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durangodawood

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I don't need faith to believe in an ID.
Thats because you have chosen to be blind to other plausible explanations, in order to preserve your theological commitment from the possibility of doubt.

Whatever happened to the respect for faith among Christians? It seems like they deny it at every opportunity these days.
 
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Radrook

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Ah, very true about creating arguments that are internally consistent but false. All we need is a premise minor premise and conclusion which harmonizes with the twain. Or to create a framework wherein everything that is discovered is cunningly fit into that framework to make it seem as if it proves the validity of the framework. In fact, many evolutionist hoaxes have been attempted using that technique. Once the presuppositions are adopted the rest usually goes like a self-perpetuating well-oiled machine. However, those are not the kinds of arguments that am using in support of an ID.

I never said that your rejection of an ID is based on any universally-accepted worldview among atheists. I am very aware that certain atheists claim not the challenge God's existence and claim that that they simply don't know. I prefer to view them as agnostics for all practical purposes.

About determining ID, manufacture or lack of manufacture has absolutely NOTHING to do with the application of the rules of determining if something was designed or not. If it meets the criteria of having been designed then it was designed. Your sudden suspension of the evaluative criteria indicates bias and bias has absolutely nothing to do with the scientific method which demands strict adherence to objectivity.
 
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Radrook

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Theological commitment has nothing to do with concluding an ID in nature.
You totally misunderstand the meaning of Christian faith by imagining that it involves blind irrational acceptance of the existence of an ID. That is 100% false! Romans chapter two tells us that we can infer the existence of an ID from observation of nature. Countless other scriptures tell us the same thing.

BTW
I don't consider abiogenesis with its dependency on a billion happy accidents, lack of observational support and failure to happen even under controlled conditions a plausible explanation.
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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Ah, mockery in lieu of an argument... why am I not surprised?

If you like, I can outline how your mockery is ill-founded - i.e. where four versions of the multiverse hypothesis really came from and why they are explicitly not like a 1940's superhero comic book.
 
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Speedwell

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Rules? What rules are these? Who laid down these "evaluative criteria" and on what authority?
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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About determining ID, manufacture or lack of manufacture has absolutely NOTHING to do with the application of the rules of determining if something was designed or not. If it meets the criteria of having been designed then it was designed.
What are the criteria for determining whether something has been designed?
 
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TagliatelliMonster

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Sounds like a reasonable answer to the question "what is creation science?"

In fact, many evolutionist hoaxes have been attempted using that technique. Once the presuppositions are adopted the rest usually goes like a self-perpetuating well-oiled machine.

No... you see, unlike in creation science - where people are rewarded to maintain the status quo of bronze age beliefs - in actual science, people are rewarded for proving all their peers to be wrong or by answering those questions that nobody else could answer.

That's how towns, streets, holidays, buildings, universities and even measurement units, are named after you. That's how you win Nobel prizes. That's how you get a ridiculous amount of grants for research. By turning fields upside down.

That's also how you potentially get enormous boosts in technological advances and subsequent new riches in economies and stuff.

No, there really is very little fame and glory to be gained by making a discovery who's only contribution is "just as we allready knew....".

In fact, you could even say that such a thing isn't a "discovery" at all. Since nothing was discovered that wasn't already known.


However, those are not the kinds of arguments that am using in support of an ID.

To be honest, the only argument I remember seeing from you, is nothing but a species of "it's obvious!".

I never said that your rejection of an ID is based on any universally-accepted worldview among atheists.

You were very clear though:

There is also its irrational propensity to disqualify the concept of an ID simply because biological machines evident in nature are functioning automaticallyThere is also its irrational propensity to disqualify the concept of an ID simply because biological machines evident in nature are functioning automatically


"its" (=emphasis mine) refers to "atheism" as if it is a thing from which concepts or models or what-have-you are derived. This is simply not true.

My rejection of ID is based on one thing only: the failure of that idea meeting its burden of proof. It is simply not in evidence in any way.

