In short, the difference between belief in God and belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is this:
Belief in God is rational and supported by good reasons, and belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is irrational and not supported by any good reasons. Bobby Henderson simply begs the question (commits a logical fallacy) when he says that there are no good reasons for belief in God. Despite his claim to the contrary, Christianity is a rationally defensible religion. There are difficult questions that we must ask ourselves as Christians, but the fact that there are difficult questions is not grounds for dismissing Christianity. As believers, our pursuit of answers to our own deep-seated spiritual questions draws us further into the intellectual richness of the Christian faith.
54 comments
"Belief in God is rational and supported by good reasons"
I just peed a little.
"Bobby Henderson simply begs the question (commits a logical fallacy)"
Now, if this person makes me laugh any harder, will he be prosecuted for homicide, or will they just settle for manslaughter?
"Christianity is a rationally defensible religion."
You keep saying that. I don't think that that in of itself will suffice...
"into the intellectual richness of the Christian faith."
LOLexplode.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Oh.. wait, you were serious?
EEEEK Get out of my gene pool, please.
Belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is rational and supported by good reasons, and belief in the God is irrational and not supported by any good reasons. Christians simply beg the question (commits a logical fallacy) when they say that there are no good reasons for belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Despite their claim to the contrary, Pastafarianism is a rationally defensible religion. There are difficult questions that we must ask ourselves as Pastafarians, but the fact that there are difficult questions is not grounds for dismissing Pastafarianism. As believers, our pursuit of answers to our own deep-seated spiritual questions draws us further into the riboflavin richness of the Pastafarian faith.
Um, no. Christianity is not at all rational, nor is it defensible. I will give you kudoos for good grammar, however.
"...Bobby Henderson simply begs the question (commits a logical fallacy) ...."
"...Belief in God is rational and supported by good reasons...*
"...Christianity is a rationally defensible religion..."
Dude. Begging the question, also known as "circular logic" is when your argument just goes in a loop and never really explains itself. When the premise and conclusion are the same thing, that's begging the question.
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/begquest.html
Just because YOU say so does not make the statement true or otherwas factual.
"Belief in God is rational and supported by good reasons"
Okay List them and then I'll list the same things for believing in a "Flying Spaghetti Monster".
Also if your resolve and faith is so deep-seated then why even question it? HUH?! Ahh yes, to feed your ego.
So there are idiots out there that actually think people believe in the FSM?
Christianity is anti intellectual, nothing rich about it, except for the fraudsters who are in church leadership.
I was subjected to years and years of assurance -- from some of the best indoctrinators in the business -- that Christianity is rationally defensible. And I was taught precisely how to mount these defenses. Turns out that, except to its brain-numbed adherents, Christianity is not even remotely defensible. It's intellectual sleight of hand to amuse those too frightened to investigate for themselves.
"There are difficult questions that we must ask ourselves as Christians, but the fact that there are difficult questions is not grounds for dismissing Christianity."
Of course not. It's the fact that you can't answer those difficult questions to any degree of satisfaction that is grounds for dismissing Christianity.
Parody is lost on the ignorant, so let's be clear:
No one believes in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is a joke...a jab at your own blind faith.
"There are difficult questions that we must ask ourselves as Christians, but the fact that there are difficult questions is not grounds for dismissing Christianity."
And yet the second you must answer difficult questions about the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you just give up.
Begging the question is defined as supposing a situation in which your conclusion is correct, then stating the conclusion is correct without actually proving anything.
However, Henderson is correct to say that there is actually no evidence for God. Begging the question would be more like, "I can conceive of a perfect god. Perfection necessitates existence. Therefore a perfect god must exist."
"but the fact that there are difficult questions is not grounds for dismissing Christianity."
Yes, it is. There are questions about the nature of Christianity itself that show it is illogical, and there are no good answers.
the intellectual richness of the Christian faith.
Oh my Koresh and Zeus! This has to be the most blatant oxymorom I've ever seen. It reminds me of a radio ad I heard about 30 years ago about some flimsy 59¢ product as "The finest craftsmanship Taiwan has to offer".
