Here is a summary of Paul Helm’s “God and Spacelessness,” Philosophy 55 (1980):
January 31, 2010
Guess What? God Isn't to Blame for the Haitian Disaster!
We atheists do not revel in tragedy. We hate the fact that people suffer in this world as all people do. It's just that in times like these it's good to be an atheist. Earthquakes happen. That's all there is to it. What we revel in are attempts by Christians to justify God's actions. They are pathetic, all of them. And guess what? God isn't to blame for the Haitian Disaster! Nope. God is completely good and loving towards us all. His ways are perfect. Atheists like myself and Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins and Valerie Tarico have had a heyday with Christian responses so far. Now there is another one.
January 30, 2010
Stupid is As Stupid Does: Defending the Faith Makes a Person Stupid
When it comes to defending the faith even PhD's show they are ignorant. I'm not joking either and it should be obvious to see. I previously endorsed Richard Dawkins' column on Pat Robertson's comments about the Haitian disaster. Then comes Glenn Peoples who said of me:
Christian Police Your Own Ranks: Bill Wiese Saw Hell
This guy is wacko. But here's a problem as I see it. Christians believe because they claim to have experienced God, and yet most Christians in today's world do not accept a fire and brimstone hell. Many others argue for an annihilation view of hell. So, why do most Christians discount Bill Wiese's experience and yet trust their own experiences? Bill is so sure of what he experienced, you see. But it's ALL IN THE HEAD, all of it!
January 29, 2010
On SETI, the Brain/Mind Problem and the Best Explanation of the Evidence
I'm carrying on an email exchange with an old friend who studied under Norman Geisler and did further Ph.D. work in philosophy. He had asked me about the SETI project and what it would take for me to accept that there might be extra-terrestrial life in the universe as a parallel to accepting the evidence that there might be a supernatural intelligent being, God. Here are my rambling thoughts on this:
My Critique of Open Theism
I was asked to offer a critique of Open Theism. At one time I embraced it so I'm very familiar with it. But it seems to be an in house argument. Other Christians who are not open theists effectively criticize it. I try not to tell Christians what they should believe. If I spend time critiquing it then I have not debunked Christianity because other Christians would enjoy my critique. I try to offer a more fundamental critique of Christianity and everyone in it, especially conservatives. Conservatives as a whole are my target, not one branch of them.
January 28, 2010
The Inspirational Power of Dreams
I don't think those of us who live in the modern world quite understand the the power of dreams in the pre-scientific ancient world. Our brains need to dream while we sleep, and they do so as the imaginative side runs wild with our current thoughts. Some of our dreams seem very real and sometimes they're bizarre. You know what I'm talking about. But can you imagine a world where no one had a clue why they dreamed? That's why we find dreams figuring prominently in the Bible, from Pharaoh, to the dreams of the prophets, Nebuchadnezzar, and Pilate's wife. It was a mixed up superstitious world where they concluded dreams were sent from the gods as divine messages. This is something we can no longer accept and just one more reason why I reject the Bible as inspired by God since dreams were a major source of its inspiration. Even today people consider dreams as evidence of a spiritual world. Poppycock!
Solar Powered Bibles for Haiti: Why Some Christians Feel Compelled to Exploit Disaster
Written by Valerie Tarico:
While Doctors without Borders was struggling to get anesthetics for amputations into Haiti, an Albuquerque group queued up aid of their own sort: 600 solar powered talking Bibles. Even now, food, water, and medicine are having trouble reaching Haitians because of damaged transportation facilities and supply lines, but the missionary group says some of their Bibles are on the way.
January 27, 2010
Bobby Kern Is Taking the Debunking Christianity Challenge
He is a 32 year old student minister, on a break, who is currently working on his Ph.D. in Family Science. This is his official announcement. You can find the DC Challenge right here. Don't accept any imitations. This is the real deal. Come on. Consider doing this yourself as others have. What do you have to lose?
An Index From Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot
As you know I recommend Luke's Blog Common Sense Atheism. He has a podcast that I also recommend where he interviews several top notch thinkers on both sides of our debates. Check it out. I heard from my friend Dr. James Sennett that Luke is planning on interviewing him sometime soon. I'm really interested in that one.
January 26, 2010
Why Humans Build Their Societies on Fault Lines in the Earth
I'm posting this again to emphasize what a great program it is. In this must see BBC video (total 60 minutes)...
