John Loftus to Debate David Marshall Soon
David Marshall sent me a copy of his new book at my request. Here I am smiling, because it's a funny book to me. At the same time it's painful to read, so I've been drinking more than usual to deaden the pain. I'm suffering through this pain because I'm supposed to debate Marshall on Justin Brierley's Unbelievable program in a week. Bottom's up folks!
Unbelievable? Animal Suffering and God Debate - Michael Murray vs Phil Harper
LINK. I've written a bit about this problem, called "The Darwinian Problem of Evil," in chapter 9 in my book, The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails.
Did The Historical Jesus Really Exist? By Raphael Lataster
LINK. Raphael Lataster wrote the book, There was no Jesus, There is no God: A Scholarly Examination of the Scientific, Historical, and Philosophical Evidence.
The Backfire Effect: The Psychology of Why We Have a Hard Time Changing Our Minds
Once something is added to your collection of beliefs, you protect it from harm. You do this instinctively and unconsciously when confronted with attitude-inconsistent information. Just as confirmation bias shields you when you actively seek information, the backfire effect defends you when the information seeks you, when it blindsides you. Coming or going, you stick to your beliefs instead of questioning them. When someone tries to correct you, tries to dilute your misconceptions, it backfires and strengthens those misconceptions instead. Over time, the backfire effect makes you less skeptical of those things that allow you to continue seeing your beliefs and attitudes as true and proper.From the book You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself, by David McRaney. I've added this book to the list of others describing the same phenomena. LINK.
A Torturing Faith?
Dr. Hector Avalos has written a newspaper column about the role of religion in the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program.
Doubting Jesus' Resurrection: A Naturalistic Explanation of Christian Origins - Free Kindle book
This excellent book on the naturalistic origin for Christianity is available free today for Kindle. *edit, no longer free. Current price $8.99*
Author Kris D. Komarnitsky's main thesis is that the early Christian movement was spurred by cognitive dissonance reduction in the disciples after the crucifixion. Everything involved with the origin and growth of Christian beliefs can be explained via well known (and well documented) psychological phenomena.
If you would like a brief overview of the author's case, see his article on the secular web here.
William Lane Craig has responded to this book. And the author interacts with Craig's reply here.
Author Kris D. Komarnitsky's main thesis is that the early Christian movement was spurred by cognitive dissonance reduction in the disciples after the crucifixion. Everything involved with the origin and growth of Christian beliefs can be explained via well known (and well documented) psychological phenomena.
If you would like a brief overview of the author's case, see his article on the secular web here.
William Lane Craig has responded to this book. And the author interacts with Craig's reply here.
Meet brmckay: A Religious Philosophical Bullshitter Trying to Reinvent God
“I can be quite foolish at times.”
|
Quick Rebuttals to Common Christian Claims
Richard Carrier concisely rebuts six common claims apologists make.
00:28 "Spacetime had a beginning"
1:38 "The Universe is fine tuned for life"
3:43 "Life requires a creator"
5:20 "Consciousness requires a spirit/soul"
7:34 "God is needed for objective moral values"
9:07 "Jesus was resurrected"
This is part of a "Case Against Christianity" playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf113iNh-64ba5FppqyEFnuJLf3UY5tDR
The full Richard Carrier vs Lenny Esposito debate can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS2z3WCHJ5Y
The full Richard Carrier vs Lenny Esposito debate can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS2z3WCHJ5Y
Dear Christian: How Does Either a Believer or Atheist Get God to Function?
Facing Reality is Hard |
“God is weak and powerless in
the world.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1944
Time and
time again, I’ve challenged believers to tell me how to make their God (or Jesus
Christ) function. In other words, how
can one provoke God into action just like God did in the Biblical past (Old Testament,
Gospels and Acts) or the future (Revelation)? (Oddly, St. Paul seems not to be able to make God function either.)
Happy Holidays to One and to All
Happy Holidays to one and to all (except people killing in the name of god and other ne'er do well folks). Happy times to you! Be safe. Collect warm fuzzy memories. Have fun. Be good (and you know what I mean).
The John Loftus/Bill Cunningham Interview
The John W. Loftus/Bill Cunningham interview on Cunningham's National Premiere Radio Networks Show, on 700wlw
Quote of the Day, By Former Bishop John Shelby Spong
Christian churches in first world countries are facing problems in dealing with churches in third world countries, not unlike how modernized Muslims are facing problems in dealing with barbaric Muslims in the Middle East. In those churches homosexuality is "taboo" at best, and a crime requiring death at its worst. So what do first world churches say about this? Some of them are afraid to offend these churches out of fear of being patronizing and/or racist, even though this means not speaking out boldly on behalf of the LGBTI people.
