A False Analogy Between Dark Matter and God

Recently, I saw a post which argued that the existence of dark matter lacks any direct physical evidence, that it is based on the affect it has. The existence of God can be supported by the effects God has without the need for any direct evidence.

This argument inrigued me because I intuitively knew it was a fallacy, but from the top of my head, I wasn’t sure exactly which type of fallacy. A quick google search helped me find the answer–False Analogy fallacy.

Before I show how the argument above is a false analogy, let me recount another example of the false analogy fallacy. People become addicted to video games and ruin their lives. Therefore playing video games will lead to addiction and ruin.

Yet we know that many people who play video games incessantly, can become professional gamers and make alot of money doing something they enjoy. Therefore it does not logically follow that just because some people become addicted to video games, that all people will become addicted and ruin their life.

Fairly straightforward no?

Going back to the Dark Matter/God analogy, the effect that indirectly proves God exists is found in people who are “hopelessly” addicted to drugs and alcohol, but, through faith in God, are able to completely give it up.

Formally speaking, the false analogy fallacy goes something like this:

All M are P.
S is M.
S is P.

Dark matter is shown to exist through indirect effects

God is shown to exist through indirect effects

Therefore God’s existence is equally substantiated as dark matter.

Dark matter’s existence cannot be directly apprehended by the senses, only through indirect and circumstantial evidence yet scientists believe dark matter exists.

Similarly, God cannot be directly apprehended by the senses/instruments, only through indirect and circumstantial evidence.

Thus, God exists.

The real problem here is found in the difference between the highly specific way science infers dark matter probably exists and and the way God can be said to exist. The example given was a person overcoming addiction.

So we may not be able to see God in anyway, nor detect God directly, but, just like dark matter, scientists have an equal amount of evidence for God when you look at how he affects people such as “hopeless” addicts. Their overcoming of addiction, we assume, could not have happened on their own efforts. If they turned to God and later overcame addiction, then we can say that indirect effect proves that God exists too.

I recommend you take a look at all the ways astrophysicists infer dark matter “exists” hypothetically and the effects used to infer similarly that God exists.