God and the Unicorn: A Debate
God and the Invisible Pink Unicorn
In 1996, a unicorn that no one can see was adapted as a teaching device at Camp Quest, the first free-thought summer camp for children established in the United States, by Dr. L. Wilson. As reported years later in the July 21, 2006 Cincinnati Enquirer, “Campers must try to prove that imaginary unicorns—as a metaphor for God—don’t exist.” Richard Dawkins alluded to unicorns in this connection in his 2006 book The God Delusion, writing that “Russell’s teapot, of course, stands for an infinite number of things whose existence is conceivable and cannot be disproved. A philosophical favorite is the invisible, intangible, inaudible unicorn.”
In the essay The Dragon in my Garage from the book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle In the Dark, Carl Sagan uses the example of an invisible dragon breathing heatless fire that someone claims lives in his garage. The supposed dragon cannot be seen, heard, or sensed in any way, nor does it leave footprints. There is no reason to believe this purported dragon exists.
Here is an interesting Facebook discussion that was sent to me:
Tip of the hat to Avery Millieu for this little gem.
So tell us what you think? Do you believe in the God and the unicorn?
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IMO, All the best refutations of religion can be found in the Kevin Smith classic, Dogma.
I keep meaning to check that out David. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
I never fed anyone to a lion.
Me neither!
Many years ago while attending church, the minister asked a simple question, “What if God does not exist?”
What if we prove there is no God? Does that make the 10 Commandments less of a statement of a logical way to live your life? Does that take away from any of the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament?
If God doesn’t exist, then would the relevancy of the New Testament as a “self help” guide be any less?
We all have “faith” in something, we all believe in something. Whether it is the infalliability of a God, or the infalliability of our own rationality, and or intellectualism…its all a “faith” or a belief in something that cannot be proven.
Now, if a group of people want to run around screaming at the top of their lungs about their superiority because of their faith then that is not religion but rather hubris.
Hitler turned the belief of an aryan race into a fanatical cult, a religion too. I am sure that he could have gotten people to believe in unicorns if he so desired.
The trouble with religion has nothing to do with the concept of the existence of God, but rather with the fact that Christianity was, at one time an individual pursuit and it has now come to be a cult to some. Where once it was the Romans who entertained themsleves by feeding Christians to the lions its now the Christians who entertain themsleves by feeding non believers to the lions….
Maybe rapture did occur in May…and maybe so few were selected that no one noticed.
Absolutely perfect.
Umm a good portion of the 10 commandments is rules on having to worship god, so yes if god doesn’t exist the 10 common commandments wouldn’t really matter nor I suppose the other 900 or so that most ignore.
The teachings from the new testament, but not the old? or even the original text? A good portion of the teachings are when and who it is appropriate to kill. The “teachings” are from cave men from cave men days. You pick and choose the teachings that fit you best so why then do you need a book to pick and choose from why not modern law? Are the laws written and accepted by all civil occupants of a nation not good enough for you to pick and choose from?
So you’re saying that we all have faith in something that cannot be proven? Your example being “the infalliability of our own rationality, and or intellectualism” What? Please explain to me what you mean so I don’t make assumptions about you.
You say that people yelling about their religious superiority is hubris but this is what religions do they condemn anyone who doesn’t think like you and your group and because everyone of these groups is correct and every other one is incorrect they all have to correct each other to save each other from the beliefs they have been brought up to believe. And because religious beliefs tend to be set in concrete they are hard to move so it makes true conversation difficult to the point of almost being impossible.
Hitler didn’t start the catholic religion, you should probably look up some history. And of course he could get people to believe in unicorns, that would be no different then getting someone to believe in god. And unicorns are mentioned 9 times in the bible.
You are correct that the existence of a god isn’t really the issue to most. The issue for most is when one religions beliefs are pushed onto you or others. The issue is that your religion should not interfere with my life style or my choices. The issue is that religions get people to kill other people in it’s name. The issue is that religion controls and manipulates. The issue is that for some questioning is a fact of life, a need if you will. The issue is when you are being fed all the answers that are set in stone behind bullet proof glass that were written thousands of years ago by men no modern person has met, you no longer have to question. And questioning things around you is how things get better it’s how things change, religion has a tendency to slow change or even stop it all together for moments in time.