When Walter Kasper, a catholic cardinal/theologian, said some patronizing things about churches in Africa he felt the heat of these accusations so much he even lied that he said such things. But what he said was caught on tape, sorry about your luck, Walt. LINK. Now that's some pressure, right? This is quite the contrast to what Spong said in response to some patronizing remarks he said in 1998. He had said of those churches: "They’ve moved out of animism into a very superstitious kind of Christianity. They’ve yet to face the intellectual revolution of Copernicus and Einstein that we’ve had to face in the developing world: that is just not on their radar screen." When asked if what he said was patronizing, Spong fired back, “If they feel patronized that’s too bad. I’m not going to cease to be a 20th-century person for fear of offending somebody in the Third World.” LINK.
When Walter Kasper, a catholic cardinal/theologian, said some patronizing things about churches in Africa he felt the heat of these accusations so much he even lied that he said such things. But what he said was caught on tape, sorry about your luck, Walt. LINK. Now that's some pressure, right? This is quite the contrast to what Spong said in response to some patronizing remarks he said in 1998. He had said of those churches: "They’ve moved out of animism into a very superstitious kind of Christianity. They’ve yet to face the intellectual revolution of Copernicus and Einstein that we’ve had to face in the developing world: that is just not on their radar screen." When asked if what he said was patronizing, Spong fired back, “If they feel patronized that’s too bad. I’m not going to cease to be a 20th-century person for fear of offending somebody in the Third World.” LINK.
An Excellent Atheist Ad Placed In the South Bend Tribune: "The Great Christian Deception"
From books to blogs to broadcasts to billboards and beyond, believers can no longer hide their heads in the sand. They are being confronted daily with the arguments and the presence of the godless. Here is an a advertisement recently placed not far from where I live, in The South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Indiana, is home to Notre Dame University, Catholic territory. Imagine one day looking through the newspaper and coming across the following Ad. What do you do? I was told by the friend of mine who placed the Ad that some parishioners in local churches have asked their priests and pastors to answer it. One of them is struggling to do so.
Books Won't Save School Children's Lives; Drones, Just Might
I have written before about my respect for Malala Yusufzai, the Pakistani girl shot in the face by the Taliban for simply wishing to have an education. I have also said that courage and vision, of which she has plenty, do not translate into infallibility, and Malala's campaign for education and against violence, which has won her a Nobel Peace Prize, is based on extremely shaky views. The sad news from her own country today only shows how misguided the pacifist mindset is when it comes to Islamist militants.
Technically Speaking We Cannot Prove or Disprove the Existence of Trolls, Fairies or Elves
Labels: Philosophy of Religion
A Christmas Debate for You
A few years ago, around the time of the release of my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination, Reasonable Doubts hosted a radio podcast debate, pre-recorded, between myself and Randal Rauser. Here is the fruits of our labour, detailing the arguments for and against the historicity of the Nativity accounts. Let me know what you think:
Church Members Hoped to Beat Gay Member Straight (More News from the Bible Belt)
"Man: Parishioners beat him in church to cure homosexuality"
SPINDALE, N.C. "Five
members of a Rutherford County church have been indicted by a grand jury for
kidnapping and beating a man because he's gay.
(To see the mug shots of those accused in the beating, click here.)
The five people belong to Word of Faith in Spindale, a church
that has been accused of enforcing extensive control over its congregation.
The Rutherford County Sheriff's Office said the grand jury
returned the indictment this week.
Matthew Fenner said Thursday he was beaten in the church last
year after a service. He says it was part of the church's way of trying to cure
him of being gay.
Word of Faith was investigated twice in the late 1990s for its
treatment of children, but was cleared of any wrongdoing. Church leaders have not yet commented on the indictments.
Spindale is about 40 miles north of Spartanburg."
In the Bible Belt, Atheists Can Not Legally Hold Public Office
Atheist
group seeks change in state constitutions
"An atheist group is challenging a line of the North and South Carolina constitutions that says people who don’t believe in God can’t hold a public office."
Hector Avalos: Christmas TV Shows are Animated Religion
This essay appears in the Ames [Iowa] Tribune. LINK.
To Celebrate Or Not To Celebrate: When Christmas Epitomized Christian Bloodshed
Here we go again: Christian Right's Annual Whining Fest (aka, "War on Christmas") is in full swing. Except that this year, the hilarity is without precedent: our traditions are being “neutered”!
A bit of context would help understand how.
The "Founding Fathers" were not creating an America where Christmas could not be publicly celebrated! Well, except for the earliest ones, who were doing precisely that. The very ones who came to the new continent for the sake of religious freedom. And not just that, but celebrating Christmas, in those days, was a sure sign that you were against them!The Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland has cut Christmas and Easter, as well as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana, from next year's school calendar. No religious holiday will be mentioned by name. NPR reported on the origin of the decision: "The path to the board's decision started about two years ago on something that was somewhat unrelated. Members of the county's Muslim community -- roughly estimated at around 10 percent of the more than 1 million population -- were seeking to have two of their religion's holy days added to the calendar of days off. They wanted Eid al-Adha the most." Instead of adopting new religious days for Muslims, however, the board approved the removal of all Christian and Jewish religious holiday references by a 7-1 vote. The students will continue to get the same religious days off, but there will be generic references to them, such as "winter break." Board members have even gone so far as to reinterpret the historical recognition of the holidays by saying that the days off are not meant to observe those religious holidays. The board's president, Phil Kauffman, explained, "The best way to accommodate the diversity of our community is to not make choices about which communities we're going to respect in our calendar and which ones we're not going to respect." But does religious neutering accommodate diversity or merely endorse secular progressivism and political correctness as America's new religion? Choices are the very actions our Bill of Rights was created to protect. In the end, however, rather than affirm Americans' freedom of religion, society has spawned their freedom from religion. NPR reported that nearly all of the 16 districts across the country that are larger than Montgomery County Public Schools have already discarded any mention of religious holidays on their calendars.That's not the America our Founding Fathers created for us.
