Those Tricky Atheists!

Before I begin, let me mention that I've joined the Atheist Blogroll - which should be visible on the side of the page.

Now, a post from our friend Ray - I was 'lucky' enough to stumble across it before anyone else had gotten a chance to comment, so here's my take:


Solomon posted: You missed out on 'Sore', 'Sop', 'Death', 'Swamp', and probably more I didn't find.

Anyway...what's the point here, exactly? Are you admitting to a belief in Santa? Do you deny he leaves presents for good boys and girls?

You've also misquoted the argument, which is a question directed at you.

You tell us that we can't know that God doesn't exist, and therefore he must, so since you can't know that Santa doesn't exist, you must believe in him.

I can't prove that Santa doesn't exist, but I have a lot of very compelling evidence that he doesn't, and I'd say with 99.999 repeating percent certainty that he doesn't.

Likewise, I can't prove that your God doesn't exist, but I have a lot of very compelling evidence that he doesn't, and I'd say with 99.999 repeating percent certainty that he doesn't.

In fact, if it came down to believing in one or the other, I'd be more inclined to believe in Santa, who at least gives bad children coal for their disobedience, instead of eternal flaming torture.

To construct an analogy with slightly more truth to it than yours, the atheist is like a man who is given the choice between a number of parachutes, most with someone close by claiming that their parachute is the only one that works.
The atheist may or may not look at their parachutes and notice that they're full of holes, and he may or may not be intimidated by those that claim that picking the wrong parachute will not only result in his death but his eternal torture.
Then the atheist says "Why do I need to jump out of this plane anyway?", and stays on board with all the other rational people, while the religious (which includes Christians, Ray ;)) jump out of the plane, away from all the sin and evil that the rational passengers obviously harbour.