As an Atheist I sometimes end up in a debate type situation that turns more and more into the theist trying to argue with me that their God must exist for what amounts to it makes them feel good.
One such example of this was a recent discussion I had on IMVU with a woman that I wasn’t interested in debating religion in the slightest. The name of that Avatar is called Sinfully Amazing. We were in a room I made and I happened to be sitting on an Atheist Chair that I had just happened to make white with a black A. This woman remarked that she liked that chair so me being the gentleman I moved to the one beside it and said, “Oh yes that is the Atheist Chair.” I also did add that I am an Atheist. Note this was not meant to spark any kind of debate / discussion about fantasy magical beings.
Well this woman said she was Catholic. Then added what has to be the absolute dumbest reason for adopting a label that could possibly exist. That being because she was raised Catholic. Even though I didn’t want to get into a debate on the God bullshit I knew I couldn’t not comment on it.
What I said was, “So you believe in a Sadistical Magical being because that’s what you were told to believe?”
To which she had said, “I don’t believe God is Sadistical.”
At this point I was in a position of in for a penny might as well go in for a pound. I then asked, “If the only way a parent can forgive is via the human sacrifice of their child wouldn’t you call that Sadistical? Or Isn’t Think as I demand or be tortured Sadistical?”
Instead of answering these questions she shifted to a completely different justification attempt. That being the desire to see some relative that died again. I do want to point out that the avoidance of questions that the theist can’t honestly answer in a way that makes their fantasy God look nice and sweet is common. However this always leads to a more hostile approach or at the very least one rooted in emotion not logic.
Now looking back on it I guess I could’ve just let this woman have whatever fantasy she wanted just to get away from this bullshit. However once I am in logical, intellectual & philosophical mode it can be tough for me to snap out of that. Not to mention the mountain of logical questions / counter points flood my mind so rapidly often times I speak or in this case type a response without actually thinking.
I said, “Just because you want something to be true doesn’t mean it is.” Then adding, “Like you I have lost those who were close to me and a part of me would love to see them again. However the logical part of me knows this is simply not possible. You are far from the only person that has lost those you love.”
Now to be fair I know this is hitting below the belt because the wish to see some lost loved one again is an emotional justification not a logical one. However I didn’t get totally metaphysical on her with this explaining that even if something exists beyond this physical that we can’t definitively prove with science the idea of a loved one being just like they were in life is simply illogical. The way we are in life is based entirely upon the experiences, culture & time period we happen to be born into. If something transcends death there simply is no logical reason to assume that it would continue to think, reason & behave just as the person did in their physical life. Adding of course that there is no way a person would retain the physical appearance they had in life in some energy form. Since the physical appearance we have is based entirely upon the DNA of our mother and father.
To which I heard something like she believes in God in the nice parts. Which lead me to again respond without thought with, “I never knew belief in God was like a Fast Food Menu. Make Your God Your Way.”
As you can no doubt tell I was in full Atheist mode dealing with a Theist. However then I heard something which really made the Scientific & Atheist part of me go completely bonkers.
She actually said, “You are preaching to the choir.” She then added how she was a nurse and regularly saw people protesting outside the clinic she worked at.
To which I had immediately said, “Those would be Christian’s” Which she agreed but must have failed to realize Catholic is a flavor of Christianity.
At this point I was a bit confused because I was hearing this woman talking about understanding science but yet clinging to an idea that is completely non scientific in nature. I think it was at this point when I asked, “Do you seriously believe the Universe was magically poofed into being?”
This did make her inquire what I meant to which I had added, “The idea that a Magical God caused the Universe to appear from Nothing all on a whim.”
By this point she had degraded into full, (I must defend my God) mode. Which really strikes me as strange given if this God is so all knowing and so powerful why would it need defended by some mere religious believer.
She had asked if I was trying to convert her and I said, “Atheist’s don’t care about conversion since there is nothing to convert to. All I want to do is to cause you to stop and think.”
However this was clearly making her uncomfortable since what I was raising were problems in the God notion that she simply couldn’t explain away. Which means anger is the next emotion to spring forward since honestly she had nothing else. To try and argue a literal bible idea as to why is simply foolish given I had raise things which made it impossible to defend the God and still be fully aware of science.
What surprised me in all of this was how I remained perfectly calm and simply pointed out the flaws in theistic logic. Yet more and more what I got was growing anger and resentment.
This was really not what I had wanted to have happen but I couldn’t see a way out of this situation with her in fully Defend the God notion and me in full Let’s be logical mode.
In the end she left the conversation and I felt completely disgusted since IMVU is not the place where I try to engage in deep conversations. Simply speaking that type of thing is just not fitting for that environment. Yet when I encounter dumb I can’t help but try and get the person to think. Which does lead to defend the beliefs even when the beliefs are completely wacky.
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