What do we need a deity for? (Introduction)

by broken_cynic , Wednesday, August 03, 2011, 23:06 (4839 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: "Most of the real, live atheists I know seem to think that science does support them, but perhaps that is due to the fact that they believe in a materialistic world, and science deals with the materialistic world. However, science does not claim that the world is confined to materials." -I would agree that science does not support atheism in the sense of 'proving it right.' However, it offers indirect support in the sense that it has chewed over vast amounts of territory where people believed in non-material causes and shown no need for them. So far it hasn't yet uncovered a case where a non-material cause was necessary. I would suggest that we're long past the point where science is considering far more questions brought up by earlier scientific exploration than it is questions that existed prior to general acceptance of the scientific method. (In other words, we've answered most of the pre-existing questions.) There will always be more questions (and some of the big ones will remain unanswered for a long time, if we ever find answers at all.) How long do we have to go on eliminating the need for non-material causes before you stop proposing them? Is there a point at which you concede the game or is this a matter of perpetual-motion goalposts?-> "You have rightly said that it is "common", but I would argue that it is now indeed the middle ground and this is no longer a misperception."-Your forum, your terms I suppose, but in that case I'm really confused about the tone around here as to me a gathering of folks who claim the middle ground ought to be sceptical of both sides equally and it seems 'sceptical' in the same sense that creationists are 'sceptical' ...a very loaded sense. The fact that some folks around here seem to find creationist arguments reasonable and compelling makes me leery.-> "Only a fundamentalist would claim certainty."-Do you know for certain that Santa Claus doesn't exist? Why or why not?-> "Once again, it is dangerous to talk of "knowledge". You do not "know" that the Jewish God does not exist or that, say, Joshua did not exist, or that the Jewish God did not help Joshua to settle the land of Canaan."
I do indeed know that the Jewish god (as described in the Torah) does not exist. For the very same reasons you concede that Thor and FSM (and I will presume, Santa Claus) don't exist. In your mind, what makes the story of Yahweh (and others I presume?) distinctly untouchable?