Cynics....

I’m generally a cynic. I don’t really believe things unless they meet high standards. I called myself a “skeptic”. Ironically, since most believers are actually more skeptical than atheists (further blog entry) I’ve always thought of myself as one. I’m too hard headed to believe something if I can poke holes in it. However, while reading David Berlinski’s excellent “The Devils Delusion” , in the first chapter he talks about a reporter and scientist engaged in a debate about atheist. “In the end, one was left  skeptical? Is there a point where skepticism becomes a like a slippery slope? I’m not skeptical of everything. When a 6,000 ton heavier-than-air-power-by-an-explosive liquid device flies through the air at 850 mph? Count me out of that one. Wait, what? This happens? How? I’m too lazy to explain propulsion, lift, and how planes fly. It’s called science. There’s a lot of evidence that if we build things the right way, we can basically ignore the laws of gravity. That’s amazing if thought about. We know this stuff based our experience and evidence. That’s called a posterioi knowledge. There’s also a priori knowledge. That’s a perfectly valid form of evidence as well.  It’s a much more complicated form of evidence so people often have a hard time explaining it. It’s an evidence based on innate knowledge. Does the thought of eating a turkey sandwich bother you? What about a human child sandwich? That surely is repulsive, but thankfully no one ever has had to teach me that. I “just know”. Evolution would teach me that eating children has its benefits-I have a constant food source that I can create, after all. So, why don’t eat them? Because it’s repulsive. Even a little sickening to write about. We “just know” it’s wrong.  That’s a good example. Lot’s of moral questions and our legal system are like that. Am I skeptical that eating baby sandwiches is wrong? No, I’m fairly confident about that one.   I’m a libertarian and generally against laws, but that is one I support. Albeit grudgingly. So where is all this going, and what am I talking about? I’m trying to inform you about the evidence that lead me to believe in the Book of Mormon. It’s a priori evidence. In my personal reading of the book of Mormon,  I “just know” it’s true. Every word, actually. Does other evidence count? Of course it does. We’ll talk more about it later.