Debunking Christianity

January 15, 2010

A Preacher Decides to Take the "Debunking Christianity Challenge"

So far three Christians have decided to do this in 2010 that I know of. Luke at Common Sense Atheism talks about the goals of one such person named Phil, and offers his own list of books. In the comments a preacher named Greg from the "Cambridge Church of Christ" will do so as well. A person named Micah is doing this and may end up writing a book about it, along the lines of the very popular “My Year Of…” genre of books, for which I might write the Foreword. The choice of books is important but not as important as the challenge itself. Come on, what do you have to lose?

January 14, 2010

Debunking Christianity is Ranked 4th Among Atheist Blogs

This is pretty cool! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my readers, so thank you all!

Debunking Christianity Ranked 6th Place in 2009 Among Atheist Sites

For what it's worth the results from Post Rank Analytics can be found here. The top ten posts for the year can be found here.

Christians, Police Your Own Ranks: Randy Demain Claims to Have Raised the Dead

What a crackpot, a buffoon. He claims it's easy to raise the dead. He's an idiot.

Atheists are typically described as being angry people. I don't know whether any scientific polls have been done on this but it stands to reason some of us are. While some level of anger isn't healthy, I'm angry to some degree. It's part of what motivates me and many other skeptics. Passion. It's a great motivator if kept in check. But I'm not angry at a God who does not exist just as Christians are not mad at Allah. Nor am I angry with believers as a whole. I know many good Christian people.

Reason 1,937 why I want nothing to do with Christianity: Pat Robertson on Haiti's Disaster

I'll just link to what Bruce over at Restless Wanderings said.

January 13, 2010

The Darwinian Problem of Evil

Charles Darwin laid out what I call The Darwinian Problem of Evil. In his autobiography he wrote:

This is How it's Done Right: Taking the "Debunking Christianity" Challenge for 2010

It appears that an amateur Catholic apologist has decided to take my Debunking Christianity Challenge. This is how it's done right! Any other takers? I said:

I have a challenge for Christians. It’s a challenge few will take up, but let me offer it anyway, even though many expert Christian apologists have done it without a loss of faith. Other Christian thinkers struggle with their faith because they have done what I'm about to ask Christians to do. Still others....end up rejecting our former faith. Do this. I’ll call this the Debunking Christianity challenge....read up on all of the top Christian apologetics books and then [decide] in fairness to read all of the top skeptical books....Come on…what are you afraid of? If your faith can withstand our arguments then you will be a better informed Christian with a much stronger faith. If your faith cannot withstand our arguments then your faith wasn’t worth having in the first place. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE! Link.

This is what he plans to do. A report of his findings would make it's own publishable book.

Front Row Seats in Hell, Can You Picture This?

One belief change of mine that allowed me to pursue my doubts about Christianity was the rejection of an eternal punishment in hell. This doctrine is completely barbaric. It is the biggest stick ever invented by man to keep believers from questioning their faith. Christian philosopher Dr. Glenn Peoples rejects this doctrine too in favor of annihilation, and says why in a recent post. Reject it like he does and you'll be freer to think about your faith.

The JEPD Theory In A Nutshell

[Posted by John Loftus] Someone sent me a link to this. See what you think. It looks pretty good.

I’ll begin by introducing the history of the theory, provide my perspective on JEPD, and then proceed to outline its strengths and weaknesses.

Religions derive their power and popularity in part from the ethical compass they offer. So why do so many faiths help perpetuate something that most of us regard as profoundly unethical: the oppression of women?

Truth Claims and the Poetry Difference in Wisdom Literature

I've been critical of Psalm 14 and Psalm 137 recently. One criticism of me is that I'm ignoring that these Psalms are not prose but poetry. I know the difference, but one thing that cannot be said is that poetry does not contain truth claims. Here's an example said by me recently to Brad Haggard:

New Mid-Month Biblioblogger Ranking

And guess which Blog is now ranked 2nd, topping all but one of them? *Cough*. Thanks to all my readers. It means a great deal to know people are interested in what some guy in Indiana has to say.

Psalm 14:1 Again, This Time Responding to Dr. Matt Flannagan

Previously I had argued that Psalm 14:1 claims an atheist is an immoral person, not an insane one, as Jim West had ignorantly argued. And I reject both accusations. And I argued the correct immoral interpretation of Psalm 14:1 is easily proven false by one lone ethical atheist. This verse is speaking about our behavior not our beliefs, for it's speaking about the behavioral consequences of our not believing. Again, the verse reads: "The fool hath said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good."

Psalm 137 is a Genocidal Passage!

Here is the text of the Psalm in full:

Special Investigation: Evolution

This video is funny.

William Lane Craig: Avoiding More Debate Opponents?

Recently Craig refused to debate me again. But not just me this time. He also refused to debate Robert Price, Hector Avalos, and Richard Carrier, three other contributors to the anthology to be released in April called The Christian Delusion. Maybe he ought to refuse to debate everyone who contributed to that book, right? Here's the story: