Austin Cline on "Why Don't Theists Believe What Atheists Tell Them About Atheism?"

Question: When atheists explain why they became atheists, what atheism is, and what atheism is not, religious theists (and especially Christians) often refuse to accept what they hear. This happens even when atheists just answer a specific question which they were asked. Why do theists behave this way? What can I do about it?

Christian THINK: That's All You Have to Do

Check out this video of "Noah's Ark and the Great Flood":

Christopher Hitchens Takes on the Liberals

Hear Christopher Hitchens interviewed by Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell. He's defending the fundamentalist critique of liberalism. You see, I agree with the fundamentalist critique of liberalism, as well as the liberal critique of fundamentalism. I agree with the Catholic critique of Protestantism as well as the Protestant critique of Catholicism. They debunk themselves leaving us no reason to accept Christianity in any form. HT: Hemant Mehta.

One Last Biblioblogger List Done (W)Right for December

And lookee here. I bested all but two of them. Now that Jim West is off the market I only need to overtake J.L. Watts for the number one slot. Can it be done? I wonder how I could convince him that he is boring too. ;-)

Could it Be That Our Universe Never Had a Beginning?

Here is an interesting scenario I have wondered myself, so I'd appreciate any input on it since I'm not a scientist:

Global Peace Index Shows Atheistic Nations are More Peaceful.

A GPI comparison of theistic nations to atheist nations shows us that peace is non-theistic.

Debate of the Day: Alvin Plantinga vs. Jaco Gericke

Watch the following interview and then read what I consider a refutation of Reformed Epistemology by Dr. Jaco Gericke afterward. Who wins?

Take the Debunking Christianity Challenge in 2010

[Written by John W. Loftus] What I’m engaging in here at Debunking Christianity is a huge challenge. I like big challenges. So let me offer one to Christians...

An Open Letter to All Bibliobloggers

In light of the developments of the last week or more let me recap what has happened. See what you think. I’ll try to keep this brief as possible and I’ll number my points for easy reference, not that I have to, okay?

Based on This Argument Alone The Best Any Believer Can Claim is Agnosticism

That's right. For even if some kind of god exists the believer has no reasonable way to know anything about such a god, hence a theistic kind of agnosticism. dguller expressed this cogent argument very well in the comments:

"Noah's Ark" Was Not Rectangular Shaped. It Was Bowl Shaped

That's right. Not as pictured on the left but a bigger version of the one on the right:

See the story here. Now pseudo-apologists will start finding the remains of a big bowl boat in the mountains of Turkey, right? Right!

Listen to Top Notch Thinkers Interviewed

It looks like Luke over at Common Sense Atheism does one a month. Check them out.

Richard Swinburne on Probabilities and the Anthropic Principle

When I first read the selection below I was a believer and thought what Swinburne wrote on this topic in his book, The Existence of God (1979 ed.), was excellent. No longer do I think so.

A Step By Step Course in How Christians Argue Fallaciously

I had linked earlier to a site about Reasoning Fallacies. I think it's time to illustrate them with some real examples of how most Christians argue at DC in a series of short Blog posts. I'll illustrate several of the most blatant fallacies as I see them using that link's nomenclature. Don't get caught or I might write you up for it. ;-) This could be the beginnings of a book, we'll see!

Jesus Was My Invisible Babysitter by Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais describes why he became an atheist. Link. Gervais directed and starred in the comedy The Invention of Lying.

Christians Live in an Intellectual Box and Cannot Think Outside of it

Yep, that's true of most of them in my opinion. Here's exhibit "A" named Brad Haggard, and my response. Watch how easy this is because I am not in that box of theirs.

On How to Write a Gospel Account

This is a challenge emailed to me from Johnny Pearce. It's interesting:

The Samaritan Strategy for Skeptics is Going to be Realized

In May of 2008 I had called upon skeptics to create an organization for doing humanitarian works. It now looks as if that is going to happen with the Foundation Beyond Belief. I first heard about it from former DC team member Valerie Tarico on Exchristian.net. Here is a video about it below:

What Do Tiger Woods and Jim West Have in Common?

They're both still missing! ;-) Maybe if and when Jim West comes back he'll deal with what Dr. Hector Avalos and others wrote here. Sorry, but anyone who claims like Jim West did that "Atheism is insanity. Hence, there’s no more point in arguing with (or even discussing things with) an atheist than there is in walking into an insane asylum and attempting to carry on a lucid conversation with persons utterly devoid of the gift of lucidity," doesn't deserve my respect. For I am one of those people and I take those attacks personally.

Why Did Jim West Shut His Blog Down to Outsiders?

Could it be because Dr. Hector Avalos called his bluff? ;-)

Another Poll: Who Was the Most Influential Female Atheist of 2009?

I like this one. Women don't always get their fair share of respect. Go Vote.

My Response to J. L. Watts, You Must First Understand My Argument Before You Can Effectively Critique It

Yep, that's what I think, and I don't think he understands what it is enough to offer an effective critique, so this will probably be my last reply to him. We'll see...

There's a Tree 7,000 Years Older Than the Entire Universe!

That is if you're a young earth creationist. ;-) Hat Tip to Stephen Law for this.

J. L. Watts is Engaging Me on the Problem of Suffering

Check it out here where you'll also see my initial response.

Resurrecting Eden

Professor Alan Lenzi posted a CBS 60 Minutes video that I found very interesting about the Wetlands in Southern Iraq where the Sumerian's lived in Ur of Chaldees, the birthplace of civilization.