My Own Scale for Dumb Theistic Arguments

Luke over at Common Sense Atheism has a scale for how he ranks several theistic arguments and asked me how I would rank them. Okay, why not?:

The Intelligence² Debate, Is Atheism the New Fundamentalism? With Richard Dawkins, AC Grayling, Richard Harries

This debate is posted below:

A Great Review of Jack Good's Book: "The Dishonest Church"

"Andrew J. (Jack) Good, author of The Bible: Faith’s Family Album (Chalice Press 1998), is an ordained pastor of the United Church of Christ. Educated at Boston University School of Theology, the Maxwell School at Syracuse University (International Relations), and the Lancaster Theological School, Dr. Good has practiced his socially oriented theology in pastorates for over forty years. He has lived in villages in Pakistan and Bangladesh and has, through these and other experiences, formed a great respect for other cultures and other ways of worshiping God." Here's a great review of his book The Dishonest Church:

"One of the surprising discoveries of modern psychology is how easy it is to be ignorant of your own ignorance.”

I had started in September with what I call the Argument From Ignorance, Part I of which can be found here. This is Part II, the final part. Sorry it took me so long.

What Type of Critique of the Christian Faith Do I Have to Offer?

There are different types of critiques of Christianity. Each one of them stresses something different coming from different areas of expertise. Some of the major areas of criticism come from 1) The sciences, especially evolution and brain science; 2) Biblical and historical criticism; 3) Philosophy, especially the philosophy of religion; 4) Archaeology; 5) Cultural anthropology; 6) Psychology; and, 7) Social and moral criticism of the Bible and the church. There are others. Which one do you think is more effective? Christian which one gives you the most trouble?

Two More Leave the Fold

Here is a story from Vince, and another one titled Freedom from the Bondages of Evangelical Christianity by a former missionary.

The Real Story of Christmas

From a Jewish website. HT: The Friendly Atheist.

Waiting for Armageddon

Is it any wonder why we think religion causes suffering in the world? Check this out:

Jaco Gericke: Fundamentalism on Stilts: A Devastating Response to Alvin Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology

[Written by John W. Loftus] Being a philosopher of religion specializing in the analysis of ancient religions and a biblical scholar to boot, Dr. Gericke has written what can be considered a refutation of Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology. "The trouble with Craig and and Plantinga," he tells me, "is that their philosophy of religion conveniently ignores the problems posed for their views by the history of Israelite religion. They might as well try to prove Zeus exists. People sometimes forget 'God' used to be Yahweh and it is possible to prove from textual evidence that 'there ain't no such animal.'"

Bart Willruth On The Christmas Wars.

Bart was a team member here at DC at one time. Now he's writing for "Fresh Conservative." Don't ask me why 'cause I don't know.

Skeptic Chris Hallquist Weighs In: Dawkins SHOULD Debate William Lane Craig

After linking to what I had written Chris said:

Jaco Gericke on "The Collapse of Realism, Cognitive Dissonance and the 'Died-Again' Christian Syndrome"

Previously I posted an amazing deconversion story written by Dr. Gericke right here. Then I posted something from him on how he got over his angst at leaving the Christian faith right here. In what follows he writes on the issue of cognitive dissonance (used with permission):

Clergy Ratings Hit an All Time Low, But...

Here is the Friendly Atheist's take on this:

PZ Myers on Life After Death: "The Dead are Dead"

One of the most important tools for promulgating religion is fear, and one of the biggest sources of fear is the inescapable fact of personal mortality: we're all going to die someday, and we all know people we've loved who have died. Religion steps up to the challenge of death in its usual glib and dishonest way, and promises a mysterious "afterlife," in which you'll get to go on being you despite the inconvenience of your flesh rotting away. None of the proponents of this belief have the slightest scrap of evidence for their claims, other than an appeal to emotion and desire, and sometimes some really bad experiments and sloppy observations of phenomena that vanish when a little rigor is applied.

How I Told My Family I Was an Atheist

How did you tell them? Here's what Luke wrote. It's good!

A Major Survey of What Philosophers Believe Just Released.

David Bourget and David Chalmers have released the results of the largest survey of professional philosophers ever conducted. There were 931 respondents from 99 leading philosophy departments around the world. Luke over at Common Sense Atheism tells us some of the results:

Christian Can You Really Worship a God Who Will Send Your Family and Friends to Hell?

I want you to think about it rather than regurgitate the standard pat answers from the Bible itself. Just think about it. I attended a funeral this weekend and my brother conducted the memorial service. In it he warned us that "the wicked will end up in hell." At the funeral dinner I asked him if he thought I was going to be in hell and he responded: "Only God can judge." Now think about this, okay?...and be consistent. Is it just that believers cannot say what their theology commits them to when it comes to a family member? Look your non-committal family members in the eye and tell them they are going to hell. Can't do it? Why? That's what you preach. And then think about this song:

On Richard Dawkins Refusing to Debate William Lane Craig

In a mocking YouTube video Bill Craig tells us he wants to debate Richard Dawkins. There is even a petition Christians have set up for this debate to happen and a discussion about it at Richard Dawkins.net. Here's a clip being linked to by Christian sites where Dawkins declines:

C. Michael Patton on Essential Creedal Expressions for Christian Salvation

C. Michael Patton has come up with a list of essentials that true Christians must believe along with a chart that supposedly distinguishes what is non-essential from unimportant beliefs. Here are the essentials according to him:

Okay Now, This is Just Damn Funny!

This is unbelievably good! Some girl is showing us video clips of Christian rappers and then singing one herself. Way too funny. Christians are repressed sexually. No wonder so many of them are obsessed about it. If you want to skip her intro on sex education then start watching at 2:19.

Another One Bites the Dust: Simon

Simon emailed me saying: "Just wanted to let you know that your site was a contributing influence during my journey this year."

See What DC Looked Like in July of 2007

I used the Way Back Machine to find this.

News Flash: A Debate With William Lane Craig Is In the Works

All I know at this point is that someone is working on it. I do not know if Dr. Craig has been asked or whether he has agreed. I'll leave it to the bookies to take your bets and set the odds. D'ya think there's a chance? Link. Would you like to see it?

Indianapolis - The Bible, It Turns Out, Is Too Liberal

Yepper, let's do something about that, right?

A Message from Richard Dawkins to Young Freethinkers

This is what he said: