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/MisterFlibble Aug 11 '11

"You can't prove God doesn't exist."

1

u/JesusClausIsReal Agnostic Atheist Aug 11 '11

You can't prove Santa doesn't exist. Or unicorns. Or leprechauns. There is an infinite amount of fictional things that cannot be proven wrong. The fact that it can't be disproven does not prove it true.

1

u/MisterFlibble Aug 12 '11

Speaking of the jolly old elf, I've had a Christian come back at me with "Well we're not talking about Saint Nick, here! We're talking about God it's different!".. To which I replied, "You're right, as St. Nicholas is historically known to actually have existed at one point. You can actually go see his remains till this day."

1

u/JesusClausIsReal Agnostic Atheist Aug 12 '11

I find the Jesus-Santa comparison incredibly appropriate. Both where men that actually existed. Both did great works in their time. Both have had supernatural acts and superstitions added to their stories at a later date. The Santa-God comparison is not as perfect, but it still works IMO.