This post is set to examine the average theistic presentation of evidence, whether it is strong, weak, convincing, or even really evidence at all. We (atheists) often tell theists their ‘evidence’ is ‘not evidence’, and this is often incorrect. Evidence is indicative rather than completely conclusive (even if we do make conclusions off of evidence), so anything that indicates something could be true IS evidence. It doesn’t mean it is strong or convincing though. It also poses an issue when…
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Having spent a lot of time in debate, I have heard a number of fallacies and awful arguments being made by both sides. Admittedly, some of these were from myself on occasion and I don’t doubt it will happen again. Given these awful arguments and in the interest of fairness I thought I would make a shortlist of our[atheists]; worst arguements, the reasons why, and any links to explain in more detail. Through writing this article, I realised it wasn’t…
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IntroductionA few days ago, Davidian, another of the authors here at Answers in Reason, linked me to an article titled ’36 Questions for Atheists’ on a site called ‘Adherent Apologetics’. While generally I would not respond to an article like this, I thought it might be interesting to reply. It is not that there is anything particularly special about this list of questions that lead me to respond, it is, essentially, a collation of all of the common questions that…
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Questions are great. They, hopefully, make us think about things and can open a world of conversation. I have spent a lot of time on the internet discussing various topics, and have often found the religion-based ones a bit of a dead-end. On both sides, we seem to have folks more concerned about pushing their own point forward and not taking the time to understand the other person. We also tend to come across the same points. I mean, how…
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I come across a number of theists on the internet, and I actually enjoy discussing beliefs. There are many theists I prefer to talk to than atheists. You get dogmatic fundy types on both sides. Admittedly I don’t feel any danger from the fundamentalist atheists, they just discuss philosophical concepts ignoring the philosophy. (Which can be really frustrating, like a creationist discussing evolution and using terms like “kind” and “change in kind”) What frustrates me when talking to a lot…
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“We are all born atheist!” is something we have heard a lot. I’ve said it in the past. I am sure if you are an atheist you have said it too. But how true is that? What is an Atheist? An atheist is someone who subscribes to atheism. Atheism is polysemous (has many definitions).We have gone over the definitions in our podcasts but the classical definition of atheism is “The belief God(s) do not exist”. Please See: Conflated and Misunderstood…
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Hello, and welcome to Fresh AiR! – I’m Joe… Words you will have heard a few times if you have already started listening to season one. What is Fresh AiR? ‘Fresh AiR’ is a podcast, hosted by Joe, Martijn and Dave. It is part of Answers in Reason but hopes to bring a fresh perspective on a number of topics you might hear from the atheist community. Who are involved in Fresh AiR? The short answer is anyone that wants…
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The idea that there is design in the universe, and that this design is evidence of a designer, is an argument often put forward by believers. The argument from design is one that is easy to draw the listener into, and can be quite compelling to those that look only on the surface. When asked to ‘prove it’ the arguer need only wave his arm around pointing to their environment, or to the wider universe, and say ‘there is my…
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This article is to define and discuss objective and subjective, morals and morality. As with any article on AiR we don’t always agree. Where science is concerned and the evidence is irrefutable we of course accept and believe it to be true. When it is opinion or something philosophical we may have differences. As such I am glad we have a philosophy masters student in our midst. He has helped me bridge the gap between some ideas and misconceptions I…
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“The Bible is inerrant!” is something quite commonly said in debate. It’s part of the circular reasoning: “The Bible is the word of God, because it tells us so, God is perfect, therefore the Bible is infallible.” We have a number of articles that address things like: Common Theistic Fallacies (e.g. Circular Reasoning) Confirmation Bias Contradictions in The Bible Morality in the Bible Fine Tuning Watch Maker Evidence for Jesus’s Existence Apologetics This article is not going to address any…
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