My dear friend, JP develops an argument about faith, pertaining to the (non)existence of god in the following way: my brother has studied civil engineering and can therefore analyse the specs of a bridge and conclude that the bridge will stand; while I have studied philosophy and can likewise look at the evidence and conclude that there is no god. Neat. Similarly, we may conclude that there is no afterlife (which almost came out as
afterlie) in the following way:
The proof that there is no afterlife is that Christopher Hitchens is not sending us columns, essays, books, perversities, aperçus and polemics from it.
~
Henry Allen 31.8.2012.
UPDATE: The man himself (not the Hitch) has outfleshed things for us in the comments to this post. Go there.
2 comments:
indeed.
in the same way I trust that his judgment is correct and the bridge will stand when we walk over it, you too should trust me when I tell you there is no god.
and no. your many years more of experience of the world do not have any weight. they only further veil your ignorance.
I do not trust my brother because of his years of 'life experience'; but for the relevant years of study. His thorough investigation of the various premises and conclusions that culminate in the bridge standing are what matter. These are the reasons you will trust a 25 year old bridge engineer over a 70 year old shopkeeper.
Trust me over a 70 year old shopkeeper. Trust me over a 25 year old bridge engineer.
That would have sounded more convincing without the reference to 'me' and instead to a learned student on the subject of God.
Some strong words though. lol.
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