What is the Function of the Soul?

I remember asking my Pastor this question as a youth, “Where is the soul located? And where can you find the supporting scripture in the Bible?” The answer that I got? “That’s a great question! You know, I don’t think that I have been asked that before, but I know that I have come across the answer before in the Bible. Can I find it for you and get back to you?” He never got back to me… Read more

52 year old scientific paper retracted after creationist misrepresentation

A scientific paper published in 1955 has been retracted by its author, Dr. Homer Jacobson, when he discovered creationists were citing his work as “proof that life could not have emerged on earth without divine intervention”. Read more

Smith’s Wager, A Counter to Pascal

The following is an excerpt from a speech given by George Smith before the Society of Separationists in 1976. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. The full speech will be placed in the Toolbox section tomorrow. Read more

The Truth About Muhammad

The Missing Link Between Religion and Science

There is growing interest in a compound found in the human brain called DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) due to the fact that it could be the missing link between Science and Religion. Read more

Certified Christian

So, I had a pretty good chuckle tonight as I fired up the computer to see what was new on the site. Obviously, this site is partially funded through advertisement. One of the ads that I happened to see tonight on the site was for Together Christian, a Christian web dating service. I included a shot of the ad in this post so that you have a reference point about what I found quite humorous. (You can click it to enlarge, it is just a JPG, not an ad.) Read more

How do Theists justify their beliefs?

Is it ever possible to prove that religious are not hallucinations or delusions? Thus, if it cannot be proven, said religious experiences mean nothing, no matter how many one has.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant has demolished the notion that it is possible to prove things about the nature of reality, including claims about the existence of supernatural entities, based purely on logical arguments; only perception can give us knowledge about the world.

As there is no empirical evidence for the existence of God, it is impossible to prove the existence of God. It is something that is based on blind faith or claimed religious experiences, and as far as I know, most theists justify their belief on their emotional experiences.

Arguing God: Counter-Proselytization

There is only one type of opposition the atheists can send against the proselytizer.

The Arrogant, Spiteful, Angry, Depressed Blasphemer
God is not subject to challenge by anyone or anything, let alone a morally bankrupt, satan-worshipping Atheist.

All good Christians can stop reading now.
(Are they gone? Good. Finally the kids are in bed and us adults can talk for awhile)

There are numerous methods used to challenge theistic belief. The following are some of my favorite counter-proselytizers.

The Logician
Simple, and direct, the Logician is all substance and no style. He can counter every position in the proselytizer’s arsenal, but wins few points for creativity or charisma. The Rational Response Squad decimated Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort a few months back with a Logician counter to Ray’s argument for God’s existence. Every technical point went to Brian Sapient and his associate, Kelly, but every talking point and sound bite went to Cameron and Comfort. The Logician is a VERY strong position, but is only effective to an intellectual audience.

The Heathen Preacher
One of my favorite methods of dealing with a proselytizer, the Heathen Preacher is a completely “fair” approach in challenging religious thought. Instead of directly countering the proselytizer’s argument, you support his argument, and expand it, including the unfavorable and unflattering aspects he conveniently “forgot”.

The Heathen Preacher works because ALL denominations of the Christian Faith - even the most radically “fundamentalist” - are Salad Bar denominations. Certain passages are enunciated and expounded, while others are minimalized or reinterpreted to fit larger, contemporary translations.

Landover Baptist Church makes effective use of the Heathen Preacher approach.

Unfortunately, the Heathen Preacher’s biggest strength is also it’s largest weakness. There is no substance to the arguments presented. You are basically sitting on a branch, 200 feet in the air. sawing away at the only support for your argument. Logically speaking, the Heathen Preacher is a failing strategy. It’s relatively easy for a logical counter to demonstrate the straw-man arguments in the Heathen Preacher’s position.

The “Mysterious Ways” and “It’s Just Parable” camps offer challenges to the Heathen Preacher, at least in the eyes of the believers.

