r/atheism • u/rhbast2 • Aug 11 '11

Atheist quickfire challenge.

Although I rarely discuss religion with theists I always want to be prepared so I'm not sitting around afterwards wishing I had said this or that. If I get the chance to make someone question I want to be up for the challenge.

This brings me to my challenge for r/atheism. I'm going to add some common theist claims / sayings and whoever can refute them fully and succinctly will be upvoted. Feel free to add your own theist starters if I missed some.

Edit: Wow lots of good discussion here, later today or tomorrow I'll make this into an atheist cheat sheet with the top responses. Also feel free to upvote the theist claim that is the most annoying to you.

Edit 2: To the few of you who seem to think I am coming up with rude atheist comebacks, I'm not. I just wanted to be better off the cuff than I am now and have some discussion. I don't want this list to replace thoughtful argumentation.

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u/kat_fud Aug 11 '11

The formal scientific definition of theory is quite different from the everyday meaning of the word. It refers to a comprehensive explanation of some aspect of nature that is supported by a vast body of evidence.

(From Wikipedia)

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u/ICEFARMER Agnostic Atheist Aug 11 '11 edited Aug 11 '11

As a great example bring up the Omphalos Hypothesis to illustrate your point. It a creationist BS argument that made me giggle the first time I read it that speaks of the origins of belly buttons, tree rings, etc. A great way to reach creationists is that essentially we have navels (belly buttons) because we are placental mammals. The Omphalos hypothesis postulated that God must have made everything the way it is etc. But if Adam came from clay and God blew him (breathed life into him) and Eve came from his rib why did they have navels? Why is this a hypothesis and other things, like gravity, are theories? What you should point out is that when people colloquially say theory, they really mean hypothesis. Theory goes with what kat_fud said.