An Exchange of Fallacies

A: You might find this interesting to know, B, but yesterday C told me that she doesn’t believe in God.
C: It’s true—I don’t. Logically, I simply don’t find any good reasons for believing in God. Besides, some pretty nasty things throughout history have been done in the name of God, so why should I believe in such a being? Do either of you care to convince me that I’m wrong?
A: Absolutely!
C: I’m game!
A: All right, let me give this a shot. The best argument is the simplest: we know that God exists because the Bible says that God exists. And since the Bible is the word of God, we know it can’t be wrong. Therefore, God exists.
C: Sorry, that’s not going to work on me. B, what do you have?
B: Something better than that. Look around the world, C, and you’ll see millions of people who believe in God. Many of them are impoverished, living in terrible circumstances. It seems that your atheism is coldhearted and it shows an utter lack of concern for these people. For some of these people, their faith is all they have, and you try to crush it with your so-called rational beliefs.
C: Well, I certainly don’t intend to upset people with my beliefs. But let me turn the tables. Why do you two believe in God in the first place?
A: For me it’s not a matter of logic and reason. I can’t prove that God exists with an argument. I simply have faith: a strong personal conviction that God does exist.
C: That’s ridiculous! What you are saying is that because you believe in God, therefore God exists—that your belief just caused God to pop into existence! I should have expected such a bad argument from you, A. You’re prone to lapses in judgment.
B: C, how else can we explain the existence of the world? The account in Genesis is the only one that makes any sense at all.
C: Why should I think that’s the only account that makes sense?
B: Well, if you think it’s wrong, just tell me what makes more sense.
C: I don’t think there is an ultimate explanation. The world has just always existed.
B: What? You’ll need to give me an argument for that.
C: Because you’re a really smart guy, B, I’m sure you can see that not everything can be given a logical explanation. Anyway, if God did exist, why would an all-loving and all-powerful being create a world with so much pointless suffering?
A: The suffering is not pointless. God assures us there’s a reason for everything.
B: True. And just take a look around at all the wonderful, beautiful things He’s created. Anyway, I don’t see how you can go on with your life believing the world has no creator. Look—either God exists, and therefore life has a meaning and purpose, or God does not exist and life is absolutely meaningless and not worth living. You had better change your view about God, C.
C: Okay, let’s take stock here. Neither of you has been able to prove that God exists, so it is pretty clear that God does not exist.
B: Let me leave you with a final thought, C. You really should believe in God because otherwise you and all other nonbelievers are destined for an afterlife of eternal purgatory!