In recent times, many of us have heard the atheist talking point that goes something like this:
“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
– Stephen Roberts
...and while this is not quite an accurate representation of the state of affairs concerning the God question given the massive differences between what a god can be, there is no doubt that this is a snappy quote, and as such, it is interesting to wonder whether it could be co-opted for the rhetorically purposes of Christians; after all, could we not say something like this:
I contend that we are both creationists and anti-evolutionists (in the "blind watchmaker" sense). I just believe in a few less extraordinary claims than you do (the universe from nothing, the multi-verse, abiogenesis, macro-evolution, consciousness from non-consciousness, language from non-language, etc.). When you understand why you dismiss so many other extraordinary claims, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
…and maybe also something like this:
I contend that we [theists and atheists] both believe in miracles*. I just believe in a sufficiently powerful miracle-worker, whereas you believe they just somehow magically happen. When you understand why you dismiss so many other absurd and extraordinary claims, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
*If a miracle is defined in the Humean sense of "breaking a ‘law of nature’", where a ‘law of nature’ is an observed regularity that we then come to believe in as a "law", then note that, in that sense, a universe from nothing, abiogenesis, macroevolution, consciousness from non-consciousness, and so on, could all be considered Humean-type miracles, and so the atheistic-naturalist does believe in miracles in the Humean sense.
