AS> Robert had an emotional outburst, saying the cosmonautss
AS> looked in space, and said "God was not there". As if that
AS> proved anything.
An emotional outburst? ROFL! This is exceedingly funny. Let's see what context Al deceptively deleted.
First he said, and I quote:
"I imagine some automatic cameras set up in many Christmas trees on Christmas Eve would disprove Santa quite easily."My response to that superficial suggestion was to ask:
The same way Russian cosmonauts glanced around while in orbit to report back, "No gods here!" Right?Apparantly it went over Al's head.
AS> I was answering silliness with silliness, showing him how
AS> useless was his little objection.
Of course it is useless to raise any objection to Al's empty claims, if the purpose is to help educate the poor boy. He's beyond help. Nonetheless, others may have found something to appreciate in the illustration I provided of how silly his imagined "disproof" of Santa Claus would be.
Al imagined that photographic technology, by failing to detect Santa, would thereby supposedly disprove the existence of Santa outside imagination and make believe. Similarly, the Russian cosmonauts imagined that space travel technology, through putting them in the position of looking down onto the Earth from the vantage point of the heavens, would likewise disprove the existence of any number of gods who were supposed to dwell up there.
Al Schroeder has a wel deserved reputation here for double standards, in this case seeing the mote in the cosmonauts' eyes quite well, but never recognizing the beam in his own.
Oh, and my "emotional outburst" (LOL!) continued:
RC> Might as well face it, Al. Magical inventions of theOther people might see that as a calmly stated logical analysis, but if Al Schroeder determined that it was in reality some sort of emotional outburst instead, then maybe everyone else should bow to his greater judgement in the matter . . . (yawn).
RC> human mind (be they Santa Claus or whatever god you
RC> may happen to worship this week) readily exist in the
RC> minds of believers in such a way as to be completely
RC> *nonfalsifiable* by any reasonable test.
Should Al ever get around to addressing the logical objection to his initial silliness, I'll be here as always, but I won't hold my breath in anticipation.
Robert Curry
St. Petersburg, Florida
<http://home1.gte.net/curry>
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