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Except that one can actually observe candy, which is more than I can say for that touchingly wonderful Being who loves me and wants to beat me up after I'm dead just so that I'll behave while I'm alive.
Right, but you see, "there is no sufficient evidence to justify belief in a God" is a completely different argument from "we should not believe in any God/s because the christian god is mean." (christians would dispute that, of course, but I'm just repeating your thoughts, more or less.)
The argument that there is no sufficient evidence is valid, though as an agnostic, I would turn this argument around and say, "There is no sufficient evidence to disprove/rule out the existence of God either." That too, is valid (you could of course say that there is never sufficient evidence to rule out the existence of a thing, which is a fair point in itself.)
That said, your previous argument is not valid.
Similarly: suppose everyone burned their ears off because it would keep them from getting beaten up after they were dead. Suppose I did not burn my ears off.
I'll bite.
So you don't burn your ears off.
Would you not burn your ears off because
1. the idea that we have to burn our ears off to keep from getting beat up when we're dead is unfair, and consequently, you don't believe in this idea simply because it is unfair
or
2. because there is no actual evidence that would justify
a) belief in (any) afterlife
b) belief in the specific afterlife in which you will get beaten up for not cutting your ears off.
Personally, I'd go for number 2. Number 1 simply is not a valid argument, for a number of reasons...
1. Why does the universe have to be fair? Surely we can think of lots of things that are unfair that happen every day.
2. What is fairness? Could fairness be simply an artificial, manmade concept as opposed to some immutable law that reality has to subscribe to? Can we describe fairness in purely descriptive terms, without resorting to a value judgement? No? Then where does this value come from and why should the universe necessarily have to bend to what may very well be a subjective and artificial judgment on our parts?
3. Could God have a different conception of fairness than we do?
Right, but you see, "there is no sufficient evidence to justify belief in a God" is a completely different argument from "we should not believe in any God/s because the christian god is mean." (christians would dispute that, of course, but I'm just repeating your thoughts, more or less.)
The argument that there is no sufficient evidence is valid, though as an agnostic, I would turn this argument around and say, "There is no sufficient evidence to disprove/rule out the existence of God either." That too, is valid (you could of course say that there is never sufficient evidence to rule out the existence of a thing, which is a fair point in itself.)
That said, your previous argument is not valid.
Similarly: suppose everyone burned their ears off because it would keep them from getting beaten up after they were dead. Suppose I did not burn my ears off.
I'll bite.
So you don't burn your ears off.
Would you not burn your ears off because
1. the idea that we have to burn our ears off to keep from getting beat up when we're dead is unfair, and consequently, you don't believe in this idea simply because it is unfair
or
2. because there is no actual evidence that would justify
a) belief in (any) afterlife
b) belief in the specific afterlife in which you will get beaten up for not cutting your ears off.
Personally, I'd go for number 2. Number 1 simply is not a valid argument, for a number of reasons...
1. Why does the universe have to be fair? Surely we can think of lots of things that are unfair that happen every day.
2. What is fairness? Could fairness be simply an artificial, manmade concept as opposed to some immutable law that reality has to subscribe to? Can we describe fairness in purely descriptive terms, without resorting to a value judgement? No? Then where does this value come from and why should the universe necessarily have to bend to what may very well be a subjective and artificial judgment on our parts?
3. Could God have a different conception of fairness than we do?
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