mvscal wrote:I'm not obliged to disprove anything for which there is no evidence.
Just as those who
do believe (a group that doesn't include me) are not obliged to prove or provide evidence of a supreme being's existence, or disprove the non-existence of one. This is the nature and essence of
faith. Belief in a supreme being is no different than the belief that one has never existed, except for the fact that
what is being believed in each case is diametrically opposed to the other. Your argument appears similar to "innocent until proven guilty," where you have assigned the role of innocence to disbelief in God, and the role of guilt to belief. This works fine in law, but not in logical discourse. In law, the deck is stacked in favor of innocence. In logic, both sides should be assumed to have equal standing, especially in an argument such as this in which there is no evidence either way. Hence,
atheism is defined as
the belief that there is no God, as opposed to
acceptance of the fact that there is no God, because God's non-existence (just as his existence) cannot be proven, and therefore cannot be considered to be a fact. No one ever refers to belief in 2 + 2 being equal to 4, because it is a fact that can be proven, so if one doesn't "believe" it, that person is misinformed, an idiot, or both. Belief has nothing to do with acceptance of that which can be proven, but only with matters of faith. Therefore, atheism is no different than theism from a logical standpoint - they are both belief systems.
Agnosticism, on the other hand, is not a belief system. It is merely acceptance that there are certain things that can never be known. It is anti-faith, if you will - the refusal to believe in something that can't be proven. I've heard from many people, including those for whom I have a great deal of respect, that it is better to believe in
something than to not have
any faith. I've just never been able to get from them a sound reason why. To me, there is nothing wrong or immoral about not believing in
anything that can't be proven. What's wrong with, "I don't know, and neither do you"? Personally, I don't believe in God. I also don't believe in the non-existence of God.
If your hypothesis is that some form of "higher power" was at work in the creation of the universe then, by all means, submit some evidence to that effect.
I'll be standing by.
Just as those from whom you're awaiting an answer will be standing by for the proof of non-existence that you're not obliged to provide.