Big fan of Carl Sagan, he was like a father figure to me, I’m partially molded by him.
That said, something he used to say all the time really baffled me, still does:
“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”
He said this when talking about aliens.
However: Sagan was a famous non believer.
How does this aphorism reconcile with the existence or non existence of a god?
If “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” does that apply to a god as well?
Is there a god even though there is no evidence of him/her/it?
In: 95
Adding to what others have stated, there is a distinct difference between the existence of other life making their way through the universe just like us, and an all-seeing, all-knowing being with the power to directly influence your life at any time they see fit.
Aliens may or may not exist, but if so they would be several light-years away at the closest, which would take a staggering amount of power to broadcast their position in the universe (if they would even want to… read the *Three Body Problem*, it addresses this in more detail. Excellent series.) Additionally, they could have existed millions of years in the past but have since died out, or they could simply be a proto lifeform that evolves intelligence a million years from now, by which time we will all be dust.
God (speaking of the Christian god out of familiarity) has no such limitations, but despite making his presence known thousands of years ago chooses not only to hide, but also hide any evidence that the universe is dependent upon a creator.
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