Monday, March 2, 2009

Atheism: The intellectual embarrassment

Linkity

Article synopsis: The author quotes Mr. Robert Madwell who said, “Just because a few atheists believe that everything came from nothing doesn't mean that all atheists believe that.” Then, completely ignoring the point the individual was trying to make, the author asserts his favorite straw-man "Atheists believe nothing made everything." claiming again that every atheist MUST believe this. He rationalities this by stating of a Ford Expedition "If you have no belief that there was a maker, then you think that nothing made it. It just happened. You have defined yourself as having that mentality." He goes on to assert that this is a logical fallacy and a idea that holds no merit.


I have already outlined the straw man in an earlier post but I will do it again here: Atheism does not maintain that everything came from nothing. There are many competing theories and hypotheses on the nature of the origins of the universe, a lack in the belief of a god does not definitively assert that "nothing came from everything" This is not a commonly held belief among atheists. It is pointless to refute it because, while doing so, you have not addressed your opponet's actual argument.

The analogy of the Ford is a false one. There is evidence that the Ford was made by people. One can actually watch it happen if one is so inclined. (But its really boring and they make you wear glasses that smell funny.) Again, who would maintain this belief? There is no evidence to suggest that Fords miraculously appear out of thin air. Just as there is no evidence to suggest the universe had a sentient creator. This does not mean that the universe poofed into existence from nothing. There are actual scientific processes that go into discovering our universe's origins, processes that the author ignores to assert his straw man.

One extraneous note: If you are going to quote a person, you should cite a source for your quote. Who the hell is Robert Madewell?

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