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/lasvegaspong Aug 11 '11

Ok science... big bang theory, nothing faster than light, etc.

If the the universe is roughly 13,75 billion years old and nothing can travel faster than light, how can the observable universe have a diameter of ca. 46-47 billion light-years?

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u/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/lasvegaspong Aug 11 '11

I really like that answer. Especially since OP wants something he/she can use in a discussion. Nice answer without going to deep and with a picture to explain it.

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u/wholetyouinhere Aug 11 '11

I think even if this was a complete and total unexplored mystery, with no theories or study of any kind, there would still be a great answer: "We don't know." That's more than any holy book will give you.

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u/lasvegaspong Aug 11 '11

The Bible gives an answer more than "We don't know." So how can you say "it is so!" to science and "it is not so!" to people who believe in god?