Show Me the Evidence!

I sometimes think back to some of my past experiences debating both theists and atheists about a variety of topics, ranging from morality, religion, and anarchism. Oftentimes I'm accused of being close-minded, ignorant, uneducated, a "fool", etc. etc. The one thing many of these individuals I debate fail to do is produce ample evidence in order to convince me they are correct. Then many of them call me stupid for not simply listening to them or some authority they've cited (this occurred most often with David Marshall). Most often they would only assert something was true, or cite some authority claiming something was true, without any actual evidence that could be examined. Then when I argue that they have failed to make a proper argument and ask them again to produce evidence, they accuse me of avoiding discussion or of being a poor debater. It's insanity I tell you! Being good at debate does not determine the truth or falsity of someone's position. I admit I'm not the best debater but I'm sure not the worst and I know how to find evidence to back my position; all I ask is that my opponents do the same. And when their evidence and claim is soundly refuted I believe that it is intellectually honest for my opponent to own up to their error(s) (That is, when they even acknowledge my arguments and rebuttals! Many just ignore them. Or insult me as I noted previously. My guess as to why they do this is because they cannot answer my arguments.). Of course, and I've been told as much, this is often an unrealistic expectation. But, I just chock it up to good 'ol close-mindedness, stubbornness, and a denial of reality by my opponent when they refuse to accept that they are wrong. When undeniably proven wrong because the evidence is there, I always change my mind. In my mind, it's just the honest thing to do. Both for yourself, and your debating opponent.

I agree that arguments from authority and whatnot can be good arguments - to a point - but ultimately evidence must be cited in addition to a statement of some authority in order to determine whether or not that authority is correct. Is there evidence that contradicts said authority? If so, one must know what evidence the authority used to begin with to base his/her decision on in order to properly critique that authority.

It's all about the evidence!

Just as Cuba Gooding, Jr's character shouted in the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire,"Show Me the Money!", similarly, I constantly scream out, "Show Me the Evidence!" because that's all I ask for and I rarely get it.

Of course, in order to be receptive to evidence, one must have an open mind; something most theists don't posses - even the evidence shows this! Ironically, though, I doubt most would listen to this evidence anyway. Many theists seem to think of themselves as pinnacles of rationality.

In my mind, I think a rational, and open-minded individual should always ask for proper evidence because there are so many people out there who accept things on too little evidence (if any at all) and are sometimes good at fooling others with their pseudo-evidence (Christian apologists anyone?). There is nothing wrong with asking for evidence. If someone questions why you're asking, or verbally berates you, be weary that the person has no evidence and just doesn't know what the hell they're talking about.