>> Presumably the most relevant survey would occur in hell - a place Will
Provine readily says he's going if he's wrong about his atheism.>>
And Tom Moore replied:
>>I find this in very poor taste especially considering he has only a year
to live. I found this attitude distasteful when Azimov died, and I find
it equally distasteful now.>>
I find this expression of distaste a bit puzzling. Will Provine has spent the
better part of his life battling Christian religion and leading students to
reject it. From a Christian perspective, this has eternal (and eternally
damning) consequences.
Provine knows this. He's convinced he is right, of course, but he also knows
that according to the religion he rejects, if he is wrong there will be Hell
(literally) to pay.
So I don't find Gordie's observation distasteful, and I don't think Provine
would, either. Provine is one of the most up front atheists I've seen. I'm
sure Gordie's proposition doesn't bother him at all.
<<In any case, he could be exactly right. Should I now make a
statement saying "won't you be embarrased when the only survey that
matters is the one after you die in which you'll find you wasted your life?">>
This can't be done. There will be no embarrasment if we just die, as Provine
suggests. And what's this about "wasted your life?" Where did that come from?
Are you suggesting that it is a waste of life to be religious?
What evidence do you have for this assertion?
You are done in by Pascal's Wager on this point, too.
<<In other words, it's nothing but ad hominem or some other logical fallacy.>>
It was not an attack on Provine, so it is not ad hominem. Nor was there any
fallacious reasoning in Gordie's remarks.
Nope, nothing distasteful here. Allow atheists to be the adults they claim to
be, and face the existential consequences with the courage they profess.
Jim