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Is Matt Dillahunty's "Big Jar of GUMBALLS" a good way to get theists from demanding that we PROVE that  GODS & GODDESSES do NOT exist?

IMAGINE a big jar of gumballs. Two possibilities. Either there is an ODD number of pieces, or an EVEN number. Since nobody has counted them, IF IF IF we do not  AGREE with the people who have FAITH that it is an even number, that does NOT mean that we DO agree with those who have FAITH that it is an odd number.

All we have to say is that we have not seen convincing evidence, either way.

In the same manner,  IF IF IF we do not agree that THESE Gods and Goddesses exist, we are not obligated to believe that those OTHER Gods and Goddesses must therefore be REAL.

Just trot out some testable, repeatable, consistent evidence, and let us examine it.

Update:

1.Not one of NORINE'S accounts. If I was, wouldn't I be all caps, & spouting Bible verses?

2. No analogy is perfect. My POINT is, let's see some testable, repeatable, consistent EVIDENCE.

3. If NCWJ is right, and "everybody knows" that his favourite Divine Being exists, how did they come up with any of the others?

4 Answers

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  • 4 months ago

    Mr. Popelish has a good argument on that.

  • 4 months ago

    My big problem with Matt's analogy

    is that the probability of odd

    is exactly the same as the probability of even.

    Using this analogy implies

    that the probability of the existence

    of exactly the particular hypothetical God,

    that someone is imagining,

    is the same as the probability of it not existing.

    That, one is just as likely as the other.

    And that completely misuses

    the concept of probability.

    Just being able to state

    two distinct possibilities

    does not mean

    the probabilities of those two possibilities

    are the same.

    --

    Regards,

    John Popelish

  • 4 months ago

    Just another take on Schrodinger's cat... but the bottom line,  is that despite what we know, there is one truth. And God has made us aware of that truth so no one is flying blind. The assumption that no one knows, is bogus

  • Anonymous
    4 months ago

    Matt needs to lay off the candy.

    That's actually a really good analogy to explain agnostic atheism.  What you said at the end--that if we don't believe, for example, that the Hindu gods exist, then we're tacitly admitting that Jesus is a god--I don’t know that anyone makes that argument.

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