My Zen Arcade

I can’t say much about this book, and from the interview at least, it sounds like it is primarily critical of anti-religion arguments by atheists, rather than somehow defending the existence of god, which is fine, but the fact is that the sources cited for the existence of Jesus are simply pathetic. If a man did all the things that Jesus supposedly did, then there would be much more than these few lines in other historical records. Some of the referenced works only speak of Christians worshipping Christ, not really on he man’s actual existence. Honestly, folks, there’s more reason to believe in Batman.

ZENIT - New Book Debunks Atheists’ Claims

Along with the numerous biblical manuscripts referring to Jesus, pagan writers such as the Roman historian Tacitus, Julius Africanus, Pliny the Younger and Lucian of Samosata all reference Jesus’ existence. The Jewish historical record is equally clear, with the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and the Babylonian Talmud itself confirming Jesus’ human existence.

From StreetProphets

I don’t know what I find the most tragic aspect of this case to be.  That a child suffered and died a needless death.  That the parents of the child had such a narrow and distorted faith that their actions led to that death.  That those same parents now face charges and jail time on top of the anguish they must be feeling.  That there are three children without a sister and possibly without their parents.

This is what I was talking about.  Because these people did it in the name of faith, somehow it is tragic that they may be sent to jail for bringing about the death of their daughter.  If the parents had said, instead, that fighting off the condition on her own would make her stronger (an equally crazy viewpoint), there wouldn’t be one drop of sympathy.  Or if they’d done it because they just hate doctors, or distrust medicine for some other reason. 

I do feel bad that the other children are going to be seperated from their parents, however that increases their chances of survival markedly.

Religion should not be an excuse, should not be a ‘get out of jail free’ card.

Its OK, we killed our daughter because of our religion.  Shouldn’t we get a free pass?

A day before Madeline died, according to the criminal complaint, the father wrote an e-mail with the headline, “Help our daughter needs emergency prayer!!!!.” It said his daughter was “very weak and pale at the moment with hardly any strength.”

Fuck you.

So Florida is considering a vanity plate with a christian message (’I believe’ and a cross).

Of course, many might not see this as crossing the church/state divide.  But those arguments collapse thanks to this telling line:

[Rep. Edward] Bullard, the plate’s sponsor, isn’t sure all groups should be able to express their preference. If atheists came up with an “I Don’t Believe” plate, for example, he would probably oppose it

Thank you, Case Wagenvoord

Living the Beatitudes is a pain in the ass, so it is easier for organized religion to get its knickers in a knot over evolution and same-sex marriage.

 

So we can pummel each other

OK, well, jeez…
1. there is no debate about Intelligent Design in academia BECAUSE Intelligent Design has yet to say anything useable. Now, I’m not saying that there aren’t legitimate criticisms of modern evolutionary theory, but when all you bring to the table is “Here’s a problem that hasn’t been resolved, therefor there’s something magic happening”, you aren’t invited much.
When ID can say ANYTHING in a scientific context, I’m sure talk will start.

2. Why do people shy away from God as the source of life on Earth, and choose to go with theories that seem unlikely in many ways? Because Occams Razor guides them. Look, we know physical life exists (that would be us). So the idea of another physical life-form ’seeding’ earth is MUCH more likely than a supernatural being which we have no proof of (except via bootstrap).

3. Finally, regarding the horrible PC Liberalism and it’s stranglehold over the media: Did you watch the Presidential debates? Have you noticed how religion keeps coming up time and time again? Have you noticed that the only group more disliked than atheists are Scientologists? If the PC Media Overlords are pro-atheist, then they are doing a LOUSY job at it.

(btw, if you really feel like bringing up Hitler, you’d better welcome comments about the Inquisition and Crusades and Jihadis and so forth. And you just might want to remember the internet law that states that any discussion pretty much ends the moment you compare the other side to Hitler/Nazis. Stein, as a jew, should be ashamed of himself.)

Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists - Yahoo! News

Evolution is another one of those one-sided debates. We know the concept of Intelligent Design is stifled in academic circles. An entire documentary to state the obvious? You can see my reluctance to view it.
…
It’s understood that God had nothing to do with the origins of life on
Earth. What, then, is the alternate explanation? Stein asks these
experts, and their very serious answers are priceless. One theorizes
that life began somehow on the backs of crystals. Another states
electric sparks from a lightning storm created organic matter (out of
nothing). Another declares that life was brought to Earth by aliens.
Anything but God.

please feel free to read his response…however, I think you’ll realize that it hangs by fingernails.

Again, he puts words in my mouth and ignores the context I put things into.

But, then again, while he’s right, no one has conclusively (his word, not mine) proven that religion is a mental illness, if you hear voices in your head, believe the world is run by powers unseen, and that we are all manipulated by an invisible man, then exactly whats the difference?

He’s right, in that context I don’t see a difference.

Were we having a theological debate, that would be relevant.

He’s mistake if he thinks we are.

(for the record, I stopped talking with him because I honestly believe we weren’t having anything remotely like a conversation…just two people speaking at each other in…ahem…tongues)

Well, what he’s decided, of course, is to miss the point of my schitzophrenia remark.

He’s decided that I think all religions are the same.

Which is not what I said.

My point was that they are all equally crazy.  Medicated or not, violent or not, oppressive or not.  They are all people who hear voices from dogs.  The difference in how far you must stretch believability between scientology and christianity is negligible.

(Actually, I think scientology is much more believable)

I’m not sure how you can deny that.

And, of course, he’s made the classic mistake:

Because what is atheism, if not a rather odd — and somewhat counter-intuitive — form of religion (in that it is a philosophical conjecture, a belief in a universal negative)?

He thinks that, since I don’t believe in god, then thats a religion as well since, of course, it has the word ‘god’ in it.

That is similar to saying I have a significant belief that there is not a gorilla in my closet.

Now, I am not currently looking in my closet, so I suppose there MIGHT be a gorilla in there.

But I have zero reason to believe there is.

Thats one of the tragic mistakes most theists make.  They believe that there’s a decision to be made.  Do you believe in god or not, in short.

I see that as a logical mistake.

I don’t actively think there isn’t a gorilla in my closet.  It would be INSANE to think that I had to make a choice about whether or not there’s a big old beastie in my closet.  The default position is for me to not believe in such a thing in such a place.  Assuming that my bedroom isn’t part of the gorilla migratory pattern.

No one would say that one of my characteristics is that I believe my closet to be gorilla-free.

Nor, would anyone say, as a another example, that a significant trait I hold is that I don’t believe squirrels talk, or that my mother walks through walls, or that men rise from the dead.

These are, I think we can agree, aberrations from the norm.  Without evidence to say that these aberrations are occuring, the default position is that they aren’t happening.  But given that this is the default, the significant aspect is choosing to believe in them.

The norm is to not.

Of course, you can’t have these conversations with many theists because they believe there is evidence of god.  No one has shown me any.

They only thing they ever do is show examples of things we can’t explain…yet.

But they don’t like that last word.

The list of ways in which evolution is criticized and why they are wrong

And that, my friends, is why evolution is science and Intelligent Design is not.

When ID can stand up to the same standards that evolution can, then we’ll talk.