DangerousTalk

Recent, a Christian informed me that he has evidence that God exists. Part of me expected him to take the Bill O’Reilly route of “the tides go in and the tides go out.” But he didn’t take that route. He didn’t even go with the Argument by Design or the First Cause argument. Instead, he went with the Argument by Popularity.

Apparently there are six and a half billion people on Earth and between Christians and Muslims the vast majority believes in some kind of deity. I am not entirely sure this is the case since many Christians and Muslims may not actually believe but claim to out of fear. Plus, many Buddhists don’t believe in a deity per se and they make up a significant portion of the population. Needless to say however, the argument is that because so many people believe in a deity, doesn’t that prove that some kind of deity exists?

Um, no! Just because a belief is popular doesn’t make it true. This is just a ridiculous argument and I really don’t think there is much to say about it. It certainly doesn’t rise to the level of evidence for God’s existence. It doesn’t even rise to the level of evidence for gods’ existence. We really need to start teaching critical thinking skills in schools.

Related articles

• Hey Atheists, Look Around You! (dangeroustalk.net)
• The Clueless Argument for God’s Existence (foxholeatheism.com)
• Bill O’Reilly Responds To ‘Pinhead’ Critics By Asking ‘How’d The Moon Get There?’ (mediaite.com)
• WATCH: O’Reilly Doubles Down On God Controlling The Tides: ‘How Did The Moon Get There?’ (huffingtonpost.com)
• Colbert on O’Reilly’s God Argument [Dispatches from the Culture Wars] (scienceblogs.com)

Filed under: anti-intellectualism, Argument by Popularity, Authority, Projection, Religion