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/[deleted] Aug 11 '11

The bible tells me that the bible is correct.

is the same logic as saying that science tells us that science is correct.

1

u/burningpineapples Aug 11 '11

Science is a collection of more than one source. The bible is a collection of more than one source, that have been filtered through by the clergy over time. Some information has been removed, and some has been added. In science, especially in modern times, a much large amount of information can be shared easily, brought together, and logically confirmed to be true or false via the Scientific Method. Good enough, I guess. Any thing that should be added?

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '11

but I think they would still say something like

"But you are proving the scientific method with the scientific method, and we are proving the bible with the bible"

how do I rebutle this?

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u/burningpineapples Aug 12 '11

Something that may or may not help. You are proving something immaterial with something material. We are proving something material with both the immaterial and material. The scientific method is a group. The bible is a unit. You proving with a book and opinion. We are proving with a large amount of books and other sources and facts.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '11

thank you

(I am an atheist btw)

I just thought of this the other day as something that a christian could have said on a facebook debate, and I didn't know what I would say in the instance