The following opinion was taken from an "argument" section of one of the

Columbus Ohio BBS systems. The system was CABB, the phone number is: (614)

771-1144. They are presently running at 300 baud.

Unfortunately a minute portion of the file was lost in my download from that

system. It makes little difference to the basis for the argument however.

The information is presented here as a matter for discussion. Not to debate

the "proof" but rather as an informative example that peer pressure is a

powerful factor among youth. Most of the people on this BBS system are

(apparently) between 15 and 23.

Your comments are welcome. Leave me E-mail if you desire.

Thanks,

Glenn Foote

Title:Prelude

From: PAPERBACK WRITER

Date: 07-22-86 Time:18;05

Merlin: But to 'have faith' in God (or anything else) is to give up your

cognitive faculty. To give up your cognitive faculty is to give up reason. To

give up reason is to give up reality. To give up reality is to succumb to the

whims of irrationality, for which you will suffer.

Bad Dog: I have the right to say what I please, and I will not be embarrassed

whether my proof is accepted or not. I already accept my proof, and whether

you do or not will not change MY mind.

Now, the very next post will be my proof of the fact that the Christian God

cannot exist. I suggest you capture it on printer or disk or buffer or

whatever, as it is 97 lines long.

--Paperback Writer

Title:God Cannot Exist.

From: PAPERBACK WRITER

Date: 07-22-86 Time:18;11

The following is absolute proof that the Christian God not only does not, but

cannot exist. However, this proof is meaningless if you do not believe that

the universe we live in is logical--that is to say, if you choose not to

believe that the universe is a logical place, where all things behave

logically and every action has a logical cause.

Part One: The Christian God

According to Christian mythology, their God has the following attributes:

1. Omnipotence (the state of being all-powerful)

2. Omniscience (the state of being all-knowing)

3. Omnipresence (the state of being everywhere at the same time)

4. Immortality (in the sense that God has always existed and always will)

It is this very data that forms the basis for my proof that God is impossible.

Without these attributes, the Christian God is not worth worshipping. The

principals of every belief must be absolutes, otherwise people would ask such

things as "HOW powerful is God?", "HOW smart is He?", "WHERE is He?", "HOW old

is He?" These questions could not possibly be answered by the priests, or

ministers, or whatever, because that would put their God into the form of a

tangible entity--something that could easily be proved or disproved. When

questions such as "HOW can God be omnipotent?" were asked, the priests

replied, "God cannot be understood by man." This added stability to the

belief that God is intangible, that God cannot be sensed, perceived, or

understood, thus cutting off the three elements of man's conscience mind:

sensation, perception, and conceptualization. This is why people believe in

God: Their own minds are crippled (or so they are told), so they choose to

allow someone else to think for them.

Part Two: The Logical Universe

The other base for my proof of the non-existence of God is this:

The universe is logical.

For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, please look up the

word "logic" in the dictionary, then re-read this post. For those of you who

do not believe the universe is logical, well, you'll only get what you

deserve.

Part Three: Exhibit "A"

A friend of mine (who happens to be a Christian) and I were discussing some of

the stranger aspects of the universe one day and, without realizing it, he

gave me my first proof that God not only does not, but cannot exist.

This is what he said: "Can God create a rock that He cannot move?"

Think about it. Either way you answer, it's something God cannot do. If He

can't create the rock, then that's something thing that He cannot do. If He

can create the rock, then that's something else He can't do (move the rock).

But the Christian God is omns logical; God's omnipotence is NOT. Are you

really willing to put all that faith into a being that's not as powerful as he

(this is the point where I quit capitalizing "He"--it makes me sick) claims to

be? How do you know just how powerful God is?

Part Four: Exhibit "B"

In a logical universe, every effect has a cause.

My sister fell off the swing. What is the cause of this? She fell off the

swing BECAUSE she lost her balance. She lost her balance BECAUSE she wasn't

paying attention to what she was doing. She wasn't paying attention to what

she was doing BECAUSE I was distracting her in the hopes of making her lose

her balance. I can take this as far back as I want to. The point is, every

effect has a cause in a logical universe.

Now, let's take a look at the fourth attribute of the Christian God, that being

the attribute of Immortality--God is an eternal being. He was not born and he

will not die. This is another strong point in Christian myth-ology: God is

the source of all things. But according to logic, every "source" must have

yet another source--a reason for existence.

My bible school teacher, when I was young, told me that "God has always been

there and always will." My initial question was "Where?", but that is not the

point of this particular argument. In a logical universe, all things must

have a cause, otherwise they cannot exist--anything without a cause is a

contradiction. God is a contradiction; God cannot exist.

Conclusion: God may exist, but only as a tiny fragment, a hollow shell of the

being you worship. Your God does not and cannot exist. I doubt any kind of

"God" exists, but if one does, then God is a lying, cheating shell of a being

that has no business asking for worship. --Paperback Writer

Downloaded from the Zenos BBS