Here's an insightful discussion with a young would-be apologist named Cameron Bertuzzi. It took place after I posted QualiaSoup's fantastic video on "Who has the burden of proof?" Note how many times Cameron says my criteria for knowing which religion is true, if there is one, are self-refuting. And what is my criterion? The criterion of sufficient objective evidence. The delusion is very strong with him to think this is a reasonable answer. Faith has a blinding effect on believers. It's plain and simple. It's clear and obvious. To see this portrayed in the best possible way watch the video I share below. It offers three tests for how well you can count. My bet is you will be wrong.
Introducing our discussion I had said: "I've long been a fan of QualiaSoup. This video is on who has the burden of proof. He nails it! Believers who make extraordinary bizarre supernatural claims do, that's who."
That goal, of course, may be the reinforcement of the cult and its leader, but still, he is not necessarily asking his followers to actually, literally, "hate" their families...
I was reading an article about this today. The writer (I already forget who) supposed that maybe Trump gives them back enough "stolen pride" that they feel compensated while they wait for...
That flood showed God's love. First, He scored a bunch of new angels. Second, He gave us the opportunity to direct thoughts and prayers. Third, those little girls who had sinned, or whose...
I have to leave for a few hours, and I will read your link when I come back. But I can say quickly that if we look at Jesus as a "cult leader" in a cult revolving around himself, then,...
That is what I actually meant. I did not mean that he was talking to specific individuals in the crowd, just that he was telling any potential candidates among them what he expected of...
In the case of the word "hate", I am certainly not defending Jesus or the gospel writer, but I do not have a problem with seeing it as hyperbole. I can easily accept that it is an...
The notion had occurred to me to invite him in for a cup of tea. I live in the smallest of bungalows and the wall in the living room is my library. Just the other day, my granddaughter asked her...
Luke 14:26, where Jesus declares that anyone who wants to follow him must “hate” their father, mother, spouse, children, even their own life, sounds like a message to the general...
If he comes back you could invite him to drink lye. After all, the last verses of Mark promise ... you know what. I wonder who would be waiting longer: the wee elderly chap, waiting for you to mix...
I wish I had found an easy-to-paste link to that video of a little girl screaming "Shut up! Blah blah blah blah blah" to a street preacher who was ranting about passer-bys' sins.
The "ancientness" of things must have the same effect on the mind as the number of people who believe them. As illustrated by a story that comes in several versions all over the world. I...
Luke 14:26, where Jesus declares that anyone who wants to follow him must “hate” their father, mother, spouse, children, even their own life, sounds like a message aimed not at the general public,...
Yeah, for those believers who say god is love, it sure doesn't match that description - god is a genocidal self-centered manic who sends people to torture forever for not loving it enough and...
A while back, I got a rap on the door, there was a wee elderly chap standing there sporting a smile. He was a doorstep preacher. He got started by asking something along the lines of had I found...
There was me thinking it Isaac Azimov that said "The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible"? Maybe it was a tilt to Mark Twain. Anyway, it's the sentiment that...
A note about appeals to AI: I see Thomist combox guys doing the same thing. They are starting to paste in text from Gemini or whatever in their attempts to defend Thomism against skeptical comments.
It is for some, but some groups urge members to delve deeply into the Word, etc etc. And it's pretty common for evangelical Protestants, at any rate, to change churches when their own...