What a funny thing to create this is:
Damn, why does God always whisper his plans secretly to other people and never to me?
I wish my business would thrive if I said the exact opposite. But I can't, nor do I want to.
The Ted and Sarah case...
Non-Stamp Collector does it again!
Skeptics reject the existence of God and the authority of the Bible. But that's where the agreement ends for many of us. Evangelical Christians exploit this to their advantage. They argue that once we reject God's existence we no longer can have a firm moral compass embedded in a firm foundation. They also argue that unless we believe the testimonies to the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament we cannot come to any better explanation of the evidence because there is no better explanation of the evidence. In other words, Christians argue that the reason why skeptics cannot agree with each other once we reject God and the Bible is because there are no better explanations for morality and the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus than what they claim. In fact, they'll go on to argue that unless skeptics can agree on such things then it means any skeptical alternative explanation is accepted by us simply because once we reject God and the Bible then we will embrace any alternative explanation. But this is emphatically NOT the case at all.
Evangelicals you are wrong, listen to Spong. ;-)
I've seen evangelicals change what they believe during my lifetime and I predict they will embrace Spong's views in 30-40 more years. Evangelicals are already embracing annihilationism, so why not? Watch him below:
There are so many delusions to mention that it's hard to choose just ten, and it's hard to rank them since they're all equally delusions. But in keeping with David Letterman's series of top ten lists here they are for your enjoyment:
Do you really? Then do this:
The title of this post is supposed to get attention. I do this regularly. It creates hits. Try it sometime. But I also want to make this point. There appears to be a storm of controversy by skeptics weighing in on one side or the other about Phil Plait's talk, "Don't Be a Dick," at TAM 8 posted below. I only know that there is controversy. I have not read what people have said. I don't need to. Watch his 30 minute talk below. Then read what I have to say about it afterward.
I like Bishop John Shelby Spong. I've read a couple of his books more than a decade ago and they were eye-opening to me. He presents a superior case against Christian fundamentalism. Watch Spong in action below but take special note of how utterly stupid Lee Strobel is at the end. He merely repeats platitudes that Biblical scholars have long ago debunked. Sorry Lee but you are one ignorant man.
Politicians, pundits and conservative Christians are aghast that Muslims would want to build an Islamic Center near where nine Muslims in the name of Allah flew planes into buildings on 9/11. No one seems to question their legal right to build this center. They have that right. What is questioned is whether it should be built. The argument is that building this center would be offensive to the people who lost loved ones on that day and should not be built.
I found this beautifully written story on exchristian.net:
Really, do you? Then why is it that God's divine protection is indistinguishable from chance? And why do you act as if there is none?
Well, it requires years of studying and learning several languages, that's for sure, but you can begin with something very simple and fairly easy to do. All you need to do at minimum is to recognize something very basic but very very important about the canonized Biblical texts, and then proceed to read some ancient contextual literature you probably have not read before.
Yep, that's right, although I have not changed my mind about anything. It comes from something that mythicist Steven Carr recently wrote:
Bart Willruth, a former team member at DC (look him up), sent me an essay to publish below. Looks like he's read my book. Enjoy
This goes into the humor department, lol.
In a recent post I had written this sentence: "Joe, my goal is to change the minds of one person at a time, alone as they read my book." Then a Christian named Neal responded: "Man, your opinion of yourself is quite deluded. The idea that after Hume, Nietzsche, Comte, Marx, Engels, Popper, Russell, Sartre, Schopenhauer, Ayer, Chomski, and the list could be multiplied on and on now suddenly a second-rate atheologian like John Loftus has the arguments that will demolish Christianity once and for all is more than just hubris, it is outright self-deluded narcissism. Your estimation of your own abilities is quite exaggerated."
Does anyone know what a non-sequitur is? Neal's response is one.
You've got to admit that had someone written such a glowing review of your book you'd be popping your buttons too--to hell with humility, that's a Christian virtue ;-). See below:
So writes William Lobdell for the LA Times today, after telling us of Anne Rice's defection from her faith. He also reported on some other interesting facts about Christians:
Since human beings have evolved from the lower animals we would expect the lower animals to exhibit some of the traits we have developed more fully. There is plenty of evidence they can remember, have emotions, and feel compassion. They also know in limited ways that they are doing wrong. I see this in my cat every day. When we say no he throws a temper tantrum. Some dogs poop on the carpet when neglected to get our attention, if we're gone too long. This evidence bolsters the claim that morality evolved and it also presents theists with what I call "The Darwinian Problem of Evil." Why do they suffer so much if a perfectly good God exists?
After thinking about this topic may I present to you the top ten ways to avoid being criticized:
Starting with the most recent ones to later ones:
With Barry Lynn of Culture Shocks, on 8/16/11.
With Irreligiosophy on 8/9/11.
Think Atheist Radio Show, which aired March 27, 2011.
Minnesota Atheists, which aired March 20, 2011.
A three part interview on the
Tuesday Afternoon podcast aired between January 27th and February 10th 2011.
Oklahoma Atheist podcast aired October 26, 2010.
American Freethought aired July 2, 2010.
My Interview on "Conversations From the Pale Blue Dot", aired April 28th 2010, about my book,
The Christian Delusion.
My Interview on the Freedom From Religion program, aired April 3rd, 2010.
My Interview on the Enlightenment Show, September 9th, 2009.
10 Questions and My Answers, May 27th, 2009.
My Interview with Minnesota Atheists. Talk #0071, May 24, 2009.
The Things That Matter Most, March 1, 2009.
CFI's Point of Inquiry, January 30, 2009.
My Interview on the Freedom From Religion program, November 15, 2008.
The Infidel Guy Show, November 14th, 2008.
CFI of Indiana Freethought, September 28th, 2008.
Robert M. Price and I are interviewed together on
The Enlightenment Show of Freethought Ft. Wayne, August 17, 2008.
The Friendly Atheist, June 26, 2008.
By Infidelis Maximus, July 2, 2007.
, seem to come out of the woodwork to poo poo it whenever it's included on a list of recommended atheist books with the deservedly famous New Atheists, as if that's not saying much. While I am indeed happy to be on these lists, this poo pooing happens almost every single time. 
, p. 44.
I grabbed the title to this post from Amazon's description of the book.
. I agree with his criticisms most emphatically. 
recently argued 
. The only reason evangelicals still exist is because most of them simply do not read. Those who do read don't read works like his. The few who do read works like his don't do so to learn anything. They already have their blinders on from a few years of indoctrination in an evangelical college of their choice. In my opinion when it comes to understanding biblical scholarship the phrase "educated evangelical" is an oxymoron.
Good luck Hendy.
, (pp. 209-210).
(pp. 6-7).
(p. 145).
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