“If someone comes up with a goofy idea, he should prove it.”

The audience of an idea lends to its “goofiness”, not necessarily the idea itself. “There is a god” is only a goofy idea when announced in the presence of an individual like yourself. “There is no god” is a goofy idea when announced in the presence of a pastor or theologian. “There are pink elephants” is goofy when announced in the presence of an earthling who only ever sees gray ones. Not sure where in the universe this might not be goofy, but it very well may be pluto.

So, on a website largely dedicated to Christian values, in the context of many Christians (who, by the way, believe in God), you’ve just come up with a goofy idea, so prove it. Until you come up with powerful evidence, it’s fair to call this goofy idea nuts.

Honestly, I don’t expect you to prove anything. I’m just saying that you can’t expect us to have evidence that meets your expectations and in the same breath say you don’t need to provide evidence for yours.

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There is no pink elephant orbiting Pluto. Would you call that a fantastic claim Derek? Do I have to have faith to say there’s no pink elephants circling planets? The evidence for your invisible magic man in the sky is as improbable and has as much evidence as an orbiting pink elephant. Just because somebody dreams up some nonsense, that could never have any real evidence, and is nothing more than wishful thinking, or a lazy non-solution for some problem, is no reason to call a denial of that nonsense a fantastic claim.

If somebody comes up with a goofy idea, he should prove it. Until he comes up with powerful evidence, it’s fair to call the goofy idea nuts.

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I agree.

@Qwerty: “What REAL evidence is there for any god? There is none, not a thing. All the theists got is “I’m to dumb to figure out the natural world, so everything must be magic.” That’s only evidence for the laziness, ignorance, and gullibility of theists.”

That, my friend, can just as easily be flipped on its head and still be just as valid an “argument”:

“What REAL evidence is there for no god? There is none, not a thing. All the atheists got is “I’m too smart to bother with spiritual stuff, so everything must be natural.” That’s only evidence for the laziness, ignorance, and gullibility of atheists.”

“There is no god” is also a fantastic claim that needs fantastic evidence to be believed by a rational person. Due to you being so deeply steeped in your “faith” as it were, it may not seem like a fantastic claim to you, but it is just as difficult a task to prove as what you say I cannot prove.

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Going from plural wives to singular wives?

Letting blacks become members of their church?

Romney has just accelerated the calibration process a little and skipped the middle man (Mormon elder) a bit.

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Mitt Romney

Abortion rights
“I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard.”Boston Herald Debate, 10/29/02

“Roe v. Wade continues to work its destructive logic throughout our society This can’t continue.”Speech to the Massachusetts Citizens For Life Mother’s Day Pioneer Valley Dinner, 5/10/07

Amendment to ban gay marriage
“Mitt does not support it…As far as Mitt is concerned, it goes farther than current law, and therefore it’s unnecessary.”Romney spokesman, Boston Globe, 3/22/02

“When I was Governor, we took every conceivable step within the law to stop, block or slow down this unprecedented court decision.”Speech to National Right to Life Convention, 6/15/07

Reagan Republicanism
“I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.”Boston Herald, 10/27/94

“Ronald Reagan is … my hero. … I believe that our party’s ascendancy began with Ronald Reagan’s brand of visionary and courageous leadership.”Boston Globe, 1/19/07

Desire to serve in Vietnam
“I was not planning on signing up for the military. It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam…”Boston Herald, 5/2/94

“I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam.”Boston Globe, 6/24/07

ELECTION 2008
2002 Romney flier promotes ‘gay’ rights
Candidate reportedly handed out leaflet at Boston ‘Pride’ parade

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57786

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If I understood you correctly, you are suggesting the Magician lives in another dimension not visible to people.

That would explain why God is often called the Invisible Man.

However, your idea, while original, is not evidence for anything, and it looks like the usual wishful thinking theists like to invent.

By saying all gods are man-made, you are saying that it is impossible for a being to exist outside of your 3 dimensions of experience and scoffing at those who do. That seems equivalent to saying “If I can’t see it, it’s not there.”

The claim there is some god somewhere is a very wild claim. Just because most of the world is so gullible they believe it, does not make this claim any less wild.

A rational person requires fantastic evidence for fantastic claims. What REAL evidence is there for any god? There is none, not a thing. All the theists got is “I’m to dumb to figure out the natural world, so everything must be magic.” That’s only evidence for the laziness, ignorance, and gullibility of theists.

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No. It’s just more evidence the people who wrote the Bible were sick in the head. No sane person would say these things or even think about them.

Jer. 19:9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh during the stress of the siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives.

Ezek. 5:10 Therefore in your midst fathers will eat their children, and children will eat their fathers. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.

Lev. 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.

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You wrote: “Given that the Catholics didn’t adopt that position for 1700 years and the Southern Baptist Conference welcomed Roe when it was decided, it is a bit mysterious to me why so many Christians are so convinced that their God spoke so clearly about it.”

This is a bit historically inaccurate. For instance, the evidence is overwhelming that the Early Church condemned abortion-like practices. The Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas (c. 2nd century) both forbid procuring an abortion or committing infanticide. Tertullian writes, “For us, homicide is forbidden, it is not lawful to destroy what is in the womb…. To prevent being born is to accelerate homicide, nor does it make a difference whether you snatch away a soul which is born or destroy one being born.” The 4th century Council of Ancyra (314 A.D.) denounced women who “slay what is generated and work to destroy it with abortifacients.” Augustine likewise condemned the practice. To treat this as something the church did not address for nearly two millenia is not really accurate.

And as far as women eating babies, you might wish to read thess to clear up any misunderstandings: http://www.christian-thinktank.com/cannibal.html
http://www.tektonics.org/af/cannib.html

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