My lack of belief in supernatural shenannigans has literally nothing to do with that. If tomorrow somehow it is discovered that life on earth as artificially engineered, I would be absolutely shocked and amazed. But I would have no problem accepting that fact.

And then the question may be asked who the "D" was.

I am very aware that certain atheists claim not the challenge God's existence and claim that that they simply don't know.

Personally, I don't know anybody who would fit the definition of a gnostic atheist.
Even Richard "mr public atheist" Dawkins, common target of the creationist community for all kinds of slander, puts himself on 6 in a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is "i believe there is a god" and 7 being "i believe there is no god".

There simply is no point in discussing or making the claim "god does not exist", because there simply is no way that such a claim could ever be shown to be true.
The only thing that could, in principle at least, be shown to be true is the claim of existance.

So whatever the subject, the claim of the non-existance of anything, seems to me to be a total waste of time and energy.

For example, I don't remember any academia ever working to disprove the existance of Bigfoot. What we ask is for the people that claim bigfoot exists, to come forward with sufficient evidence in support of that claim. We aren't asking anybody to prove the opposite.

Just to clarify, I don't know any atheist who thinks differently about any gods. All atheists I know, are agnostic atheists.

I prefer to view them as agnostics for all practical purposes.
That's kind of funny. It seems to me that it is more for semantical purposes.
But whatever. I'ld say the exact opposite. For practical purposes, there is no difference between someone who identifies as an atheist and someone who identifies as an agnostic.

I predict that if you ask both what they believe or don't believe, the vast majority will give similar answers.

About determining ID, manufacture or lack of manufacture has absolutely NOTHING to do with the application of the rules of determining if something was designed or not.

Ow, I heavily disagree.
There are an inumerable amount of "marks" that can be found on objects which show clear sign of manufacturing. As in: unnatural origins.

The use of bolts for example. Plastics. Traces of carving. Trademarks. Labels literally saying "made in china". Etc.

If it meets the criteria of having been designed then it was designed

You keep saying this and eventhough I and others have already asked you, you still haven't shared with us what these criteria are, exactly.

If you have, I appologise for missing it. But then please leave a link in your next response to the post in question, so that I can learn.
And if you idd haven't, or can't dig up the link for some reason, then please explain those criteria.

Your sudden suspension of the evaluative criteria indicates bias and bias has absolutely nothing to do with the scientific method which demands strict adherence to objectivity.

I can't really suspend criteria that I don't know about because you are keeping them a secret (it seems).
 
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Loudmouth

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I don't know, but the point is that if you come accross 100 dice that are neatly ordered in rows of 3, you're more likely to assume intention than to assume it happened by random chance.

If we are only able to see the dice if they are all 3's, and there are nearly an infinite number of rolls, then it is nearly guaranteed that we would see all 3's through completely random processes.
 
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Loudmouth

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Have you realized the importance of a justifiable inductive leap yet?

The only importance I can think of is in convincing yourself that your faith based beliefs are somehow justified.

It seems you have since you accept it in reference to Dark Energy and Dark Matter whose existence you consider beyond and dispute merely based on observation of their effect.

There are testable hypotheses for both Dark Energy and Dark Matter.

Do you still not understand the importance of a testable hypothesis?
 
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Chriliman

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If we are only able to see the dice if they are all 3's, and there are nearly an infinite number of rolls, then it is nearly guaranteed that we would see all 3's through completely random processes.

Right, but there's no evidence that there were more than just one roll. IOW, you're assuming more roles(infinite amount) without any evidence to support that assumption. Whereas I'm assuming intent based on the fact that they are in ordered rows of 3s, therefore my assumption is rational and yours is not(at least yours isn't based on any evidence).
 
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Loudmouth

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Right, but there's no evidence that there were more than just one roll.

There isn't evidence that there is just a single roll.

IOW, you're assuming more roles(infinite amount) without any evidence to support that assumption.

I am pointing out that there are conditions where a random process would produce the same observation. I am making no assumptions.

