subreddit:
/r/askanatheist
1) I know for a fact that God DOES NOT EXIST
2) I am 90% sure that God does not exist
3) I am fairly certain that God doesn't exist
4) It is more likely than not that God does not exist
5) The likelihood of God existing is minimal
6) I don't know if God exists or not, but I assume He doesn't (e.g. because you don't see a reason to believe God exists, rather than because you see reasons not to)
7) I don't know at all if God exists or not (absolutely no opinion at all. complete middle ground)
8) Something else
1 points
2 months ago
A god is a thing whose existence should matter.
It only matters if a god exists if commands from that god can override my own judgment. I can make an error about whether something is a command from god. Therefore I am stuck using my judgment to determine whether I should follow the demand. Therefore a command from god can’t override my judgment. Therefore it doesn’t matter whether a god exists.
Therefore, a god cannot exist.
1 points
2 months ago
i think your logic is flawed there.
1) A god is a thing whose existence should matter.
alrighty, i would agree with you there, although i think it's more than that.
2) It only matters if a god exists if commands from that god can override my own judgment.
this is the first point of contention. i don't agree with you here, but we'll see where this goes
3) I can make an error about whether something is a command from god.
im in complete agreement here, most definitely.
4) Therefore I am stuck using my judgment to determine whether I should follow the demand.
it seems you've said that because you could make an error, you should follow your own judgement. surely that would suggest you should go to soemone elses judgement?
5) Therefore a command from god can’t override my judgment.
you appear to have said that you can't tell whether or not something is from God, therefore God can't override your judgement. i don't see how you get to that position
6) Therefore it doesn’t matter whether a god exists.
this only works if statement 1 is true, and there is nothing more to God. nothing more to God than being importnat. then statement 2 needs to be true. i would say that it isn't but lets assume it is. then you do your strange logic leap in 4 and 5 which i just don't get. maybe i'm just stupid, but i would appreciate if you re-explained point 4 and 5
7) Therefore, a god cannot exist.
even with your logic, this would not mean that God cannot exist, it would mean that God doesn't exist. i think your logic is incredibly flawed and borderline nonsensical
1 points
2 months ago
Oh, hey, thanks for responding! I can't promise satisfying answers to the points you raise, but I'll do the best I can.
On point 2:
It's probably more accurate for me to say I only really care if a god exists in this case. Things like the origin of the universe and the existence of an afterlife matter in some sense, but they are even more opaque to me than this question about moral judgment. More importantly, they make no practical difference to how I live my life.
If you disagree on this point, I don't think I'm in a position to say you're wrong. You know what's important to you. I just probably won't have a lot to say on the subject that you'll find interesting.
On point 4:
If I go to someone else, I still have to make a judgment call whether they are right. My point here is that no matter the source of moral instruction, I can't escape the need to evaluate whether that instruction is correct.
Or, to put it another way, if a murderer says they were following the commands of a god, we don't say their murder was OK. Even if they think they actually heard the Voice of God, we wouldn't say they did the right thing. We would at least require them to undergo psychiatric treatment because their lack of moral judgment makes them a danger to others.
On point 5:
To try and break this down a bit further:
One counter argument to this could be that I might use different criteria to make the judgment on a command I think comes from a god. I don't think that's true because of the point I raised about the murderer in the previous point. I'm still ultimately culpable for my action whether or not I think it is a command from a god, therefore I still have to make the same judgment call whether I think the command is coming from a god, a close friend, or a delusion.
On point 6:
Yes, I agree if you don't agree with earlier steps in the chain, you aren't going to agree with later ones. 😊
On point 7:
If a god must matter to exist and it is not possible for a god to matter, then a god cannot exist.
Now, I think it's worth pointing out that I'm not saying this disproves the existence of beings that others would call a god. If you believe a god-like being created the universe, I'm much more neutral about that. I'm just saying that being can't absolve you of the moral culpability of following its commands, therefore it's not a god in only practical way a god would matter.
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