What Kind of Statement Is: "There's probably no God?"

[trotsky]

13. Similarly:

"Leprechauns don't exist."

"Unicorns don't exist."

"Santa Claus doesn't exist."

Now is it possible that (depending on definitions, of course), you could find something somewhere in the universe that proves any of the above statements false? Absolutely. A horse with a mutant gene causing a horn to grow straight out of its head could be called a unicorn, couldn't it?

I think that's where a lot of people get tripped up - they don't bat an eye if someone says any of those, but all of a sudden when you say "gods don't exist" then it's OMG THAT'S A STATEMENT OF FAITH JUST AS MUCH AS SAYING GOD EXISTS THAT'S WHY I'M SMARTER AND MORE TOLERANT AND AGNOSTIC AND KEEP MY MIND OPEN.

No, sometimes saying "X doesn't exist" is shorthand for "I have seen absolutely no evidence that X exists, and until such evidence is presented, I'm comfortable saying it doesn't."

But try to get some people to understand that nuance - it just doesn't work.