A lot of atheists equate the notion of God with notions of pixies, fairies, and such mythological things...?

Question

they cite that there is no proof for any of them.
The problem with this argument is that indeed there is no proof for fairies, pixies, leprechauns etc, when we look at what these particular things are presumed to do/make or otherwise.
Fairies dance about at the bottom of the garden, and often grant wishes to those who are fortunate enough to meet them (supposedly), obviously there can be no verifiable truth for this unless the science community manages to capture one and test it thoroughly (unlikely).
Leprechauns grant you a pot of gold if you should catch him, it seems no one ever has produced such a pot of gold as evidence that they had caught a leprechaun. If a pot of gold was produced that would lead to an objective search to ascertain origins of such evidence. Eventually it could be found through scientific evidence that the gold did not magically appear but was gold that was held previously in some bank vault somewhere and that the whole event is a hoax.
With the God test however we find something different. It is said that God created the universe. And we have , presented as evidence similar to the previous case, a universe, clearly visible to us.
Now lets set out to show that this evidence (the universe) did not 'magically' appear as people suppose by a God, but in fact through science we can ascertain that the universe was in fact produced, or came about through other means , so we can discount God from the list of possibilities.
Can we ever do that?
I guess science is working on it as we speak, it seems an enormous task, and perhaps an impossible one..

Answer 1

Atheists use a material argument that discounts the possibility of a spiritual ground to the universe. If like me you are sensitive to the spiritual nature of life you simply know they are wilfully blind to half of their existence.



Even such seemingly ridiculous things as fairies and leprechauns have meaning and significance to our mythical level of consciousness. If you take them out of there cultural and folk context they are of course silly but so is a washing machine in a rain forest.



As for god and the universe. Quantum science tells us that the universe and matter is underpinned by a very strange world where time moves backwards and forwards, things leap in and out of existence, particles act on each other over thousands of miles simultaneously, and that most importantly an entanglement of consciousness may be necessary for matter to exist at all.



Whatever God is I don't think it is contained within the Bible but to deny the spiritual half of existence is as mad as accepting the ancient cultural dogma about God at face value. One day I think the two sides of life will be understood in a grown up and knowledgeable way.

Answer 2

Very funny. First: Your definitions of faries etc might not be correct. Leprechauns may never have been cought and if one were then the catcher may have chosen not to present the gold. So you have no proof/disproof for pixies,fairies etc.

However there is gold on earth and the existence of leprechauns is one explanations for the existence of this gold. The analogy between gods and leprechauns is a valid one.

Secondly: "With the God test however we find something different. It is said that God created the universe. And we have , presented as evidence similar to the previous case, a universe, clearly visible to us."

So if I say that a fairy created the universe then fairys suddenly might exist? I really hope you are joking....

Actually, I advice you to try this http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-origin-of-the-universe.html instead of magical spirits.

Answer 3

In principle, I agree with some of what you put. No one can say for certain that there is or isn't a god. I accept that.

Anyone that says they 'know' that there is or isn't, is a liar.

Same as pixies, elves, the flying spaghetti monster. Because no one has seen them, or have any proof that they exist, there is no reason to suggest that they don't.

I don't believe that any of them, including a god, exist. Atheism and religion are points of view, in my opinion.



But as for 'supporting evidence for God's existence'. There isn't any. By scripture, I take it you mean the bible. Quoting from the bible is just dumb. Have you actually read the bible? It's complete nonsense.

Answer 4

"name one of the properties of God that seems imaginary to you?"

His existence.



EDIT



@@@OP "Lets look at supporting evidence for God's existence. The Scriptures"

That's not evidence...





“I hate to break it to you but the bibel is not the inspired word of God.

It was written by a bunch of desert baked primitive nomads who ate bugs and honey.

Of course they saw God!”



“Bibel is sentimental speculation and replacement theology at its finest lacking any meaningful philosophy that was had by the Judaism that reputedly spawned it.



AND, it's filled with lotsa ignorant mistakes:



1. There is not one bit of physical evidence for a global flood - no geological evidence, no mass extinction a few thousand years ago, no evidence that all life was wiped out and gradually repopulated from a single location.

2. You don't get striped goats by having your goats copulate in front of striped sticks.

3. Stars can’t hover over a spot on earth and accurately guide people to that place.

4. Earthquakes do not happen when an angry god shakes the earth.

5. The cure for leprosy is not rubbing birds’ blood all over a person.

6. You can't cure snakebite by gazing at a brass snake on a pole.

7. All species of life did not come into existence in a single week.

8. Rain does not happen when windows are opened in heaven.

9. It is not possible to stop the sun as it travels across the sky.

10. The earth is not a few thousand years old.

11. Rabbits do not chew their own cud.

12. There are no four-legged fouls.

13. People can't float to the sky.

14. Rabbits do not have hoofs.

15. Stars cannot fall to earth.

16. The Earth is not a circle.

*17. Pi does not equal 3.

18. The earth is not flat.

19. Donkeys can't talk.

20. Bats are not birds.

21. Snakes can't talk.



Etc



*“1 Kings 7:23 (New International Version): He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.

