It is Probable That God Exists

Thanks pro. I will defend my opening arguments.C1) PRESUMPTION OF ATHEISM1. If a claim is extraordinary, then in the absence of extraordinarily strong evidence in its favor, the claim may be considered false.2. The claim that a God exist is an extraordinary claim.3. Therefore, in the absence of extraordinarily strong evidence in its favor, the claim that God exists may be considered false.4. There is no extraordinarily strong evidence for the claim that God exists.5. Therefore, the claim that God exists may be considered false.The Null HypothesisNull HypothesisMy opponent accuses me of confusing types of argumentation. My opponent is using philosophical evidence to make a case whereas I am using physical evidence to prove something in the mtaphysical realm. However, I disagree. The argument does not say that it MUST be physica evidence, it can be reasoned logic as well. As I am a pearlist (Physical Evidence and Reasoned Logic), it would be perfectly acceptable to use philosopical arguments to prove God's existenc. This argument shows that there is neither physical OR metaphysical evidence. I cite a few examples that attempt to show that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. My opponet admis that if I had a vision to be God's prophet that it will require evidence so why is your God different? What about the God of Christity's prophets make them not require any evidence. Sure, God has given us a test, yet false prophets can also perform the same tests! [1]The magic sandwitch i rightfuly absurd but it serves the point at showing that there is no evidence against the magic sandwitch and therefore (according to fundamentalist logic) that the MS must be real. Formulation My opponent says that extraordinary claims don't require extraordinary evidence and citexs an example. However, it misses the point. Showing a purple dog with 6 legs and 4 tails require evidence. The physical evidence for the dog is enough extrarodinary evidence to make such a claim. Remember, extraordinary evidence is any evidence that makes the extraordinary proposition more likely than not. So, what is extraordinary evidnece? PEARL: Phsysical Evidence and Reasoned Logic. Because you have given PHYSICAL EVIDENCE for the extraordinary claim, you have thus given extraordinary evidence. However, without such evidence, it is an extraordinary claim and should be rejected without evidence. My opponent states that God is not extraordinary -- no more than to sa that the universe came from nothing. I believe I already responded to those objections in my rebuttal to the KCA showing that the universe does not need a cause of its existence. C2) THE ARGUENT FROM NON BELIEF My opponent admits that all religions contradict each other; hence they cannot all be objectively corect as it would violate the law of non-contradiction. My opponent rightfuly points out that they don't contain some truth. In fact, I believe that all religions, though they are not all objectively true, do have some (though very few) elements of truth within them. My opponent agrees that God wants each person to be saved by having set of belief P; and as my opponent rightully points out, it doesn't prove God does not exist. My opponent has pretty much accepted my whole argument; however, because I ran out of room, I will try to defend the other premises. Let set P be defined as the set of the following propositions: (a) There exists the god of theism. (b) The god of theism loves humanity, and (c) This being wants each person to be saved by having certain beliefs sufficient for salvation, such as beliefs P1...Pn. Beliefs P1...Pn represent whatever beliefs in addition to (a) and (b) would be required for salvation on any given version of theism. One may add to set P as members of P1...Pn any additional propositions such as "Jesus died for your sins," "Jesus rose from the dead," or similar propositions. Let us stipulate for the sake of simplicity that anyone who believes the propositions in set P is saved, and anyone who does not believe them is not saved. This simplified argument from nonbelief, then, is the following: 1. If god exists, then god wants what is best for each person. 2. What is best for each person is that he or she is saved. 3. Therefore, if god exists, then god wants each person to be saved by having the beliefs of set P. 4. If god wants everyone to be saved by having the beliefs of set P, then everyone would have the beliefs of set P. 5. Not everyone has the beliefs of set P. 6. Therefore, god does not want everyone to be saved by having the beliefs of set P. 7. Therefore, god does not exist. The argument basically follows very logically. It shows that God's existence is not probable at all; especially given the demographics of other religions. What does it mean? It means that your religious beliefs are often dependent upon the location in which you were born. To prove this, let's make a few observations. 1. If you were to be born in Saudi Arabia, the ratio from Muslims:Christians is well more than 10:1 [2] 2. In India, there is a much greater chance to be a Hindu than in any other part of the world. [3] 3. In the ancient world, nations had their own distinct, yet contradictory mythologies. [4] If God is so concerned at getting us to the belief set of P, then why is it that he reveals himself to a small portion of the world and everyone has to learn about God through one or two persons? Thomas Pain said in The Age of Reason concerning these statistics: "Each of those churches show certain books, which they call revelation, or the word of God. The Jews say, that their word of God was given by God to Moses, face to face; the Christians say, that their word of God came by divine inspiration: and the Turks say, that their word of God (the Koran) was brought by an angel from Heaven. Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all." [5] Conclusion I unfortunately will not defend my rebuttals because he cannot rebut mine. I have shown that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Based upon the argument from non-belief, we can conclude that God has been a failure in getting his salvation plan across. I urge a vote for the negative. Case dismissed. ______________________________________________________________________ Sources 1. See Deuteronomy 18. 2. In fact, the Muslim population is 99%. http://www.nationmaster.com...3. In India, there is an 80% population of Hindus. In fact, one of my school teachers from India happens to be Hindu. http://www.censusindia.gov.in...4. To comare mythologies, see http://www.ancient-mythology.com...5. The Age of Reason, part 1: Quoted http://classiclit.about.com....