What is the Problem with "God of the Gaps?"

DagoodS recently wrote on this question. Here is his conclusion:

Michael Goulder Explains Why He Could No Longer Believe

Michael Goulder has an excellent chapter in Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludemann, on "The Explanatory Power of Conversion-Visions." Listen to this short BBC interview where he explains why he could no longer believe.

Latest Richard Dawkins Interview

Check it out.

A Question About Brainwashing and Deprogramming

I received an email where someone commented:

I was intrigued by the brainwashed people don’t know they’re brainwashed post several days ago. My wife is rapidly and rabidly falling deeper and deeper into this crap. Are there any books out there that you could recommend related to this issue, both the process of brainwashing as well as the process of deprogramming?

What to Look For in My Debate with Dinesh D’Souza

This week we're all hoping that my debate with Dinesh D'Souza will be available online. Here are my thoughts on what to look for as you evaluate it. I am NOT making excuses. I am NOT saying I won the debate. From all skeptical accounts it looks like I lost, although I have not heard from any Christians in the audience (maybe one). My problem is I need to see it objectively for myself. If you have ever been in a debate then you're thinking on your feet and cannot remember exactly what was said, and when it was said, to have a good judgment about it until you see it later, although people who say I lost are probably right. I am very interested in the comment cards from Christians in the audience since they are my target audience. In any case here are things to look for in debates, not only in mine, but in others as well.

Kenneth Howell Responds A Third Time

As I indicated earlier I came away from the debate against Dinesh with some new Christian friends. Kenneth Howell is one of them. Friends are more important to me than most everything else, and I do like learning from one another. He's previously responded to some comments and I appreciate his thick skin to do so again.

Religion Flowchart

I found this on Facebook and it made me chuckle. Fun is good. Without it we'd take ourselves too seriously. Life is good too.

Where's the Beef, That is, the Hard Evidence to Believe?

I've dealt with this before, but as far as I can see there are plausible natural explanations for every piece of evidence a believer uses to defend her faith. Religious experience?...meet wish fulfillment. Near death experiences?...meet oxygen deprived brains. Resurrection of Jesus?...meet a legend based on visionary experiences that were common at the time. Intelligent design?...meet the problem of evil. You'd think there would be something, anything that would show the believer has good solid evidence to believe. There isn't anything like that at all.

Kenneth Howell Responds to Our Comments.

Previously I wrote about Dr. Kenneth Howell's Challenge to Atheists. Here is his response, below. I'll just post it without comment for now. See what you think. He's engaging us in a respectful manner and I think we should return the civility even if we disagree.

Atheists Always Win in Debates

Yep. That’s what I think. We're always winners. Let me explain why I think this.

Dr. Kenneth Howell's Challenge to Atheists

One thing I appreciate when I travel to speak somewhere are the friendships I acquire. I'll tell you this right now that if I had to choose what to believe based on the warm reception I felt at the debate with Dinesh I would become a Catholic. They were all respectful and kind towards me. Kindness does wonders I think. One such friendship I gained was with Kenneth J. Howell, the Director, St. John’s Institute of Catholic Thought, who put the debate together. Among other books he is the author of God's Two Books: Copernican Cosmology and Biblical Interpretation in Early Modern Science. He also has an interesting story since he used to be a Protestant. Here's his challenge and our initial discussion below:

Ken Pulliam Responds to Dinesh D'Souza's Argument

One thing about debates we can all agree about is that they are educational regardless of who you think lost. And I'm sure my debate with Dinesh will provoke a lot of commentary and thought. Ken Pulliam runs an intelligent blog which I recommend highly. He takes on Dinesh's claim that I have committed the genetic fallacy. Nope, not by a long shot, and I hit this claim hard in a chapter for The Christian Delusion book coming out soon. When you watch the debate you'll see I was not given a chance to respond to Dinesh.

Not Brainwashed? Really Now?

A Mormon negatively commented on the skeptical book, Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon. If this comment does not show the marks of a brainwashed person, then what does?

Anyone Disagree?

