave the thinking to the big boys


Lee Strobel is considered a joke outside the christian community. Kirk Cameron is actually the best friend atheists ever had since he embodies and articulates the fraud that is christianity in a way none of us could

Answer 8

Think about things from our perspective for a moment, and you'll understand how the analogies work.

We hear, even without coming to the forums, the following, virtually every day:
-Something exists beyond our comprehension, and:
-This "something" is attributed with extraordinary, unexplainable, arguable contradictory, characteristics
-This "something" is not proven. Plus:
-If we don't immediately devote ourselves to this something, we are committing the most evil act conceivable; as a result:
-We will suffer for all eternity
Why?
-Because we doubt the existence of something without some proof; and:
-We seek to understand the world as it is, without referencing something that is, in principle, unobservable; and:
-Without referencing something with attributes that have little do with the reason it was referenced; and:
-In our honesty with ourselves about what we do observe and infer, we try to act according to morals that make sense, instead of taking, on authority and faith, ethics that come from books written in the days when people still found chariots a powerful military weapon.

Now, consider the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It is:
-Unobservable, in principle.
-Unsupported by any evidence.
-Cannot, however, be disproven.
-Attributed with extraordinary, arguably contradictory, abilities, and these attributes have little, if anything, to do with what the FSM is invoked to explain.

Anybody with a shred of intellectual integrity should reject this claim outright unless they display proof of the FSM. It's preposterous, not because it's a giant plate of spaghetti, but because of the points I listed.

Yet, these same claims are invoked when it comes to "god" as typically understood in Theism. This analogy, and a few others (such as the Russell's teapot and pink unicorns, as you mention) are a mirror held up to your own claims. If they are "ridiculous" in one context, then why are they worthy of complete devotion in another?

Answer 9

Who told you atheists like Lee Strobel?

Answer 10

Inspire millions?
How? By dying for our sins (whilst knowing all the time that he, according to your book, would be alive again couple of days later). Some hero.
People are still 'sinning', so he wasted his time anyway.

Do you know that the latest school of though is that the teachings and actions of several people, spread over several generations, have had their characters combined to create one person known as Christ?
Christ as you believe him to be, never did exist. Just as your god never existed.

Answer 11

The skepticism about the existence of Jesus is separate from the analogies you refer to. The teapot analogy specifically calls into question the existence of a god. Jesus existence is *slightly* better supported by evidence but not much. Nobody who met him wrote about him during his lifetime - that makes all firsthand accounts of his life suspect.