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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (11621)	4/17/2001 2:11:21 AM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

You have asked for proof that God exists. You have rejected all the evidence offered to you. I didn't ask for proof. I said that I do not believe because I have yet to see any credible reason to believe. Credible reason to believe does not mean proof, it means credible reason to believe. I can't prove that love exists, and I wouldn't try. I do have credible reason to believe that it exists, because it is similarly and reciprocally described by so many who love. If two or two hundred or two million people describe a given set of emotions and call it "love", I cannot call this "proof" that love exists, because there will inevitably be differences in each description, but it would be credible reason to believe that humans can generate this type of emotion in each other. If two people tell me that they love each other, I see no reason not to believe them. If a person points to empty space and tells me "this is Hermione, we love each other very much", I'm inclined to believe that the person is inventing a lover to fill a private need. It is simply easier to believe than the notion that there is an invisible person filling that space. I don't see that a billion people claiming an imaginary friend is any more credible a reason to believe in the reality of that imaginary friend than one person making the same claim. I still don't see any friend. I would certainly say that the history of religious belief is reason to believe that humans are perfectly capable of fervent belief in something that does not appear to exist. I do not see it as evidence that what does not appear to exist actually exists. If 4 billion people started believing in Santa, would that make Santa real?