A Miscellany 195
God is Imaginary dot com
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There's a web site God is Imaginary - 50 simple proofs which is worth a brief visit, but is far from being a valuable resource. It seems to be a partner site to the older and better Why won't God heal amputees?.
It is has some interesting articles which can form a starting point for thought and discussion. But unfortunately the "proofs" are not proofs. They are arguments, and not all of them are even arguments against the existence of a deity. They are more a set of arguments against claims made by religions, particularly Christianity. Many of the arguments are weak, and unfortunately some of the arguments are fundamentally in error. For example: Proof #4 - Think about science makes the risible claim "it is only by assuming that God is imaginary that science can proceed."[1] In fact no prior assumptions about gods are required for science.
Or it we look at the articles on prayer, there is some reasonable discussion on the various studies that lead to a conclusion that prayer does not work. But, accepting that prayer does not work does not then justify jumping to the further conclusion that "Prayer does not work because God is completely imaginary."[2]
There is some good material buried in the site, but you have to ignore the leaps in logic. The claim that reason leads to disbelief needs far better reasoning than this site provides.
Footnotes:
- Assuming your conclusions (or begging the question) fallacy?
- Perhaps prayer does not work because:
- God exists but the wrong god is being prayed to
- God exists and does not respond to prayer
- God exists and those who pray aren't doing it right
- God exists and is waiting for the sacrifice of a few virgins
- God exists and we are not worthy
- God exists and is a deistic god
- God exists and (insert your own fanciful excuse because the failure of prayer says nothing about the reality or imaginariness of a god)