My Dogma Ran Over My Karma

Both statements are true. An absence of evidence renders A potentially either true or false—The question cannot be decided one way or the other. The true Null Hypothesis is Agnosticism, not Atheism.

Second, this claim also assumes a Pluralistic fallacy similar to that behind Myth 1). Skepticism toward any given claim is neutral ground if, and only if, multiple alternatives are available. If a fishing buddy told me that the pond only had trout in it I could legitimately ask how he knows that. Is there a valid reason why it couldn’t host bass, perch, walleyes, or numerous other species of fish as well? For that matter, do we know that it has any fish in it? Given that multiple scenarios are possible, I could reject my buddy’s claim without committing myself to any of them and assuming a corresponding burden of proof. The existence of God is a radically different issue. In this case the question on the table is the very nature of ultimate reality itself—the totality of all that exists. Unless drugs or large amounts of alcohol are involved, no reasonable person would dispute that the natural world around us exists (although believe it or not, there are those who actually disagree). This leaves us with exactly two alternatives: The Supernatural exists (Theism), or it does not (Materialism). These are the only two rational alternatives possible, and as such one cannot reject both without creating a logical contradiction. In formal logic this is known as the Law of the Excluded Middle. Rejecting Theism necessarily commit one to Materialism—a formally defined worldview that at a bare minimum entails at least the following specific claims;

1. The physical universe either;
   
       a)   Created itself out of absolute non-being, including the physical laws that describe it, or
   
       b)   Is past-eternal.
   
   Either way, it exists in all of its contingent complexity without regard for any principle of Sufficient Reason. The laws of physics alone can explain the high (even extreme) degree of fine tuning displayed in the large-scale structure of the universe, including all of its demonstrably contingent physical and cosmological parameters and their allowance for the possibility of intelligent life.
2. Everything that exists is the result of nothing more than the laws of physics operating according to blind, purposeless chance, including the full totality of all human experience and rational intelligence.
3. Consciousness is epiphenomenal (i.e. illusory).
4. Absolute morality is either non-existent, or is what it is just because it is (take your pick).⁸
5. Free will does not exist.
6. Regardless of 2) through 5), human beings are empowered, responsible moral agents who can, and do direct their own life choices.
7. Regardless of 2) through 5), meaningful human spirituality and self-transcendence are possible.



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