The Good and Evil Historians
The Good Historian takes an objective role and points out the striking similarities between earlier myths and Biblical myths, implying that Christianity is little more than a copycat of those original stories.

The Evil Historian points out the atrocities committed by the church, the problems with the timeline of events, alterations to the Bible, conspiracies to eliminate alternative gospels, and condemnation of historic intellectuals.

Challenging the Historians is a difficult proposition, leading to a weak technical case. Unfortunately for the Historians, History is generally deemed dull, boring, and flawed, and an intellectual audience is necessary to comprehend a lot of the evidence. Few believers are aware of any alternative history of Biblical time, and fewer still care to know.

The Literalist
The Literalist is often a combination of the Logician, the Heathen Preacher, and the Historians. He points out the obvious contradictions within the Bible as prima facie evidence of its imperfect nature. Like the Heathen Preacher, the Literalist’s arguments are strawmen. Both are operating “behind enemy lines” so to speak. Because the proselytizer is the one initiating the argument, he has the ultimate authority to further define the meaning of his theory. Because of this, the Literalist is absolutely decimated by the It’s Just Parable proselytizer.

The Scientist
Incorporating much from the Logician, the Scientist uses a proactive approach. He doesn’t wait for someone to argue that God Did It, he demonstrates how it really happened and leaves the proselytizer to play “Devil’s Advocate”. This position requires more than a little justifiable arrogance and a cool head - the Scientist must be incredibly knowledgeable because one of the easiest counters is the 3-Year-Old who asks “Why does it do that?” or “How did that happen?”. The goal of the Scientist is not to disprove God, but to demonstrate that even if God does exist, his actions are confined to such a tiny portion of existence as to be effectively null.

Richard Dawkins makes effective use of this method.

The Ad-Hominizer
The Ad-Hominizer slings dirt. That’s all he does. Like the fabled pig, you should never argue with Ad Hominizer: both of you will get dirty, but he likes it. This guy’s criticisms are often true (from some point of view) but technically ineffective. His argument is that the other guy can’t be trusted for whatever reason.

Countering an Ad-Hominizer is a tricky proposition - depending on his skill and intellect, he can disguise his arguments as legitimate, or discredit you completely. In the Courtroom of Public Opinion, a good Ad Hominizer can dominate. The average IQ of any group is inversely proportionate to the number of members of that group: the larger the group, the dumber it gets.

The downfall of Ad Hominizer is reality. Even the best abuser looks like an idiot when the target of his criticisms is proven right.

Beyond Atheism

I know that I can’t prove a negative, and atheists in general feel caught by a “democratic” need to acknowledge that since you can’t fully disprove the chance, however small, that there might be some god somewhere, you must acknowledge that the delusional claims about such entities may at least in principle have some merit. Read more

“Stop treating me like a baby” demands Jesus

Son of God Jesus Christ has lashed out at his followers for constantly “treating [Him] like a baby” and demands that all references to “the Little Lord Jesus” by Christians stop immediately.

“What’s wrong with you people,” He asked in a press statement released this week. “I’m, like, over 2000 years old already. I’m all grown up here, and you still treat me like a kid. Well, I’m NOT a kid, so you can stop it, right now.”

Jesus was especially critical of Christians who use the “little baby Jesus” motif for emotional effect.

“I’m the all-powerful Son of God who sits at the right hand of the Father - do I look like some softy sentimental baby in a manger to you?

“You people better start showing me some respect. Remember, I’m the guy who drove the thieves from the temple with a great and powerful wrath. Remember that story? That was Me. I did it before and I can do it again. So you people better stop belittling me, or there is going to be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, I can promise you that.”

God the Father refused to comment directly on whether Christians should stop referring to His Son as a soft little helpless baby with curly golden hair.

“Jesus is going through a bit of a stage right now,” says the Almighty Lord. “He needs His space, and we need to show Him we understand where He’s coming from.

“Don’t take what He says too seriously,” advised the Lord. “I’m sure He’ll calm down after His nap.

The Holy Spirit did not materialise for comment.

Thank you.

Next Page »