We're at least half way there.
There's no way to know what a person is thinking when they say "God" without asking them. "He" OR "She" seems a bit cultish, I'll grant you that.
"How about this: the proposition that God exists has exactly as much empirical support as the proposition that the Flying Spaghetti Monster exists."
Not quite. Normally when people use the word "God" it is because they are referring to something that is meaningful to them.
Perhaps they see something, and look for a name for it, and the word "God" comes to them. So it seems likely that such people are operating under an assumption that if someone else does not understand what they are trying to say when they use that word, that there will be an opportunity to explain. So, something does exist, and the word "God" therefore has a referent. And that referent exists, at least in the person's own mind.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster (for news, see schema-root.org/people/religion/parody/pastafarian ism/flying_spaghetti_monster/
)
on the other hand, also exists, even if only in conceptual realms. It's clear purpose is to make a point. Since it has any attributes at all, it must exist, at least for the purposes of discussion.
I would recommend not to spend too much time belittling religions per se, so that more time may be devoted to belittling that sort of religion which sees no offense in the persecution of non-believers.
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We're at least half way there. There's no way to know what a person is thinking when they say "God" without asking them. "He" OR "She" seems a bit cultish, I'll grant you that.
Not quite. Normally when people use the word "God" it is because they are referring to something that is meaningful to them.
Perhaps they see something, and look for a name for it, and the word "God" comes to them. So it seems likely that such people are operating under an assumption that if someone else does not understand what they are trying to say when they use that word, that there will be an opportunity to explain. So, something does exist, and the word "God" therefore has a referent. And that referent exists, at least in the person's own mind.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster (for news, see schema-root.org/people/religion/parody/pastafarian ism/flying_spaghetti_monster/
)
on the other hand, also exists, even if only in conceptual realms. It's clear purpose is to make a point. Since it has any attributes at all, it must exist, at least for the purposes of discussion.
I would recommend not to spend too much time belittling religions per se, so that more time may be devoted to belittling that sort of religion which sees no offense in the persecution of non-believers.