I raise this topic for two reasons:
1) to point out that, for the most part, theistic arguments
are not so much arguments that god exists, but rather arguments that there is
"warrant" to believe in the existence of god (a la Plantinga and his
followers including Craig), and
2) to ponder whether apologetic theists could stomach this position, given
that, for the most part, they are all about "warrant" for their own
belief rather than actual evidence of the sort that would persuade a non-theist to
change their position.
I used the neologistical acronym "CPUE" to mean "credible,
persuasive and unique evidence" - by which, in this context, I mean evidence that is not
fallacious or ridiculous on the face of it, is persuasive to one who is not
already ideologically committed to the god conclusion and is supportive only of
the god conclusion and not equally (or more) supportive of alternative, competing
conclusions (such as naturalism, materialism and physicalism).
For the purposes of this question, I am conceding that
"passive lack of belief in a god" is close enough to "belief in the absence of a god" to be covered by considerations of
"warrant". Note that this does not accurately portray my actual
position. If anyone has huge problems with this, perhaps I could reword
the question to "Does lack of credible, persuasive and unique evidence for
god contribute towards sufficient warrant for the belief that there is no
utility in going beyond passive lack of belief in god (in either direction,
towards theism or strong(er) atheism)?" But hopefully the reader gets
the idea.
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