Iain Stewart tells the epic story of how the planet has shaped our history. With spectacular images, surprising stories and a compelling narrative, the series discovers the central role played in human history by four different planetary forces.
Dr. Jerald Dirks on Why He Rejected Christianity and Embraced Islam
[Written by John W. Loftus] Jerald Dirks is a former minister (deacon) of the United Methodist Church. He holds a Master's degree in Divinity from Harvard University and a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Denver. Here he is interviewed on The Deen Show sharing why he accepted Islam. I was only going to skim through his interview, but I found myself captivated by his story. His critique of Christianity is penetrating and well founded.
Answering Two Questions Asked by a Reader of My Book
I have read your book trying to look for answers to my own questions regarding the Christian faith. I had only recently became a Christian about a year ago and now I am experiencing serious doubts if the Christian God is real.
January 25, 2010
Richard Dawkins On The Haitian Disaster: "Pat Robertson is the true Christian here"
I was thinking of doing my own post on this topic. I have heard Christians say Pat Robertson is a moron for suggesting the Haitian disaster was a divine judgment for too long now. No, they are the morons. Pat Robertson represents Christian tradition, not them, as Dawkins said in a Washington Post column:
New Site: Recovering Fundamentalists
Former DC team member Dr. Marlene Winell is blogging there. It looks good. Check it out.
Nerdstock: 9 Lessons and Carols
This is a non-religious Christmas celebration of comedy, science and music recorded live at London's Hammersmith Apollo in December 2009.
Cole: "I'm tired of looking stupid by trying to defend the Bible."
Cole first arrived here at DC a few years back as a Christian under the name Calvin, and he was the answer man. He quoted the Bible. We argued against him. Finally I challenged him to read my book WIBA. Then a few weeks passed and he said he no longer believed. He changed his name to Cole and became an angry atheist for a while, a typical reaction for many ex-believers once they realize they were duped. But months passed and then he came back to DC as a Christian again by arguing in the same fashion as I originally saw him do. Just today he gave it up. He said: "I'm done with the Bible." And then "I'm tired of looking stupid by trying to defend the Bible." You can read the exchange I had with him right here. I'm glad for him. He did look stupid defending the Bible. Many Christians do. But Cole is not stupid at all. He was just deluded, and I wish him well. Finally, no more cognitive dissonance for him.
January 24, 2010
It's Not Too Late to Take the Debunking Christianity Challenge in 2010
Several Christians have decided to take the DC challenge as I first wrote about here, including a master's degree student, a pastor, and others. Just today I heard from a fifteen year old named Kyle who has decided to do so (via email). The official DC challenge is to get and read the ten books I suggested in that link. Don't accept any imitations. This is the real deal. I also encourage believers to read both sides, but this is the official Debunking Christianity Challenge. ;-)
Two Atheists Debate Whether Jesus Died On the Cross
If you're interested in debates like I am, below you can watch an interesting one by two atheists. Yep, that's right, two atheists. Oh, I know that Mary Jo Sharp is a Christian apologist and that Ehteshaam Gulam is a Muslim apologist. But if you listen closely they are using atheist arguments against each other.
January 23, 2010
You Should Be Skeptical Your Faith Passes the Outsider Test for Faith
I have heard from several Christians who claim to have bit the bullet by admitting their faith should pass the Outsider Test for Faith (OTF), only to conclude that it does. Surprise! The fullest presentation of it online is to be found here. Having received this feedback I revisited the argument again in a chapter for The Christian Delusion. One of the many things I do in that chapter is to argue that Christians ought to be just as skeptical their own faith passes the OTF as they are when Mormons or Muslims claim the same thing. Why not, right? That's what outsiders do.
"A Fault Is Not a Sin: It's idiotic to blame anything other than geology for the Haitian earthquake." by Christopher Hitchens
On Nov. 1, 1755—the feast of All Saint's Day—a terrifying combination of earthquake and tsunami shattered the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon. Numerous major churches were destroyed and many devout worshippers along with them. This cataclysmic event was a spur to two great enterprises: the European Enlightenment and the development of seismology. Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were only some of those who reasoned that no thinkable deity could have desired or ordained the obliteration of Catholic Lisbon, while other thinkers—Immanuel Kant among them—began to inquire into the possible natural causes of such events.
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