Gotcha Questions, Mental Gymnastics, & Facts Not in Evidence.

It began, as it often does these days, on Facebook. Will Watkins, social critic and punchline wellspring, did what he does best. Brian Walters, a stranger to me, replied first. Jim Frederick, South Florida's own Samuel Clemmens, weighed in with an acerbic aphorism. Brian, outing himself as a sky fairy simp, countered Jim with sophistry, and sleight-of-hand, no doubt hoping to wish natural laws, historical facts, and objective evidence into the proverbial cornfield.

Surprisingly, Walters ditched dogmatic decrees averring a creator for agnostic fence sitting when I came calling. Credit where credit is due, I planted seeds consistent with this outcome. I subscribe to the "GIGO" principal, routinely giving as good as I hope to get. I substantiate my positions with sources. High-minded musings invite commensurate replies.

Now, without further ado, the thread:

Will Watkins: I'm a "militant agnostic." When someone asks if there’s a God, I scream, “I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!!”

Brian Walters (to Will): Well, there has to have been a God at some point, or you wouldn't be here to scream “I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!!”

Jim Fredrick (to) Brian Walters: That logic isn't as airtight as some would have you believe.

Brian Walters (to) Jim Frederick: No one has me believing that. It's basic logic. At some point there was nothing, and then there was something. Something had to create said something. Would you feel better if we called it Jim?

Chris Z (to) Brian Walters: No one is suggesting, nor has suggested, that "the beginning" never occurred. Neither the Big Bang, nor life's advent eons later, validates any man-made religion. "Something had to create something" is an entirely subjective, and not at all evidenced-based, deduction, on par with one a child might reach upon seeing his first brick archway. Said child would wonder how its brick underbelly defied gravity while the mortar hardened. Lacking the schooling, worldliness, imagination, and problem-solving skills necessary to reach a plausible theory, and being a decade or more from the height of his/her cognition (research generally considers 25YO the age at which a modern adult's brain reaches its developmental apex [Be Smart, "Humans Are Smart," 2020]), said child would reflexively attribute the phenomenon to supernatural agents. The "theory" you put forth was intellectually dishonest by design, neglecting the "Who created the creator?" question. The structural integrity of professed beliefs, as well as the conviction with which they're held, are measured by whether the soul espousing them turns toward, or away, from that question.