Apparently we atheists don’t exist… twitter.com/michaelshermer…
— Michael Shermer (@michaelshermer) October 12, 2012
Can you spot the logical flaw in this sign?
God, as described by Chistians, Jews, and presumably Muslims, is a non-empirical phenomenon. An atheist’s non-belief does not affect the existence/non-existence of the aforementioned deity, any more than the believer’s faith creates her/his/its existence. God is not Schrödinger’s Cat. There is no box into which we can peek to collapse the probability wave.
Atheists, on the other hand, have a physical reality that is self-evident. Ever heard of/read a book by/seen a man named Richard Dawkins? How about Frank Zappa? Janeane Garafolo? Douglas Adams? Ricky Gervais? Larry King?
Just off the top of my head, I was able to name six people who are, by their own statements (or were when they died), verifiably atheist. They indisputably exist, therefore God’s opinion on the subject is either irrelevant or Pastor Sonny Manuel’s sign is just another example of empty fundamentalist bumper-sticker reasoning.
Of course, the two scenarios are not mutually exclusive.