[ExI] Fw: Re: atheists declare religions as scams.

[Damien Broderick]

On 1/30/2011 12:02 PM, Ben Zaiboc wrote:

> So an agnostic could despise an atheist for presuming to not know the existence of something for which there is no evidence?

This assertion is part of the problem. Few theists would agree that 
there's "no evidence" (not many say "I believe *because* it is 
absurd!")--they appeal to reports in sacred records, to alleged 
miracles, to powerful "experiences of the divine," and to the very 
existence of the universe. Each of these appeals is corrigible, but it's 
self-defeating to tell people that they lack evidence when the evidence 
seems all around them, and within them. You can try "no scientifically 
testable evidence" but many important aspects of our experience fail 
that test as well.

Damien Broderick