Quote Originally Posted by leo9 View Post
Can you prove that believers in the Flying Spaghetti Monster are wrong? I think not!
Precisely! Believers in TFSM have just as much right to their beliefs as anyone else, regardless of how silly they may seem to us. But wouldn't we be surprised if it popped up tomorrow?

That being said, respecting someone's beliefs does not, in and of itself, imply a respect of the practice of those beliefs. Especially when those beliefs are used to justify harming other people. Nearly all religions have, at one point or another, used that religion to justify the torture and murder of non-believers (Christianity being probably the most notorious.)

So believing in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is fine, just don't go around sprinkling everyone you meet with spaghetti sauce!

Bertrand Russell was confronted with the argument that since he couldn't prove God doesn't exist, he must accept that he does. Russell said "I assert that orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter is a small purple teapot. Since you can't prove that teapot doesn't exist, you must by your logic accept that it does."
I agree with him. That was faulty logic. The absence of 'A' does not prove the presence of 'B'. And the absence of 'A' does not prove the non-existence of 'A', either. Or the non-existence of 'B'.