Imagine that you witness some interaction that goes something like the picture provided for this OP. (For most here I imagine this won’t take any imagination because they’ll have seen this precise interaction a hundred times if they’ve seen it once)
Based solely on that conversation snippet, please answer the following questions (at least to yourself):
1. Do you feel inclined to believe statement X?
2. Do you feel inclined to believe Person A that they have a good reason to believe statement X?
To tie this OP to the topic of religion, and to give it some depth…
I can certainly conceive of a situation in which Statement X might be true and Person A is entirely justified in their claims (with the only possible complaint being their seeming certainty that B would reject the reason – they may be justified in thinking it likely, but not certain)… let’s talk about some such situation…
Imagine, if you will, that some god or another really did exist and showed up to Person A in a private setting (perhaps even with Persons C, D and E present)… and demonstrated to Person A beyond any reasonable doubt that they were a god. Well, then statement X might be “There is such a thing as a god”. Person A would be justified in making the claim and they’d be justified in thinking it likely that Person B (being a reasonable person) would reject their story as sufficient reason for them to accept statement X (because to Person B all it would be would be an extraordinary story).
So… have I in this OP so far suggested an “attack” on certain individuals here and one of their common strategies and then gone on to seemingly give them an out? Well… not quite an out, perhaps… let me seal off that escape for a certain type of claim…
IF there was ONE GOD and
IF that ONE GOD had limitless power and
IF that ONE GOD wanted people to believe in it
Would that ONE GOD really present the best evidence of its existence as some personal experience that could only ever be an anecdote to any interlocutor?