What you need is a experimental test to differentiate between the two.
 
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Chriliman

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There isn't evidence that there is just a single roll.

The evidence is the single role that's right in front of you, which is analogous to saying that the evidence is this single universe that we exist in. It's rational to assume intent in both cases and it's irrational to assume an infinite amount of rolls/universes because there's no evidence for such.

I am pointing out that there are conditions where a random process would produce the same observation.

That's not a fact though because those conditions(multiverse) hasn't been shown to exist, you have to assume it exists, which means your assumption is not based on evidence.

I am making no assumptions.

You think you're not because you think you're stating fact when you say "I am pointing out that there are conditions where a random process would produce the same observation", but that is not a fact because the conditions(multiverse) haven't been shown to exist.


What you need is a experimental test to differentiate between the two.

Logic differentiates well enough to make an informed assumption.
 
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Loudmouth

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The evidence is the single role that's right in front of you, which is analogous to saying that the evidence is this single universe that we exist in.

Observing a single universe is not evidence that there is just one universe. At one time in history we could only observe one solar system with planets. Was this proof that there was only one solar system with planets?

It's rational to assume intent in both cases and it's irrational to assume an infinite amount of rolls/universes because there's no evidence for such.

Argument by proclamation. Not very convincing.

That's not a fact though because those conditions(multiverse) hasn't been shown to exist, you have to assume it exists, which means your assumption is not based on evidence.

You have to assume they don't exist in order to reach your conclusion. Therefore, you have to demonstrate that they don't exist.


They don't have to be shown to exist in order in order to demonstrate that those conditions could produce the same observations.

Logic differentiates well enough to make an informed assumption.

Then perhaps you should start using logic instead of faith based proclamations.
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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Why is it rational to assume intent? all we know is that it's possible for at least one universe to exist - there could be no others or an infinite number, we don't know.

That's not a fact though because those conditions(multiverse) hasn't been shown to exist, you have to assume it exists, which means your assumption is not based on evidence.
You mean like you have to assume a creator because it hasn't been shown to exist, which means the assumption is not based on evidence?

I think what you're failing to grasp is the concept of possibility, of hypotheticals. The multiverse is a possibility, just as an intelligent designer is a possibility, we have no evidence for one, so it's not rational to assume there is one, but hypothetically it's a possibility (albeit a vanishingly small possibility for an intelligent designer, in my opinion).
 
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Chesterton

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You're misstating the observation. There's more to it. If there weren't more to it you'd have never heard the phrase "fine tuning".
That again makes a bunch of assumptions about the universe that you can not demonstrate or know at this point in time.

For starters, it assumes that the universe COULD even be different in the first place.

Okay, tell me how it could be different and still exist.
Secondly, you don't have a million universes to compare with. You have access to just one.

Being dealt a SINGLE poker hand, won't tell you anything about the deck of cards.

We know our universe is fine-tuned. Claiming that we need a probability distribution to compare it to is just hand-waving away that fact.
Funny. It's that implication of the use of these loaded words, which is the assumed conclusion.

What's funny is that in the other thread I invited you to restate it how you like, without using loaded words, and you just gave me a tautology amounting to "it is what it is", then you stopped replying, and now you bring it up again.
 
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Chesterton

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Ah, mockery in lieu of an argument... why am I not surprised?
Yes, it's very hard to refute a metaphysical claim. Hence the popularity of the FSM and similar mockery among atheists. If you tell me you're the Queen of England in several parallel universes I really wouldn't know where to start to argue.
If you like, I can outline how your mockery is ill-founded - i.e. where four versions of the multiverse hypothesis really came from and why they are explicitly not like a 1940's superhero comic book.
That's okay. I know how they are not alike. Unlike the science-y claim, the comic book actually had a bit of substance, a bit of definition in the concept.
 
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Nithavela

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I'll let you reread your grand statement while living in this one time through life.
I think this sentence is missing a few words...? or perhaps a few too much....?
 
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