In other words, pi is exactly three. That's God's "science", I guess.”



Oh, and that bloke spending three days inside a fish is a bit suss, don't you think?”



“Because all the works of science cannot equal the wisdom of cattle-sacrificing primitives who thought every animals species in the world lived within walking distance of Noah’s house.”



How could you possibly devise a science course around such nonsense?



Big Bang Vs Creationism… http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/05/the_big_bang_1.html

~

Answer 5

"god" takes away your time from everything else you SHOULD be paying attention to(...) , proving he exists has now taken thousands of years and innumerable people of wich not even one can say for certain" he exists" .We'll never know , end of spiritual journey , bummer isn't it?



Time to let go.



Hopefully the vacuum religion leaves in peoples brain will spawn a series of documents to help humans cope with the world around them and be all inspired by it .



And instead of passing a bible around the "new document" fits on a SD memorycard to fit any computer.....( it'd be so much easier to carry than the bible you're lugging around, right?)

Answer 6

You can't use benefit of doubt to say something might exist when everything that exists is proof God can't possibly exist, Because I will give the benefit of doubt that aliens created the Earth or we all living in the matrix because while ridiculous are still technically possible.

Answer 7

god was never on the list of possibilities studied by science, that would be preconception.



Nor does science ever set out to "show" anything.



Science works by looking at reality, then trying to understand that reality.



As no god has ever appeared in the real world, ever, that pretty much excludes such nonsense from science.

Answer 8

I fail to see how it is dissimilar. It is, as you said, unlikely that fairies or leprechauns etc. will be proven to exist and it is unlikely that any deity will ever be proven to exist. Impossible, you say? Where's your evidence that it is impossible to prove whether or not a deity/leprechaun/fairy exists?



EDIT: It doesn't matter what I can imagine or not, it matters whether or not it is possible or impossible. Where is your evidence that it is impossible? You can not prove a negative, as theists are so fond of saying, so you lost the argument.

Answer 9

"It is said that God created the universe. And we have , presented as evidence similar to the previous case, a universe, clearly visible to us. "

The problem here is that your conclusion of the argument is used as a premise of that same argument. What you're saying is basically: "god is the creator of the universe, so the existence of the universe proves that god created it."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

Answer 10

Gods become angry when we choose the wrong one. For Abraham faiths this is shown in the Old Testament in the punishment and mass destruction of cities. Other faiths have similar beliefs. If this holds true, and we cannot for certain know which God is right, or how to properly worship Him, Her or Them, it seems better not to try as most Gods are jealous Gods. Better to remain in ignorance than to be wrong about it.

Answer 11

I don't think any atheist would deny that there is a possibility that some force or being started the expansion of the universe and I suppose you could call that force or being "god" What we are saying is that there is no being or god who is listening to people praying, controlling what people do, or have some wonderful place that some imaginary human spirit can go if they are good. That is clearly nonsense

Answer 12

The mere fact of the existence of the Universe toes not prove a 'god" as the creator - it does not need a designer - we still have no need for a mythical creature anymore than Grimm's Fairy Tales need to be True - however fun they are

Answer 13

All of these things are part and parcel of God for there is nothing else in the whole of cosmos.

Such as these wee folks who as yet are invisible to the majority of humanity we say that they are all performing just what they need to do within the spectrum of their own attributes so to say.

There are and have and will always be a hierarchy of spirits on and under the ground we all walk upon. Amen.

ref. the new world religion.

Source book for all cultures.

Volume one onwards.

2012AD out soon.

Answer 14

But you have no evidence that Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe.



All you have is a universe. If someone claims it was created by fairies and not FSM you will have to accept this as an equally valid alternative. Fairies are magical, after all, who knows what powers they have. The universe itself is not evidence for magical fairies any more that it is evidence for magical gods.

Answer 15

So what you're saying is "pixies and fairies are imaginary, therefore god is real."



That doesn't really prove anything.

Answer 16

What lot of atheists? Where are your sources? I equate the notion of God with gullibility.

Answer 17

From your desperate and tenuous attempt at an argument I guess you are really slipping out of Christianity.

Answer 18

you could say ANYTHING exists because it's near to impossible to disprove the nonexistence of something, but I'm perfectly happy to not believe something exists without evidence.

Answer 19

They do not really equate those notions;

it is just a cheap jibe at theists to avoid rational debate

A god that could be proved by a finite mind would hardly be God

Answer 20

Sorry, gods have all the properties of something imaginary.



If you have something that suggests otherwise, I'd love to hear it.

Answer 21

If their belief in a deity makes them happy, who cares if it is real or not.

Answer 22

After everything summed up, you fail to provide evidence. Nice try.

Answer 23

IMHO most atheists are searching for some logical reason for existence.

I'm not sure there is one.

Answer 24

After all that writing, you would have equal success explaining it to a chimp.

Answer 25

Indeed.

Answer 26

sorry buddy, thor created the universe, it didnt magically appear.

Answer 27

They're just saying that to make you mad, AKA "trolling"