If you don't believe in God, can you say why in a single sentence or phrase?

For me it's two words...Birth Defects.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Thomas on June 15, 2013 at 12:51am

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

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Permalink Reply by Sagacious Hawk on June 15, 2013 at 3:00am

I'll give you one word: Archaeology.

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Permalink Reply by Emperor Milos on December 3, 2013 at 8:53am

I'll go with this one as well.

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Permalink Reply by Stodius on June 15, 2013 at 4:01am

There simply is no evidence that a supernatural being does or ever has existed, whereas there is a multitude of incontrovertible evidence that supports evolution. The end.

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Permalink Reply by SteveInCO on December 3, 2013 at 9:35am

Not that evolution would exclude there being a god. Though it would definitely exclude the bible being literally true.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Humphrey on June 15, 2013 at 5:15am

The notion of a supernatural god is absurd.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on June 15, 2013 at 5:49am

You won't convince an English teacher that either "Birth defects" or "Archaeology" is a sentence.

If you use either by itself in a writing you want said teacher to grade and say it's a phrase, you might want to hope s/he is a postmodernist.

My sentence?

I lack faith in the existence of one or more gods.

Note that it requires no evidence.

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Permalink Reply by Sagacious Hawk on June 15, 2013 at 9:27am

"You won't convince an English teacher that either "Birth defects" or "Archaeology" is a sentence.

If you use either by itself in a writing you want said teacher to grade and say it's a phrase, you might want to hope s/he is a postmodernist."

This is completely unnecessary. I don't understand why you felt like throwing it in there and quite frankly, it sounds petty.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on June 16, 2013 at 3:23am

Sagacious, my motives are often petty.

I occasionally plumb the depths of more petty and most petty and scale the heights of less petty and least petty.

For instance, plumbing the depths:

I was in the Navy and have friends who'd been in the Marines. Because Marines are trained to be serial killers of enemy troops and because they serve as police aboard large Navy ships, I tease them with The best use of Marines is to throw them overboard, if possible near an enemy-held island.

I once worked in a political group with a woman who'd been in the Marines. When with people who knew her, I described our relationship with B... doesn't take any BS from me and I don't take any BS from her. We get along. One day I introduced her as an ex-Marine and she scolded me with I'm a former Marine! I teased her with May I introduce you as an ex-jarhead?

And scaling the heights:

During a lunch time discussion with fellow freethinkers about gender differences in sexual behavior, I visited those heights with the remark God fucked up.

When talking with xians and the conversation brings out my inner Machiavelli, I might tell them The more people who await happiness in another life, the fewer people I have to share this life's happiness with.

Sagacious, you have sufficient literary skill to put archaeology in a sentence.

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Permalink Reply by Sagacious Hawk on June 16, 2013 at 4:34am

If you were in the Navy were you also a... petty officer?

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on June 16, 2013 at 6:19am

Sagacious, not a chief petty officer, not first class, not second class, but a mere third class. The Navy didn't recognize my ability.

In 1952 I was getting started. I was an electrician and one day while testing circuits managed to shut down the gyroscope used to steer the ship. I did better firing 40 mm guns. The tub captain told me that because shells fall toward the water as they travel, to fire when the ship is rolling up. If the damn trainer about six feet away had aimed carefully, the shell I fired would have hit the target. All the same, nearby crewmen applauded and my head grew larger.

Oh, the opportunities given young men! The night before the ship left San Diego for Hawaii, I got high at the ship's party. The next day the ship sailed into a storm. Being both hung over and seasick is no fun.

National Security Agency? Are you reading this?