[Vision2020] Living in Idaho

[Paul Rumelhart]

Tony wrote:

>Ralph, I remember an old English professor of mine saying about matters of 
>faith that one cannot say that they "know" there is a God or "know" there is 
>NOT a God, only that they can say that they are "inclined to believe" one 
>way or another.  Both positions it seems to me rely on a measure of faith if 
>one is uncomfortable relying on the Bible or any other work as the 
>"infallible word" of God.  Certainly there is no direct, physical evidence 
>of an overarching intelligence, just as such an entity cannot be 
>definitively disproven given our limitations and the infinite nature of the 
>universe.
>
>At times it seems that those who call themselves Atheists are operating on 
>as much faith as "believers."
>
>Are you inclined to believe there is no God, or are you absolutely certain?
>
>My best,   -T
>  
>

Good day, Tony, hope you are doing well. 

Wouldn't the more natural default position be that no invisible, 
all-powerful, unprovable entities exist?  Aren't there an infinite 
number of such entities possible?  From invisible dinosaurs smaller than 
an atom to pink invisible unicorns to ferocious mermen living in the 
depths of the ocean that control our every action?  Isn't it a 
reasonable assumption that they don't exist until you see evidence of 
that they do?

It reminds of a quote I read the other day, something along the lines 
of: "I like to look for common ground.  Among the thousands of gods that 
humans have worshiped over the millenia, Christians and athiests only 
disagree on the existence of one of them."

Note that I am not an athiest.  I just sympathize with their mindset.

Paul