17 Dec. 2014
From Got Milk? to Got Proof?
In this challenge launched by Atheists against Christians, the meme-creator implicitly compared milk to proof. This comparison is actually consistent with modern cultural thought. After all, the dark side supposedly has cookies, and so the light side supposedly ought to have milk. One notices immediately that the “Got Milk?” slogan has been transformed and that the lettering is still in white, exemplifying light. Elegant and simple, this meme carries with it quite some force. It also portrays the agnostic atheist’s general attitude toward theists in debate forums online. Of course, one must wonder exactly what the agnostic will accept as proof or evidence that suggests that God is real. The standards or criteria for something being evidence is a key difference between the theistic and atheistic paradigm.
In some sense, the question of proof is generally a question of deductive logic. One needs to not be able to avoid the conclusion, and agree on the premises and the logical flow of the argument. One can try all day to get enough evidence to “tip the scales,” raising probabilities toward 100% through induction. But as long as you are not at 100% probability, you do not have proof, but only evidence.
But do we really make all of our decisions based on 100% probability standards or by deduction? No, we do not. So why hold the standard so high when it comes to religion? Proof is beyond even an unreasonable doubt, let alone a reasonable doubt. What this brings to mind is a quote on cosmology attributed to Vilenkin.
It is said that an argument is what convinces reasonable men and a proof is what it takes to convince even an unreasonable man. With the proof now in place, cosmologists can no longer hide behind the possibility of a past-eternal universe. There is no escape: they have to face the problem of a cosmic beginning.
— Alexander Vilenkin, Many Worlds in One, New York: Hill and Wang, 2006, page 176.
Are agnostic atheists who demand proof actually being reasonable? Would simple evidence suffice? If so, how much, and of what quality? Where does one draw the line? Where should one draw the line?
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