Brainwashed people do not know they are brainwashed. Given the fact that children are brainwashed to believe based on various cultural mind-control techniques, then there are billions of brainwashed people in the world. Stay on topic. Focus. Agree?

If Christianity Doesn’t Matter Why Do You Bother With It?

Former Pastor Bruce Gerencser runs an intelligent Blog which I heartily recommend. Recently he answered this question once and for all.

Frank Turk Thinks I'm "Clever"

Regarding my chapters on the problem of evil Frank says this of the way I framed the problem:

Intelligent Design Anyone? Some of God's Greatest Mistakes

Here are currently 96... erm... anomalies in this intelligently designed living world. Link

Professor McGrath on Whether or Not Jesus Existed

Don't look now but a professional NT Historian is taking on the mythicists. It started with this YouTube video which has carried on in some recent posts of his here, then here, then here, then here, then here. I think he's gearing up for a book on the topic and if he writes it then it's long overdue.

Initial Skeptical Reviews of My Debate with Dinesh Don't Look Too Good to Say the Least

Skeptics who were in the audience for the debate are weighing in and they're all saying I lost miserably. This troubles and disheartens me since I thought I did well. I couldn't sleep and was even thinking of calling it quits. But then, what did they expect? Did they expect too much out of a debate? Why? I said the real debate takes place in our books. I even wondered if skeptics bought into the rhetoric of Dinesh. If rhetoric without substance is all it takes to win debates then Dinesh will win most of the time. Some of Dinesh's comments seemed to be too ridiculous to bother answering, and maybe that's part of my problem that night. One other problem was that I had to choose between being rude or not responding at all, since the moderator was not giving me a chance to respond to questions asked of Dinesh, who was asked more questions in the Q & A from the audience. And since I do not think Christians take science seriously I responded with philosophical arguments to questions about the existence of God and Intelligent Design. In any case, it'll be interesting to watch the debate in a few days online to see the reactions from others. And it will equally be interesting to see the results of the comment cards.

My Debate With Dinesh

I thought this was an insightful comment card handed out to the people who attended my debate with Dinesh last night. The video will be available soon and when it is I'll link to it, along with any results from this card. I've already posted my opening statement. Some people say I lost the debate. Let me respond.

My Opening Statement With Dinesh D'Souza, by John Loftus

My 15 minute opening statement: "Does the Christian God Exist?"

I’m going to offer several arguments based on facts we should all agree on that show the Christian God does not exist. My claim is that these facts will force Dinesh into arguing over and over for what I’ll call the Dumb and Dumber Defense, based on the movie with that title starring Jim Carrey. In every single case Dinesh’s response will be pretty much the same. Rather than admit his faith is improbable, he will be forced to claim that what he’s defending is still possible despite these facts. But remember, it’s possible that Jim Carrey could’ve gotten the girl of his dreams in the movie too. The girl said he had a “one in a million” chance at doing so.

Dr. Avalos on Pat Robertson's Haiti Comments

Written for Ames Iowa's The Tribune:

"The Christian Delusion" Book Is Almost Ready

I have received the pdf file for my edited book, The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails, to be published in April. I'm taking one last look through the file before it goes to the print shop on the 12th of this month. Let me tell you it's a dandy. No skeptic will want to be without it, that's what I think. All of the authors present a superior case against Christianity in all of its forms. You can read about it on the official website. And if you would, please pre-order it by clicking here. If we can get a lot of pre-orders for it then it'll get noticed by even more and more people, which could snowball and make it big. That's what we're all hoping for anyway.

Why Dinesh and I Are Debating, "Does the Christian God Exist?"

My readers already know that this Tuesday Dinesh D'Souza and I will be debating. The official announcement with details can be found here. I am a bit silent on this Blog because of my preparations, but on Tuesday at 8 PM EST I have my opening statement scheduled to be published here at DC. So even though many of you cannot be there you can read it just after I speak it. Just so you know, here's why we're debating this particular topic:

A Nice Comment About My Chapter On God and Animals for "The Christian Delusion"

via email:

I have just finished your chapter on "God and animals", and I must say that if this is the type of chapter that did not make it to the book (Christian Delusion) then the book is going to be [a] monster!!