General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am not religious. Can you please categorize Atheism into a "race"? [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)Far be it from me to tell someone that they didn't have a spiritual interaction with a deity. I'd have to follow them around 24/7 to be able to make that claim, and never sleep.
Just because you or I are not present to see the 'evidence' doesn't mean that the evidence doesn't exist. For all we know, Thor could be running around smiting people with his big old hammer even as we have this exchange. Just because he's not smiting me, or you, that doesn't mean he's not smiting Sam Kabobnik down the street.
Your 'evidence' standard seems to be that if it doesn't happen to you, or it can't happen to you (perhaps those deities are picky), then it doesn't exist. That's rather like those romantic comedies where the poor schmuck insists that love does not exist because he has never experienced it. Usually within the two hour span of the film he learns otherwise, but life isn't always like that, is it?
Belief is a funny thing. In as much as you believe their is no deity, people like Ayatullah Rouhani and the Pope think the opposite and wouldn't accept any of the stuff you call 'evidence' as valid or real. They'd tell you that you lack understanding, or something. You wouldn't convince them and they probably wouldn't convince you, either. It's an impasse and not something that can be sorted out with arm wrestling or a cage match, either. At some point there just has to be a Live and Let Live accord because no minds will be changed.