Must we analyze every drop of water in Loch Ness before we can say the Loch Ness Monster doesn't exist?

Question

Must I acquire a PhD in religious studies before I can say there's no evidence for the existence of any god?

-- If an atheist has no right to make any claims about the likely non-existence of any god, then it seems to me that believers have no right making a positive claim about their god's existence, either. You don't want to use a double standard, now, do you?

Answer 1

No. If someone wants to claim that the Loch Ness Monster exists, the burden of evidence is on them to prove it. Same goes for those who claim that God exists. Since you can't prove a negative, the burden of evidence always rests with the person who is making a claim that something exists, because they, as Dawkins put it, "believe in one more thing than I do." In other words, it is the postiive assertion that must be supported by evidence.

Unfortunately, there are still some people who have never heard of Russell's Teapot.

Answer 2

Och, wee Mary Anne, you've quite lifted my spirits. I was in need of a reminder that sometimes folks take themselves too seriously, myself at the top of the list.

Double standards. Hmmm. How can one prove a negative? With difficulty, I suspect. Would an experiential moment count? Like, as a wee bairn, looking up into the clear night sky and marvelling at the multitude of stars, thinking to myself, that couldn't have got here by accident. Or, as an adult, looking into that same night sky into the blackness that marks the next galaxy, now understanding more than when I was a wee bairn, still thinking to myself, that couldn't have got here by accident.

I refuse to acknowledge that I have no right to make a positive claim about the existence of a Creator God. And atheists have every right to make any claims they like about the non-existence of a Creator God. I am PASSIONATE about my belief in a Creator God, and because I have experienced a transformation in my life, how could I possibly remain silent? It's like someone discovering a cure for AIDS and keeping it to themselves.

I also realise that communication is a two-way street, and that freedom of expression, of belief, is a fundamental principle. So, let's keep up the debate, the arguments, the passion. Otherwise we might as well live in a totaliarian state where anyone who questions the 'perceived wisdom' of those in power will be put in prison - or worse. Vive la difference! Bring it on!!! It's only when people stop communicating that problems arise.

Answer 3

Nessie is not a creature, but a population of extremely secretive Plesiosaurs. They are related to reptiles, not dinosaurs and they are a carnivorous aquatic genus that have existed since the Jurassic period. People think they died out during th K-T extinction, but they do indeed thrive in the depths of the Loch Ness.

Answer 4

Pretty ridiculous, isnt it?
By the way, foolish human, the loch ness monster is actually a creature that lives in the caves and underworld beneath the lake. They were bred to be food animals by the lizard people who live beneath the earth, the descendants of subteraneanly adapted dinosaurs. The 'monsters' can alter their own density to squeeze through narrow gaps, basically turning themselves into pudding. Sometimes one escapes for a while and gets spotted.

Answer 5

Good point... but not all Christians act that way toward atheists. I believe what I believe, and I have all the proof I need in my own personal life. I don't tell anyone else how to live; ever. I give my opinions and reasons when they are asked for. I don't like non-believers attacking my beliefs anymore than they like me attacking theirs. I think this section of Y!A often times just gives people a reason to attack others and gang up on other people. Christians, atheists, and others alike. Whatever happened to live and let live? I don't ask people WHY they believe in other things or tell them they have to prove it... religion shouldn't be any different.

Answer 6

You are correct on both questions.... Loch Ness has been searched well enough to decide the question and atheists need nothing more than an average amount of brain power and the undeniable fact that God is entirely absent and obviously a non-being...

I'm inclined to put the shoe on the other foot and ask the law to step in and demand proof of church advertising.... Some of their claims are certainly without substance.

"You need salvation" ... "God loves you" ... "Jesus said" ... "Hell awaits the sinner" ... "life everlasting" ... "Jesus saves" ... etc.

.... in fact, it all really reeks of BS, doesn't it?

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/Randall_Fleck/Chapman_Cohen_Gif.gif
[][][] r u randy [][][]
.

Answer 7

I once had someone tell me that I couldn't be an atheist. Only agnostic as I cannot prove there isn't a god. By the same logic Christians would also have to consider themselves agnostic as they cannot prove that god does exist.

Answer 8

It's my Book and I'll set the rules!

There will be not double standards!

Cos so it is written! ere Somewhere!

Ah, ye hath shown us the light John 12

So end of discussion! bpee


ADDED sorry I was still in the dark ages great question!
Good luck with the answers.

FTWR

Answer 9

Of course God exists. People say there is no scientific proof? We ARE the scientific proof! No way this beautiful and complex world happened by chance.

Answer 10

well i have countless evidence to believe in God's existence. You can look at the sky and say its just the sky or u can look beyond and say its God