I appreciate the answer, but I’m afraid I disagree on several points.
I will give one thing to start off with, yes the premise is dumb, that’s why it’s a humorous meme.
instead of saying “the bible isn’t proof that god exists the same way a physics book in itself isn’t proof that physics exist, but we can observe and replicate physics experiments in a way that gives us high confidence that our understanding of the laws of physics is sound”
I’d argue this is exactly what the meme says. The meme as format is a much simplified rehash of the argument, more of a reference than an actual argumentation. It conveys the frustration of having to rehash a long debunked argument in a humorous nod to those who’ve had to live them and repeat them many times. This is btw probably why you’re getting the reactions you are in this thread, the meme isn’t the argument itself. On the other hand it gets reposted because there’s always someone who gets tripped up, and the exercise of rehashing it might illuminate them or another reader.
the spider-man (respect the hyphen) comics aren’t proof of spider-man’s existence because they make zero effort to prove spider-man exists. like that’s not even a concern of the book, how bad are you at analogies… you can make the same argument instead with something like the secret.
What effort does the Bible or any book make to prove their characters’ existence? I’d argue it’s to post claims you can verify. Claims like descriptions of places and events. Spiderman comics are quite easily verified as many of the locations and events described can be investigated in person, or corroborated through photos, video, independent reports.
Or is the linchpin that the Spiderman comics don’t explicitly claim that they are true? Would your view change if someone had written and underlined “Truth!” in one of them? I’d argue it shouldn’t, just claiming something’s true doesn’t make it so, they could be mistaken or lying.
funnily enough the quran works as an argument against the bible since christians ostensibly believe in the bible but not the quran even though there are vast similarities.
I entirely agree, and this is the part of the meme the atheists are secretly smug about.
I appreciate the answer, but I’m afraid I disagree on several points.
I will give one thing to start off with, yes the premise is dumb, that’s why it’s a humorous meme.
I’d argue this is exactly what the meme says. The meme as format is a much simplified rehash of the argument, more of a reference than an actual argumentation. It conveys the frustration of having to rehash a long debunked argument in a humorous nod to those who’ve had to live them and repeat them many times. This is btw probably why you’re getting the reactions you are in this thread, the meme isn’t the argument itself. On the other hand it gets reposted because there’s always someone who gets tripped up, and the exercise of rehashing it might illuminate them or another reader.
What effort does the Bible or any book make to prove their characters’ existence? I’d argue it’s to post claims you can verify. Claims like descriptions of places and events. Spiderman comics are quite easily verified as many of the locations and events described can be investigated in person, or corroborated through photos, video, independent reports.
Or is the linchpin that the Spiderman comics don’t explicitly claim that they are true? Would your view change if someone had written and underlined “Truth!” in one of them? I’d argue it shouldn’t, just claiming something’s true doesn’t make it so, they could be mistaken or lying.
I entirely agree, and this is the part of the meme the atheists are secretly smug about.