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"But there is no proof that the universe "just happened" either. Like I said, there's nothing concrete either way." fx
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This may be a persuasive, perhaps even winning argument, in a debate between someone advancing a religious belief, against someone advancing an atheist belief.
I don't (sear doesn't) have that burden.
I have no thing to prove, because I make no concrete assertion.
It is the religionists that affirmatively assert that the basis of the cosmos is the divine.
And once that assertion is made, it becomes the burden of those that assert it to prove it.
And as I've already indicated, it's been literally millennia. And still, not one single proof, not one shred of evidence.
If they state it as their belief; I have no problem with it.
When they state it as fact, I recognize the license their assertion grants me, to defend the truth.
- We ought not overlook Ockham's razor here.
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Ockham's razor also Occam's razor (òk´emz rA´zer) noun
A rule in science and philosophy stating that entities should not be multiplied needlessly. This rule is interpreted to mean that the simplest of two or more competing theories is preferable and that an explanation for unknown phenomena should first be attempted in terms of what is already known. Also called law of parsimony.
[After William of Ockham.]
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.
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PS / btw:
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"You seem awfully passionate about proving the "other" side wrong." myt
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I understand the nature of this friction.
To the believer, the "antagonism" of the disbeliever can seem destructive, perhaps paranoid.
But it is hardly that simple. The believer might pretend their religion is just a harmless exercise, a comfortable excuse to dress up, & go to meetin'.
Unfortunately, that's absolute fiction.
So many of the destructive inflictions imposed upon Americans by Americans, trace their roots directly or indirectly to religion in general, and perhaps Christianity in particular.
Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the unrelenting clamor to further infringe or usurp a woman's right of choice.
Also obvious, the battle against same sex marriage; essentially a disregard for equality under law.
Both of these hotly contested efforts to impose religious morals upon unwilling others have the sticky, tainted fingerprints of the Religious right all over them.
The badly fragmented coalition of the rational battle these superstitious looneys, not out of sport; but out of absolute necessity.
The Religious right poses a greater threat to the Liberty of U.S. citizens than Usama bin Laden does.