Obviously it's not a child's fault. Do I have to explain that even though there's a fat man in a red suit at the mall, it's not really Santa Clause, either?>> ^luxury_pie:

Why don't you explain to me how this kid can actually deserve to get hit by anything?
And I would agree that it's the parents fault, of course. But how the kid should have got away is a mystery to me. @sme4r, @MarineGunrock

This was a good documentary. It's pretty funny how they throw them in the middle of Pittsburgh. They have interesting commentary about our customs too. For example, as they were converted by Christian missionaries they had no idea why we did wreaths and trees and had Santa Claus during the Christmas holiday.

He's not avoiding anything. The common direct answer to that question from an atheist would be, "I would need empirical evidence, and God would become a scientific fact. Any reasonable people, such as yourselves, would be able to determine individually that he's real, and there would be no controversy." Done. But then they'd continue with something like, "Give us one example of something you would accept as empirical evidence of God's existence." And on it would go until he'd satisfied their question completely. Then they'd counter with the, "Belief in God doesn't require direct evidence, and the lack of it doesn't disprove his existence." trope.

Why does this happen? The question wasn't posed because anybody on that panel cares what would change Mr. Silverman's mind. It was posed to show the audience that he is a determined God hater due to his own faith, and nothing to do with a lack of evidence at all. In other words, the question is a rhetorical one that says the common atheist answer of "evidence" is a dodge to avoid admitting that they're just as faithful. Silverman's tactic, instead of wasting all that time arriving nowhere, is to put all religious people watching in his shoes. The point is that if you, personally, have ample reason to believe that something is purely a myth (Zeus, Santa Claus, God), then asking what it would take for you to believe the myth is true is a nonsensical question.

Like someone earlier in the thread already pointed out, this is not his first rodeo.>> ^smooman:

"your belief that there is no god, is a belief about god that you cannot prove or disprove ... what is your proof that if there is a god that he would leave you empirical proof of his existence/what would be sufficient proof?"
"my question to you to answer your first question is would you be sure there is no santa claus, are you sure there's no zeus"
while thats a fair question to ask, you still didnt answer her question. And turning that question around and asking them what would be sufficient proof to believe in zeus. still. doesnt. answer. the. question. its just beating around the bush. its dodging. its misdirection.
kind of reminds me of the whose line is it anyway sketch where they have conversations made entirely of questions

>> ^smooman:

"your belief that there is no god, is a belief about god that you cannot prove or disprove ... what is your proof that if there is a god that he would leave you empirical proof of his existence/what would be sufficient proof?"
"my question to you to answer your first question is would you be sure there is no santa claus, are you sure there's no zeus"
while thats a fair question to ask, you still didnt answer her question. And turning that question around and asking them what would be sufficient proof to believe in zeus. still. doesnt. answer. the. question. its just beating around the bush. its dodging. its misdirection.
kind of reminds me of the whose line is it anyway sketch where they have conversations made entirely of questions


thats not dodging.
the question itself is a false equivalent.
what the man was trying to convey is the fact that these people believe in their religion.the thought of believing in zeus is silly to them,yet they believe in their religion as being true.
he is trying to illuminate the circular logic and these people just do not get it because they are people of faith but ONLY of one faith,to believe in zeus,thor or wodin is ridiculous.

"your belief that there is no god, is a belief about god that you cannot prove or disprove ... what is your proof that if there is a god that he would leave you empirical proof of his existence/what would be sufficient proof?"

"my question to you to answer your first question is would you be sure there is no santa claus, are you sure there's no zeus"

while thats a fair question to ask, you still didnt answer her question. And turning that question around and asking them what would be sufficient proof to believe in zeus. still. doesnt. answer. the. question. its just beating around the bush. its dodging. its misdirection.

kind of reminds me of the whose line is it anyway sketch where they have conversations made entirely of questions

The dude is a fucking liar. I will call him out right now.

If you make that much money in a year, then you live wherever the hell you want. Because you can afford to.

If he wanted to live on the north poll like santa claus, he would. And he would bitch about the cost of importing all his supplies, but he would live there.

If he moves to a different state, it's because he feels like a change, and can afford to move wherever he wants. There are probably a lot of other reasons he moved to Florida besides the tax situation. The weather for instance. Maybe he has an ailing parent who needs the climate. Or maybe even for the politicians that will suck up to him like he's the second coming. Whatever it was, there was some other reason.

Well, unless he's a certifiable plutomaniac. I suppose that's possible. But then he would be wearing second-hand clothes and things like that.

Atheists don't have songs because they're not an aligned group of people. Not any more than people who don't believe in Santa Clause are aligned.

Like Arnie Palmer used to say... pick a target to hit, not an obstacle to avoid.

This video has been seconded as a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof seconded with isdupe by jonny.

*dupeof=http://science.videosift.com/video/Dawkins-tells-a-kid-that-there-is-no-santa-claus

This video has been nominated as a duplicate of this video by gwiz665. If this nomination is seconded with *isdupe, the video will be killed and its votes transferred to the original.

@GeeSussFreeK "Actually, he is just pointing out that the affirmative position that God doesn't or/and can't exist takes as much of a leap as saying he does exist. In spite of evidence, a positive or negative position isn't rational."

That's not true. We have plenty of debunking so far, showing that God at least isn't in those particular places. So far we have no evidence positively for the existence of God, thus the rational conclusion is to move on with our lives as if there is no God. I also live as if there are no fairies or Santa Claus, even though I can't be philosophically certain. I am pretty certain though.

>> ^direpickle:
The statist solution would be to prevent the corps from selling to anyone but themselves.


Right. What a dream world you must live in. I bet Santa Claus is real, too.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'richky gervais, jon stewart, tds, easter, god, santa claus' to 'ricky gervais, jon stewart, tds, easter, god, santa claus' - edited by bareboards2

Is it so very important that everyone here love Hitchens and read his books and laugh at his quips? When you post a Hitchens sift or any other sift you agree to weather comments both positive and negative.

shinyblurry may or may be not out to ruffle feathers. I believe s/he is sincere. According to recent studies, supposedly atheists know more about religion then the religious. So why is atheisift 'shocked' that a Christian critiques atheist Hitchens according to Christian values? According to a Muslim's values, Hitchens is an infidel to be converted, enslaved or killed.

Any my original statement is true, whether you or I accept it or not. Evil governments have attempted to eradicate religion. Instead they were eradicated.

Viva Santa!

>> ^BoneRemake:

>> ^quantumushroom:
Hitchens: soon to be forgotten.
Jesus: less so.

Quantumushroom : Soon to be forgotten.
Chris Kringle/Santa Claus: Less so.

>> ^quantumushroom:

Hitchens: soon to be forgotten.
Jesus: less so.


Quantumushroom : Soon to be forgotten.

Chris Kringle/Santa Claus: Less so.