Re "But the "necessary" existence is another "therefore..." that doesn't follow 
from the previous statement.":
 The ontological argument re-phrased. 

 Definition: God = that than which nothing greater can be conceived.
 Claim: a Being that *cannot* be conceived not to exist is greater than a Being 
that *can* be conceived not to exist.
 

 Muse over that definition and claim and they both sound appropriate to our 
idea of God, no?
 

 An atheist or agnostic is therefore saying: "Well, yes, IF God exists He would 
be a Being that cannot be conceived not to exist, but as we don't know whether 
or not He exists we're not getting anywhere." Let's unpack this sentence by our 
atheist: it comes down to this:
 "God is a Being that *cannot* be conceived not to exist, but I *can* conceive 
of Him not existing." 
 

 That is a flat contradiction.
 

 The issue boils down to what Judy calls a "category error". To imagine that 
God's existence could be doubted is to put God's existence in the same category 
as the existence of salted popcorn, unicorns or quarks. It's to imagine that if 
God does exist He just *happens* to exist (like you) and so might *happen* not 
to exist, but God's existence is super-essential. 
 


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