31in31 - May 14th - "In Response to Darren's Post"

This post is in response to Darren's post found here.

Darren,

First of all, the premise of not believing in something due to lack of credible evidence was not mine, it was yours.

Allow me to quote you from the previous post:

"I don't believe in UFO's. It has nothing to do with the Bible or that I see them as some kind of threat to my Christian perspective. I simply don't believe that we have any credible evidence that they exist. Yet."

And then you say this in the current post:

"And if that is the case, then I reject your premise that I only believe in something with credible evidence."

I have to ask you.. which one is it?

Second of all you make these claims:

“Looking at it as empirically as possible, just comparing the sheer number of believers, the historical accuracy of many events in the Bible, the number of people who claim to have had 'close encounters' with UFO's vs 'close encounters' with god. Add to this the physical evidence all around us that, even many atheists admit, points to an intelligent designer, or cohesive force holding everything together.”

A whole lot of things in here, I’ll break it down.

Historical Accuracy of Many Events in the Bible

Are you talking about the Moabite Stone? The Jehu Obelisk? The Babylonian Chronicle?
I think a well researched discussion on what exactly the accuracies are purported to be might be a good one indeed. It will also give us a chance to discuss the inaccuracies.

Sheer Numbers of Believers

Believing anything based on a “sheer number” is known as the “Ad Populum” fallacy. A belief in a claim should never be based on the number of people that approve of the claim.

Physical Evidence All Around Us [Pointing to Intelligent Design]

This would be another great discussion to have, showcasing the physical evidence of intelligent design! Of course, physical evidence would imply just that.. which should be in abundance as it is “all around us” I mean the smoking gun, right here.. all around us. Let’s discuss. It should be assumed though, although apparently unnecessarily, that the lack of science able to prove something does not and should not point to physical evidence of “intelligent design”. But I’m sure you already know that.
Also, an Atheist would never believe in what they believe if they agreed to what you are talking of here, or they can’t call themselves “Atheists”.

A Cohesive Force Holding Everything Together

This is an interesting one. I am sure you have heard of string theory, tiny little stings, vibrating around, slipping in and out of dimensions.. anyway, this theory, could be proven as early as this summer in large particle accelerators across seas, may just be the beginning to understanding everything, the force which holds everything together, or “Unification”, the theory of everything, the brain child of Einstein.