Atheist Meme of the Day: Reasonable Plausibility vs. 100% Certainty

Scarlet letter
Today’s Atheist Meme of the Day, from my Facebook page. Pass this on; or don’t; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

I can’t be 100% certain that the earth goes around the sun. But it almost certainly does, and unless I see good evidence to the contrary, I’m assuming that it’s true. And as an atheist, I can’t be 100% certain that there is no God — but the God hypothesis isn’t plausible, and unless I see better evidence, I’m assuming God doesn’t exist. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

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Atheist Meme of the Day: Reasonable Plausibility vs. 100% Certainty
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4 thoughts on “Atheist Meme of the Day: Reasonable Plausibility vs. 100% Certainty

  1. 1

    I like to challenge them with Santa Claus: Prove to me that he doesn’t exist! And of course they can’t. But what we can say about Santa, what we know, is that he’s a fictional character, very loosely based on a real historical figure. Much like Jesus, except for the real historical figure part.

  2. 2

    I use Santa Clause for a similar purpose, when Christians tell me that I just have to accept that Jesus exists and then he’ll then come into my heart. I’ll tell them that I can’t force myself to believe something that I don’t have enough evidence to support. It’s not a choice, it’s a fact of my biology, and everyone’s biology actually.
    Something obviously convinced Christians to believe (or they were brainwashed as a child) but my standards are way higher.

  3. 3

    On the negative-reinforcement side, I’m not 100% certain that touching a hot stove will burn me. But that doesn’t mean that I want to test it!
    The same goes for hitting my hand with a hammer or diving into an empty pool. I’ve never actually tried it; does that mean that I should?
    I’m sure enough that it’s not something I have any further interest in worrying about.

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