Don McAllister #fundie

Don McAllister #fundie de-conversion.com

If you think that there is a good chance that nothing happens when you leave this world, that is, when you die, then I would have to say that the burden of proof is on you, because I have a book here that tells me what happens, where your conclusion is based on an assumption.

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old comment by Xotan

So, Don,

You get your evidence for the next world from a book. That's dandy - as far as it goes.

What you don't address is where this book gets its information. You will say that it comes from God. But we are talking of evidence which is the subject your, yourself, raised. So where is the evidence that God wrote this book? The honest truth is this: there is no evidence for this. What it comes down to is that you believe it. There is no proof and there never can be unless God decides to make a personal appearance. In fact, there is just as much proof for the Qur'an or the Book of Mormon...

And since you are the one here making an assertion to knowledge that is not available through personal experience (in any useful or practical way) I contend that the burden of proof lies with you.

old comment by Prof. Bill Hill

Don, the desperate attempt at shifting the burden of proof in this instance as a way of expressing your frustration that others don't believe in the same things as you, is pretty much futile and completely misguided. Because, someone who thinks that nothing happens when you die, an atheist for example, doesn't care whether you or anybody else agrees with his or her views. Whereas, you do care, as you have a religious take on it, and it matters to you if people leave Christian fundamentalism or don't become Christian fundamentalists. Therefore, the burden of proof is on you, if, that is, you are so eager for others to agree with your Christian fundamentalist views.

old comment by Giveitaday

If you think that there is a good chance that nothing happens when you leave this world, that is, when you die, then I would have to say that the burden of proof is on you

And you would be wrong, because thats now how the burden of proof works. I'm not making a claim that nothing happens after death, I'm saying that there is no evidence whatsoever of any form of life after death.

because I have a book here that tells me what happens

I have a book that says that if I were a Jedi i would become one with the Force after death. I have another book that says I will go to Valhalla after death, and another that says I will be reincarnated, and another that says I will get to be a god of my very own planet after death, and another and another, and another ad infinitum. Should I also assume they are all true, or is it just your book that is true?

where your conclusion is based on an assumption.

I have made no claims other than the incontravertible fact that there is no evidence of life after death, whereas your claims is based on wishful thinking and personel desire.

old comment by Anon-e-moose

Well, considering that the concept of a 'soul' is just that - a concept, and one invented by, and believed in - people too terrified to contemplate the fact that when you experience brain death by hypoxia, thus everything that made you you became nothing (and you end up cold & rotting in a box; the final proof - and the ultimate truth* of life) - thus they invented a comforting little fairy tale called 'religion' to act as a nice psychological security blankie to maintain this self-imposed state of denial of the fact that when you're dead, you're dead (as all medical experts - especially forensic coroners etc - can prove scientifically, I'd say that we Atheists never had a 'burden' in the first place. And speaking of 'Burden of Proof'...

Where's your similarly scientific, empirical, physical evidence that a 'soul', and even an 'Afterlife' exists, Don? And before you even think of trying it:

image

Therefore a 'soul' and an 'afterlife' doesn't exist.

Enjoy your oblivion, Don.

*- There are only three certainties in life: Death, Taxes, and Hard Drive failures.

(So back up your irreplaceable data religiously, fellow Atheists. That should be the only religious thing in your lives!)

old comment by NoriMori

PART 2

I also have a book (in a manner of speaking) that tells me that there is a cursed family, of which twelve members are cursed by vengeful spirits of the Chinese Zodiac plus the Cat, who was tricked out of his spot in the Zodiac by the Rat. If any of these thirteen cursed people are weakened, or hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into the animal they are possessed by. Think it's impossible? Then the burden of proof is on you, BECAUSE I HAVE A BOOK HERE THAT TELLS ME WHAT HAPPENS.

I also have a book (in a manner of speaking) that tells me that there exist Gods of Death who kill humans using books called Death Notes. If a Death God kills a human before their time, their remaining lifespan is added to the Death God's lifespan. Don't believe it? Then the burden of proof is on you, BECAUSE I HAVE A BOOK HERE THAT TELLS ME WHAT HAPPENS.

I also have a book that tells me that zombies do in fact exist, and what their traits and abilities are. It tells me what they can and can't do, how to prepare for a zombie outbreak, how to defend my home from zombies, what to do while on the run, and how to survive in a world overrun by the undead. It describes past zombie outbreaks and such. Another book by the same person describes what a zombie war would probably look like. Don't believe in zombies? Then the burden of proof is on you, BECAUSE I HAVE A BOOK HERE THAT TELLS ME WHAT HAPPENS.

I could go on, but hopefully you get my point. You seriously think that something being written in a book makes it a fact? Have you never heard of novels? Have you no concept of fiction? Of imagination? Of humans' overwhelming tendency to fill in the gaps in their knowledge with impossible scenarios? Are all of these things foreign concepts to you?

P.S. Bonus points to anyone who can list all the books I'm referring to.

P.P.S. You should read the rest of this guy's posts on that page, they're just as funn/dy as this one, and some are even scarier.

old comment by NoriMori

PART 1

... I have a book here that tells me what happens ...

I have a book that told me that, quite possibly, I would receive a letter from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry on my eleventh birthday. But my eleventh birthday came and went, and I got no letter... Of course, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means I'm a Muggle. D'X You think Hogwarts doesn't exist? Well then the burden of proof on you, BECAUSE I HAVE A BOOK HERE THAT TELLS ME WHAT HAPPENS.

I also have a book that tells me that you can enter the world of fiction via a magical book, and that you should never, ever abandon a novel when things start going bad, because if you do then that fictional character (a LIVING, SENTIENT being) will be stuck in that situation and they will have their revenge on you for doing that to them! They will make your older brother go crazy and then drag you into the fictional world to finish the story! MUAHAHAHA!!! If you don't believe that, then the burden of proof is on you, BECAUSE I HAVE A BOOK HERE THAT TELLS ME WHAT HAPPENS. If you leave a novel at a bad part, the fictional characters will get you!

I also have a book that tells me that, over a century ago, an evil psychopathic man who lived under the Paris Opera House, and happened to be very gifted in the art of singing and ventriloquism but also impossibly ugly, fell in love with a young woman, and trained her to sing so well that she became an opera singer. Then, he went all psychopathic on her ass, killed someone with a chandelier, captured the young woman, and blackmailed her into marrying him. Think it's all bunk? Then the burden of proof is on you BECAUSE I HAVE A BOOK HERE THAT TELLS ME WHAT HAPPENS.

Don McAllister #fundie de-conversion.com

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