8/7/2019 A Parable of Atheism

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A Parable of Atheism

Picture this youre walking down a road, briskly, as you have an appointment tokeep. You are about to turn a corner beside a rose garden when I jump out at you.Stop! I cry, There is a man with a red jacket waiting to stab you behind that corner!Alarmed, you ask for proof. Solemnly, I reach into my pocket and produce a piece ofred fabric.He caught his jacket on a rose thorn, I explain, And this came off.

All that proves is that someone with a red jacket passed this way," you say, irritatedby this delay, It does not mean someone wishes to kill me, nor that they wait behindthat corner. Now, unless you have some other proof, I will be going.But I am curiously silent.

As you brush impatiently past me, someone else jumps out at you.Stop! she cries, There is a woman with a red jacket waiting to shoot you behindthat corner!More sceptical now, you ask for proof. Solemnly, she reaches into her pocket andproduces a piece of red fabric.She caught her jacket on a rose thorn, she explains, And this came off.All that proves is that someone with a red jacket passed this way," you say, irritatedby this delay, It does not mean someone wishes to kill me, nor that they wait behind

that corner. Now, unless you have some other proof, I will be going.But she is curiously silent.

As you brush impatiently past her, someone else jumps out at you.Stop! he cries, There is a man with a red jacket waiting to punch you behind thatcorner!At this point you are angry. Impatiently, you ask for proof. Solemnly, he reaches intohis pocket and produces a piece of red fabric.He caught his jacket on a rose thorn, he explains, And this came off.All that proves is that someone with a red jacket passed this way," you say, irritatedby this delay, It does not mean someone wishes to kill me, nor that they wait behindthat corner. Now, unless you have some other proof, I will be going.But he is curiously silent.

As you brush impatiently past him, someone else jumps out at you.Furiously, you shout at them, Let me guess, someone in a red jacket is waiting forme behind that corner?But this one smiles and says, It would be foolish to believe with such little evidence. Still unsure, you say, But these three people have all told me that there is someonein some shape or form waiting to somehow harm me.A twinkle in his eye, he replies, They each made that assumption from a piece of redfabric. That could mean anything. It could mean that so meone passed this way, likeyou said. It could mean that someone left a rag there for some unknown purpose. Itcould mean that a piece of red fabric blew here in the wind. It could even mean that amagician did a magic trick involving red cloth that went w rong, leaving this here.Pacified, you ask, So is there someone behind that corner?

He shrugs.I cannot know for certain. But you have an appointment, better you keep it thanworry about a tiny possibility.And so, you turn the corner, for better, or for worse.

This story explains why Im an atheist. The first three people, representatives ofreligion, make claims based entirely of faith they see the fabric, allegorical for theworld, and create an explanation for why it is there, despite the multitude of otherreasons. The fourth, the scientist, sees it and recognises only that it is there, andseizes upon no direct answer to it. Just because fabric is there, doesnt mean that theattacker is. Similarly, just because the world exists, doesnt mean a god created it.

8/7/2019 A Parable of Atheism

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