Hi! I'm an #atheist #humanist and #skeptic looking to respectfully engage online here with people I disagree with. And maybe people who agree with me too!
I don't believe in #god , and in fact I'm pretty sure no such thing exists, but I'm willing to consider the alternatives and change my mind.
Are you a #christian who believes in #jesus , or any other #religion , and want to explore whether or not you have good reasons to think that it's true? I'm happy to have that conversation!
I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. Are you?
@lack Christian god: “You are evil, and you deserve to die.” Atheist: “No, -you- are evil and I think you don’t exist.”
@b_chocolatey I don't usually use the "problem of evil" argument, but when I do it's not me saying "I think God exists and is evil so I don't want it to exist", but more of a "If I temporarily assume that God exists for the sake of argument, I find this contradiction which suggests the initial idea (that a loving and powerful God exists) is incorrect".
I think this is a common misunderstanding of how the argument is supposed to work, made worse by atheists who maybe don't explain it well :)
@b_chocolatey I would say an atheist using that line of reasoning is making a mistake.
If the universe seems indifferent, there could certainly be no creator. But there could also be an indifferent creator. Or an evil one. Or a good one who just isn't strong enough to do anything about it. Or a huge number of other explanations. I do think it is a small point against the idea of a creator who is both loving and powerful, but even then not a conclusive "must not be" deductive argument. Which is why I don't use that argument :)