In any arguement the burden of proof is on the one who makes a claim.
And both theists and atheists make claims.......theists claim God exists, atheists claim he doesn't.
If such self evidence existed the arguement would be easily defended.
What do you mean "if"? Years of propoganda has gotten people to forget the obvious. I've never witnessed a machine BUILD itself......I've never seen a book WRITE itself.......so when I learn that even complex single-celled creature is more complex than the most complex machine, and that there was and is more genetic information exchanged in my body than any library could hold, it's self-evident that life was designed.
And, in light of such self-evidence, you have to make an AIRTIGHT argument to the contrary to get any logical person to believe otherwise. And it is now almost universally accepted that this is impossible to do.
As for societies and atheism the opinion of the majority chasing comforting wishes does not make the wishes real.
This is Eurocentric thinking. The vast majority of religions in world history didn't offer comfort.
Social novelties evolved the same way biological ones do........that is, they start in simple form, and get more complex. For instance, the roll of marriage in society today is complex, but anthropologists believe that it's original roll was simply to define the parentage of children. Further conventions became attatched to marriage later, but that's not how they originated. Likewise, the most basic purpose for religion was to explain where everything came from and how it sustains itself (which is why atheism is also a religion, BTW). Conventions such as comforting concepts came later.
And all of human culture has unanimously found it self-evident that all things were created and are sustained by said creator/s.
This message has been edited by Manywaystohelppeople, 11-23-2004 07:47 AM