Believers of all religions cannot say “I don’t know” when asked questions such as “how did the universe come into existence”. They will “choke” on it. They have an answer for everything: “God”(or it’s equivalent). Unbelievers can readily admit that they “Don’t know” without having to resort to wild guesses that they cannot prove. There is a good chance, as the past has proved, that we eventually find the answers to unexplained phenomena. Real believers often hang on to their speculations even if abundant evidence showed these to be erroneous. The Flat Earth Society (IFRS) still exists.
Believers make the wrong assumption that it is a simple choice out of two, there is a God or there isn’t one and although the burden of proof is on the claimant, they turn this upside down by challenging the opposition to “prove” that God doesn’t exist. The wrong principle here is that it is not a choice between two principles, even some atheists and agnostics fall for that presumption, but it is a choice between one position “nothing” and other possibilities, to name a few: Magic, An always existing universe, God, A cosmic intelligence, Multi-universes, Quantum physic particles and so on and on, take your pick. It is NOT a simple comparing “apples to oranges” question. It is between “nothing” (one value that we absolutely know) and “anything else” having no idea what that is. “God” is only one possibility of an infinite number of choices. The honest true answer to what that other possibility is: “I don’t know”. By claiming to be an Unbeliever, because there is no possible empirical (verifiable by observation or experience rather than pure logic, see dictionary) evidence for anything supernatural, I do NOT indicate that I believe ”there is no God” or “may be there is one” because that would mean I have chosen one specific possibility of an infinite number of choices and I haven’t. I must admit that some Atheists and most Agnostics have made that mistaken choice so I don’t use these terms for my point of view. I believe “Unbeliever” or “Non-believer” to be a better choice. It is a subtle distinction but it is an important one to make. So once you ask me “how was the universe created” I can give you the real true answer “I don’t know” and one cannot then require that I “prove” that “anything” doesn’t exist. Judging by what happened in the past with science discoveries making religious positions obsolete (the Sun goes around the Earth, for example) I would think a better answer would be “I don’t know YET” rather than “GOD did it”. So, be honest and truthful when you answer such questions rather than speculate, and say “I don’t know”. I dare you!
Believers make the wrong assumption that it is a simple choice out of two, there is a God or there isn’t one and although the burden of proof is on the claimant, they turn this upside down by challenging the opposition to “prove” that God doesn’t exist. The wrong principle here is that it is not a choice between two principles, even some atheists and agnostics fall for that presumption, but it is a choice between one position “nothing” and other possibilities, to name a few: Magic, An always existing universe, God, A cosmic intelligence, Multi-universes, Quantum physic particles and so on and on, take your pick. It is NOT a simple comparing “apples to oranges” question. It is between “nothing” (one value that we absolutely know) and “anything else” having no idea what that is. “God” is only one possibility of an infinite number of choices. The honest true answer to what that other possibility is: “I don’t know”. By claiming to be an Unbeliever, because there is no possible empirical (verifiable by observation or experience rather than pure logic, see dictionary) evidence for anything supernatural, I do NOT indicate that I believe ”there is no God” or “may be there is one” because that would mean I have chosen one specific possibility of an infinite number of choices and I haven’t. I must admit that some Atheists and most Agnostics have made that mistaken choice so I don’t use these terms for my point of view. I believe “Unbeliever” or “Non-believer” to be a better choice. It is a subtle distinction but it is an important one to make. So once you ask me “how was the universe created” I can give you the real true answer “I don’t know” and one cannot then require that I “prove” that “anything” doesn’t exist. Judging by what happened in the past with science discoveries making religious positions obsolete (the Sun goes around the Earth, for example) I would think a better answer would be “I don’t know YET” rather than “GOD did it”. So, be honest and truthful when you answer such questions rather than speculate, and say “I don’t know”. I dare you!
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