[Answer to a question about why theists place the burden of proof on atheists. Notice there is 4 logical fallacies in a row in his answer.]
The world exists; presumably God made it. People have believed that for thousands of years. The vast majority of us still believe it. So the burden of proof is on YOU to disprove it.
36 comments
The world exists; presumably God made it.[Citation Needed] you can presume all you want it won't make it true. How does that make it true. For thousands of years people thought the Earth was flat and that the Sun rotated around the Earth. In order for that to be true Christians would need to be >50% of the world population, which you are not. You are making the assertion, you need to prove it.
Really? Well, I presume that you're a douchebag, the vast majority of us believe you are a douchebag. Therefore, the burden of proof is on you to disprove your doucebaggery.
See what I did there?
"presumably God made it"
"The vast majority of us still believe it"
Major premise, unfounded assumption, argument from tradition, argument ad populous, and, in fact, there is no phenomenon that requires your God to exist, so you still have to prove Him through observation or observation of an event that can only be attributed to Him.
And be specific, none of this 'love' stuff, because the Celestial Teapot is also love, so that does nothing for your point.
[The world exists; presumably God made it.]
That's a rather big assumption.
[People have believed that for thousands of years.]
Appeal to tradition. How long people have believed in something (or not) has no bearing on its truth.
[The vast majority of us still believe it.]
Appeal to majority. The number of people who believe in something (or not) has no bearing on its truth.
[So the burden of proof is on YOU to disprove it.]
Wrong. The burden of proof is on the person making the claim.
FOUR? Hooey.
I count FIVE.
I would say...
1. Begging the question (you start with the assumption that God made the universe, and use that to prove that God made it)
Per Watcher, base rate fallacy also works for #1, though begging the question occurred to me first for some reason.
The world exists; presumably God made it.
Either/or fallacy.
People have believed that for thousands of years.
Argument from antiquity.
The vast majority of us still believe it.
Argument from popularity.
So the burden of proof is on YOU to disprove it.
Misallocation of burden of proof; burden of proof is on the claimant.
"The world exists;" Unless Raptur Ready have thier way.
"presumably God made it." PRESUMABLY - you queston, therefore an unbeliever destined for the lake of fire!
"People have believed that for thousands of years." And slowly, science answers the unknowns that used to be "gods territory". People have invented countless "religions" and thousands of "one-true all-powerful" gods which MUST be obeyed, but eventually found to be false.
The burden is upon YOU to prove the existance of your figment of the imagination of ancient goat-sodomisers.
"presumably God made it"
no
Now DIAF.
The world exists; presumably God made it.
People have believed that for thousands of years.
The vast majority of us still believe it.
So the burden of proof is on YOU to disprove it.
Wow, it's rock-solid! *Gasp* I never thought of that one!!
9_9 I'm not going back to your version of God. He contradicts himself, he mandates rape, murder, and torture, and his followers give me the heebie-jeebies.
The world exists;
Ok, I'm with you this far.
presumably God made it.
Here's where you lose me. Why your God and not say... Aboriginal Dreamtime, for example?
People have believed that for thousands of years.
People also believed that a good cure for hysterical women was to remove their uterus, IIRC. People believe a lot of shit.
The vast majority of us still believe it.
That your God made all this? I believe Hindus would disagree. And possibly wiccans. Oh, Native Americans, too. They might have other opinions. Just maybe.
So the burden of proof is on YOU to disprove it.
I don't think facts and proof work the way you think they do. I can't "prove" I'm not a racist bigot. I *can* prove that I get along famously with the black family in the apartment below me. I can't prove that I'm not left handed. I can prove that my motor skills with my right hand are far better than my left. See?
"The world exists; presumably God made it."
And such a presumption is based on...what? A book? According to another book - written by a Christian - if I entered the cupboard I keep my clothes in, presumably I'd emerge out the other side into another world where I'd meet a talking lion. PROTIP: the word 'Bible' comes from the Greek Biblios meaning 'Book'. Therefore all books are Bibles; ergo, going by your logic, presumably the manga on my bookshelves are Bibles too, and what's in them is equally 'Truth' -which you must 'believe'.
"People have believed that for thousands of years."
Argumentum ad Populum. For even longer, the people of India believed that they - when they died - would be reincarneted ; either into a better form & thus life, or a lower form & thus worse life, according to how good a life they'd led previously. Hundreds of millions of Hinduist people in India (and around the world still believe it to this day. India is the biggest democracy on the planet.
So the burden of proof is on you to disprove Hinduism. Good luck with that.
Who are "us"? There are about 2.1 billion Christians, but there are about 7 billion people.
The burden of proof is on the person making a positive claim, dearie.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.