A bit of context would help understand how.
Quote of the Day, By Hector Avalos, and a Podcast About His Book
Avalos: "Our job as biblical scholars is to undermine the value of any scripture that endorses violence."
Dr. André Gagné and Calogero A. Miceli produce the Inquisitive Minds podcast every week, discussing issues pertaining to religion, history, culture and science. Recently they have interviewed Dr. Hector Avalos about his book Fighting Words: The Origins Of Religious Violence. In this last episode (12/8)they review Avalos' last few chapters.
Dr. André Gagné and Calogero A. Miceli produce the Inquisitive Minds podcast every week, discussing issues pertaining to religion, history, culture and science. Recently they have interviewed Dr. Hector Avalos about his book Fighting Words: The Origins Of Religious Violence. In this last episode (12/8)they review Avalos' last few chapters.
Frank Zindler, in an attempt to be as "Fair and Balanced" as FOX NEWS, interviews the Rt. Rev. Madrigal Fritzlschleimer! ;-)
"The Not-So-Virgin Birth of the Christmas Story": A Response
Not only when dealing with the Virgin Birth, reality proves we have entirely no New Testament textual
evidence from the very center of Roman Palestine before circa 200 CE. What we do in fact have are early manuscripts
from Hellenistic Egypt (home of the Septuagint whose Greek theology is quoted
almost exclusively as New Testament proof texts) as the location of our earliest
manuscripts of the Gospels whose Greek Classical culture also gave birth to the
Gnostic Gospels view (theology) that the material world and all flesh is evil
or, as the New Testament puts it; sinful.
Quote of the Day, By Phil Zuckerman On the Rising Secular Demographics
Phil Zuckerman is a professor of sociology and secular studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He is the author of Living the Secular Life, Faith No More, and Society Without God. He has also edited several volumes, including Atheism and Secularity, Sex and Religion, and The Social Theory of W.E.B. Du Bois. Zuckerman writes a regular blog for Psychology Today titled “The Secular Life.” His work has also been published in academic journals, such as Sociology Compass, Sociology of Religion, Deviant Behavior, and Religion, Brain, and Behavior. In 2011, Zuckerman founded the first Secular Studies department in the nation. He earned his PhD in sociology from the University of Oregon in 1998. He currently lives in Claremont, California, with his wife, Stacy, and their three children.Here is what he said recently:
The stats are staggering when it comes to people in the West who are abandoning religion. Secularism is growing in virtually all nations for which we have data; even the Muslim world, which contains the most-religious societies on earth, has a growing share of secular people (many of whom, unfortunately, must keep their secularity well hidden because of the danger of prison or death for being open about their lack of faith).[For the full text of what Zuckerman said in an interview with Sam Harris (from which I got his bio above), see below:
Labels: "Poll"
David Marshall's Challenge About Women Under Christianity
Recently I was reminded that Marshall has challenged me to debate whether Christianity has helped or hurt women:
Resolved: That the Gospel of Jesus has done more to help more women than any other teaching in the history of Planet Earth. I challenge you, John. I issue this challenge assuming that John is sincere, and because millions of other people agree with him that Christianity has harmed women terribly. LINK.Marshall sounds just like Muslim apologists for their terrible track record against women though. I don't have to rehearse that record since Marshall agrees with me about it. But lookee here at a Muslim apologist for Women in Islam. As an outsider I see no difference between them in that both are attempting to whitewash away the facts.
Loftus also recommended three feminist books about how terrible the Bible was to me. But that's a lame response. My argument is historical, not primarily exegetical: that the Gospel of Jesus has in historical fact improved life for billions of women around the world.Notice first, Marshall thinks that providing book references to read on this issue is lame. I'm at a loss to know what to think of this. If I were to engage him in this debate I'd be quoting from them. So why not just read them? Why is a debate needed when I can provide book references where those arguments are made by people who know the issue better than I do? Second, Marshall said these references were written by feminists, as if that discredits them as not being objective about the issue. In truth, these references come from biblical scholars and/or theologians. Third, Marshall wants to focus on Jesus in the Gospels rather than the whole of biblical revelation, or so it seems clear to me. Why exclude the Old Testament or the writings of Paul?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)