Are you a Good Person?

[Final-Fan]

SleepWaking:

1. You shouldn't say that "you have to believe this to be a good Catholic" unless you are absolutely sure, and I think that some of those things are the subject of real debate among "good Catholics".

2. Hitler's parents were Catholic, but he rejected Catholicism at an early age, although he stayed Christian.

3. Atheists do not necessarily believe that science has or can ever have all the answers. Recall that you agreed that atheists are very diverse and remember also that you do not speak for all atheists.

4. There is no evidence indicating that God does not exist, only evidence that the Bible is wrong, and lack of evidence that God does exist. That is an important distinction.

5. Some atheists HAVE oppressed religion, such as Soviet Russia. In this country, however, everyone has to respect the faiths of others, and atheists are perfectly capable of that.

6. The problem with miracles is simply that they are nonreproducible, and happen at random when no one has equipment to detect them -- and it is possible (presuming they exist) that they happen within natural law and are indistinguishable from happenstance!

In any case, your dismissal of them hinges on turning the definition of "miracle" into a worldwide event, which is a huge straw-man fallacy.

7. There are downsides to each worldview.

8. (1) is a terrible analogy; don't use it. (2) and (3) are much better arguments, use those instead.

9. Atheism is in fact a faith. There is no proof that God does not exist. To believe that God does not exist is a reasonable belief, but not at all the same level of certainty as believing that Santa Claus does not exist.

10. 100% correct.