Underseer
Contributor
There are a lot of Christian and Muslim arguments that boil down to "I have an answer and you don't, therefore my answer is correct."
So let me explain what is wrong with this category of arguments by making another argument of this type. I'll address this one to Christians because I'm too lazy to type out "and Muslims" over and over, but you can consider these same arguments as applying to both.
Now let's discuss what's wrong with the above argument.
First of all, having answers doesn't matter. What matters is not having answers, but having answers that are independently verifiable. The fact that I have an explanation for God doesn't prove the space goat. If I want to claim that the space goat created God, I have to provide evidence for the space goat, then provide evidence for the space goat creating God. The fact that I have an explanation for God is irrelevant to the question of whether or not the space goat exists and is irrelevant to the claim that the space goat created God.
Sometimes, the only honest answer is "I don't know."
A lot of Christian apologetics seem to be built around this basic argument: "I have an answer, and you don't!"
This reveals something odd about the theist mind.
I've always thought that theists are theists because they want the satisfaction of having answers without having to do any of the work in finding out if any of those answers are true. Nothing reveals that more than the frequent use of the above argument and variations on the above argument.
So let me explain what is wrong with this category of arguments by making another argument of this type. I'll address this one to Christians because I'm too lazy to type out "and Muslims" over and over, but you can consider these same arguments as applying to both.
Dear Christians,
God was farted out of the butt of a giant space goat.
There. I have an answer for why God exists, but you Christians do not have an answer for why God exists, therefore, the space goat is real. The space goat is proved by the fact that you have no answer to the question "Why does god exist?"
Do you feel that I have proved the existence of the space goat?
What?
You don't?
But I have an explanation for why God exists and you don't, therefore my explanation is true and your understanding of things must be false! You don't have an answer to the question "Why does God exist?" and I do. You have to acknowledge that this proves my explanation is true and your explanation isn't! You're just afraid to acknowledge the truth of my statement because I have an answer to the biggest question and you don't!
You just deny the space goat because you hate him!
God was farted out of the butt of a giant space goat.
There. I have an answer for why God exists, but you Christians do not have an answer for why God exists, therefore, the space goat is real. The space goat is proved by the fact that you have no answer to the question "Why does god exist?"
Do you feel that I have proved the existence of the space goat?
What?
You don't?
But I have an explanation for why God exists and you don't, therefore my explanation is true and your understanding of things must be false! You don't have an answer to the question "Why does God exist?" and I do. You have to acknowledge that this proves my explanation is true and your explanation isn't! You're just afraid to acknowledge the truth of my statement because I have an answer to the biggest question and you don't!
You just deny the space goat because you hate him!
Now let's discuss what's wrong with the above argument.
First of all, having answers doesn't matter. What matters is not having answers, but having answers that are independently verifiable. The fact that I have an explanation for God doesn't prove the space goat. If I want to claim that the space goat created God, I have to provide evidence for the space goat, then provide evidence for the space goat creating God. The fact that I have an explanation for God is irrelevant to the question of whether or not the space goat exists and is irrelevant to the claim that the space goat created God.
Sometimes, the only honest answer is "I don't know."
A lot of Christian apologetics seem to be built around this basic argument: "I have an answer, and you don't!"
This reveals something odd about the theist mind.
I've always thought that theists are theists because they want the satisfaction of having answers without having to do any of the work in finding out if any of those answers are true. Nothing reveals that more than the frequent use of the above argument and variations on the above argument.