yesso - philosophy - god - Religious God
The following two sections are e-mails sent to me by Humanoid.
I don't know how much I told about why I'm atheist. I wanted to show you the proof I have that makes me a 100% atheist.
First we have to choose one of two popular definitions of atheist:
1- A person who believes there is no god at all.
2- A person who doesn't think there is a reason to believe in the
existence of a god.
I'll choose the 1st (and stronger) definition. (if 1 is true then so is 2, so proving 1 proves a lot more than proving 2 alone, which is why it's stronger).
Now the next step is to choose a definition of "god".
1- A being who is omniscient, benevolent, and omnipotent.
2- The being described in the christian bible as god.
3- The being described in the muslim koran as god.
4- The being described in the judaic torah as god.
5- An omnipotent being who deserves our worship and obedience.
There are many others. But my proof of atheism works for all 5 of these definitions of god.
Let's start with 1.
If a being is omniscient, he would know of all the horrible things that happen to innocent people and children all over the world. If he is also benevolent then he would try to stop such horrible things from happening. If he is omnipotent, he would also be capable of stopping such things from happening, and therefore such things would not happen. The stuff happens therefore god-1 does not exist.
This proof applies just as well to definitions 2, 3 and 4 since all three of those gods are claimed to be omniscient, benevolent and omnipotent. On top, there are many other ways to prove the gods of the scripture doesn't exist through statements written about that god.
Now for #5. If a being is omnipotent but doesn't stop the atrocities on the planet, then there is no reason for it to deserve our worship and obedience.
So basically, for all 5 of the definitions above, which I believe are the most popular definitions of "god" in the western world, I have proven atheism. So therefore, for the most popular definition of atheism I have proven it true.
I have also proven it true for all 10 definitions that can be made with the different combinations above. That is the way in which I define atheism whenever I call myself an atheist.
The most popular objection to my proof has to do with #1... people say that god doesn't stop the horrible things from happening because he gives us "free choice". But that's not an objection at all, because a benevolent god would still stop atrocities, and let a child have the free choice of not being tortured and burned alive.
I find it silly that such an age old proof is still argued about by philosophers.
You could think that my first definition of god is ambiguous. But that doesn't matter because you could remove omniscient, benevolent and omnipotent and replace them with more well defined words and it still works.
god-6:
- smarter than the average human (so that he knows of all the horrible
things that happen)
- nice enough to be willing to try as hard as he can to stop an innocent
child from being burned alive.
- powerful enough to be able to stop such things from happening. (like
powerful enough to kill all humans is way more than enough).
The proof for the omniscient, benevolent, omnipotent god works just as well for this much weaker and more well-defined god. But most people would hardly consider such a being a god at all, and yet this being doesn't even exist.
Let's define a type of minigod:
minigod-1: a non-human being who can see our planet and kill any human he wants to (or send them to some kind of hell).
Although I don't have proof that a minigod-1 exists, I do have a god detector:
It's been over a year since I had it, and the arrow has never moved. Therefore if such a being exists, he is hiding from me. And if he wants to hide from me, then fine, I'll just act like he doesn't exist.
If after billions of people lived, he has never shown up, there's no reason for me to expect one will show up in MY lifetime. So even if such a minigod does exist, it's not going to affect my life in any way, so there's no reason to believe in such a minigod.
So in a way I extend my self-description as an atheist from not only a proof that god doesn't exist, but also that there is absolutely no reason to believe in any minigod. (thus taking the weaker definition of atheism, but applying it to a minigod rather than a god).
But aliens do exist.... and it's only a matter of time before we find some (or they find us). They are the ones we should fear, not make-believe gods or minigods. I'm only hoping that if we do contact aliens, that they will be a peaceful kind that won't hurt us in any way.