Reply #77: Speak for yourself

[Donald Ian Rankin]

I'm an atheist, but - like most atheists, I think - I'm far more certain about the non-existance of some things than others. I don't believe that surviving thylacines, WMD in Iraq, Robin Hood, an omnibenevolent supreme being, Thor, Odin and Loki or the Easter bunny exist, but I'm less confident about each than the next.

The reason why most theists - quite reasonably, in my view - regard comparisons between belief in an omnibenevolent God and belief in the Easter Bunny as a) deliberate attempts to insult and b) proof that the comparer doesn't know what they're talking about is that while neither exists, working out that the former doesn't requires quite some thought, and all sorts of intelligent people have been wrong about it, while working out the latter doesn't is easy, and failure to do so is ipse facto proof of stupidity or gullibility.

I do agree that atheism or religion isn't, or at any rate shouldn't be, a choice. It may well be possible to convince oneself that a God does or doesn't exist by force of will, but doing so is pointless - one should try and work it out, and then believe what seems most likely, not pick an outcome beforehand and then try and make oneself believe it.