The FSM has more support than God. The FSM is invisible, and affects things without being noticed, whereas God has caused floods, burned bushes and killed people.
No, no, NO! The difference between theistic religions and Pastafarianism is that theistic ones are genuine, and absurd by genuine naivety as a result of their teachings, and the lack of evidence, whereas Pastafarianism is that it is a parody religion, absurd by PARODYING theistical naivety.
In short, theistic religions are sincerely real, whereas Pastafarianism takes the piss.
The FSM is a creation of man, just as YOUR god is.
Man has no problem with creating gods, we have 6718 of them to prove it. And of course, they're all "the one true" and "the all-powerful, all-seeing" but only exist as names.
I for one will not accept a book compiled by a bunch of ancient semi-literate goat shaggers as being neither rational nor defensible, let alone make it the basis of my life or impose it upon others.
Christianity (in the West) has caused more needless hardship and suffering upon the human race that any other philosophy.
The first 51 years of my life, I believed as you.
I am 73 and my only regret is remembering those wasted decades of spiritual brainwashing.
No, no, no. The existence of the FSM has been proven scientifically.
Didn't he begin by creating mountains, trees and a 'midgit'?
Well the oldest rock ever discovered was found here...
image
(Jack Hills, Australia.)
The oldest multicellular life of any kind is this...
image
(Fossil Ediacaran.)
And look at one of the earliest known hominids compared to a modern human...
image
(Lucy.)
So the earliest known rock occurs on a mountain, the earliest known lifeform looks like a tree-leaf and the earliest known hominid was a midget.
Score 3 out of 3 for the FSM.
So, if you'd care to present your evidence for the world being flat, having four corners, being visible in its entirety from the top of a mountain, standing immovable on a firm foundation, etc. We can start looking at just how accurate your religion has been?
"Belief in God is rational and supported by good reasons, and belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is irrational and not supported by any good reasons."
Still not getting the point.
And what are these good rational reasons to believe in God ?? Good question, well, you see. God gave us his only begotten son to pay the price for our sins. We are all sinners, we have all sinned but Jebus wants to pay for that sin and the only thing he asks in return is that you humble your heart enough to accept him as your lord and personal saviour blah blah blah blah blah blah loves you blah blah blah wants to help you blah blah nice life you got here blah blah be a shame if something 'happened' to it blah blah.
WTF is this?
Just by saying over and over again that belief in god or christianity is supported by good reasons it doesn't make it true. What are the good reasons? Start with one.
Intellectual richness of the christian faith - now that's a hoot.
My Noodly Master has as much right to be believed in as your invisible magic sky daddy.
Plus, every Friday is a holiday! GROG! PIRATE WENCHES! A VAST PLATE OF NOODLES!
Oh, and then there is the fact that we're making fun of you. The part about "intellectual richness of the Christian Faith"! WOO HOOOOOO!!
The jury is still out on that one...
"Flying Spaghetti Monsterism (also known as Pastafarianism) is a “religion” created by a man named Bobby Henderson. Mr. Henderson created this satire in protest of the Kansas State Board of Education’s decision to teach intelligent design as an alternative to the theory of evolution."
That was what they said at the beginning.
"The line of reasoning for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism seems to be that
1. There is no evidence for the existence of the Judeo-Christian God.
2. There is no evidence for the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
3. Therefore, belief in the Judeo-Christian God and belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster are on equal epistemic grounds."
Later
This isn't fundie!
Someone really missed the point, didn't s/he.
Don't compare your religion to a make-believe one, stupid, unless you want your own religion to look make-believe. Compare it to a real religion, like Judaism or Islam, instead. They are all equally rational and supported by good reasons.
Here's a little secret that everyone else in the world already knows. The Flying Spaghetti Monster (pbuh) is an absolutely ridiculous invented character that wouldn't fool even a small child. In other words, he is exactly like Jesus Christ, except for the "fooling" thingy.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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