From: Chris Cogan <ccogan@telepath.com>
>A while back Stephen Jones claimed that atheists had no choice
>but to believe in evolution. I gave two alternatives, one based on
>the idea that the universe might be infinite (though, obviously, it
>would only need to be very large for my argument to work). I did
>not claim that either of these alternatives was in fact true, though
>Stephen consistently treated my exposition of them as claims of
>their truth, apparently because he has not yet resolved his
>problems with reading that were pointed out to him over a year
>and a half ago by others and myself (perhaps he was unable to
>read our remarks pointing out that he had this problem!).
Indeed. One can think of any number of alternatives to evolution that an
atheist *might* believe. An atheist might believe, for example, that the
species just popped into existence from nowhere. An atheist might believe
that he is the only conscious entity to exist, that he has always existed
(but has a bad memory), and that everything he experiences is an illusion.
An atheist's beliefs don't *have* to be rational and well-informed, any more
than a theist's do.
I would say that any rational, well-informed person, whether atheist *or*
theist, has no choice but to believe in evolution.
Stephen's point is a red herring anyway (surprise, surprise!). Most atheists
become atheists as a result (in part) of accepting evolution; not
the other way around.
Richard Wein (Tich)
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