More Discussion About My Debate with David Wood

See this link.

My Response to a Pro Israeli Bible Thumper

Here is a response to a Bible thumper espousing a Pro Israel political view. He wrote:

New Study on "Why are Atheists so Disliked?"

A new study "strongly suggests that distrust of atheists is mostly due to fear of 'others'." As a result "all those bus ads may well be serving a useful function, even if they're unlikely to convert anyone. If they normalize atheism, then they should also help to change the lot of atheists in the USA from social pariahs to trusted community members." See what you think.

Nightline Face-Off: "Does God Have a Future?"

Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston face-off against Michael Shermer and Sam Harris on this question: Link.

"What I Think of the New Atheists"

Lukeprog tells us what he thinks about them when he was recently interviewed on the Oklahoma Atheists Godcast. Link. He mentions me a few times. See what you think.

I'm Not Saying It's Impossible, Only Let's Be Reasonable

I don't say God's existence is impossible, nor that miracles are impossible, nor that a good God must eliminate all pain, nor that methodological naturalism logically entails ontological (or metaphysical or philosophical) naturalism. Nor am I a hyper-skeptic simply because I'm a skeptic. Nope. Get the views of atheists right. It's just that we should be reasonable with the evidence, that's all. We're looking for what is most probable. Christian apologists participate in special pleading way too often. And they argue from a prior conclusion rather than to one. Point. Get. The.

My Opening Statements Against Dinesh D'Souza and David Wood

Regardless of how you think my recent debates went, what do you think of my opening statements against Dinesh and David? First check them out: Contra D'Souza, and Contra Wood.

Obama's Health Care Bill Passes: Religion in America Just Took a Big Hit!

It's widely acknowledged that when people don't need God they believe less. With the passage of President Obama's historic health care bill America just became more secularized. America is following in the footsteps of many European countries. It's about time. What skeptics have been wanting just happened in one fell swoop. Link

Why Did You Leave the Fold?

I left the Christian fold mainly because I began to doubt the reliability of the Genesis creation accounts in the face of the age of the universe. Hector Avalos and Robert Price left it because of biblical criticism, both OT and NT respectively. Exapologist left it because of the failed prediction that Jesus was to return in his generation. Ken Pulliam left it because there was no cogent explanation of the atonement. William Dever left it because of biblical archaeology. Bart Ehrman left it because of the problem of suffering. My claim is that people leave the fold for so many different reasons because there are so many different reasons to do so. What other former Christian authors/scholars do you know and why did they leave the fold? Why did you?

Woooo Hoooo! Now DC is Being Hailed as "A Controversial Atheist Blog"

I've been called different things before but I especially like being hailed as having a "controversial atheist blog." This is intended as a compliment in a post of Widely Read Atheist Blogs. For such an honor I want to thank my Mom for birthing me, my wife for well, everything else, my Basset Hound dog, and yes, my mighty pool stick. Got game anyone?

Christian, What Would You Believe if the Bible Didn't Exist?

Tell us. What would you believe? THAT is the question. My claim is that biblical criticism is an undercutting defeater for what Christians believe such that without the Bible they would become agnostics and then afterward possibly atheists. At that point they would see the arguments for the existence of God as little more than a shell game.

Six Part Video Series by Prof. John Walton on Genesis as Ancient Cosmology

This is pretty good stuff although he doesn't draw the correct conclusion that religions simply evolve. In any case, there is no creation ex nihilo here:

Joe Holman's Book is Now Available on Amazon

I recommend his book Project Bible Truth. His arguments are rock solid and Biblically based. In it you'll read one of the most complete deconversion stories in print. Get it.

I Don't Care If God Exists.

Luke at Common Sense Atheism sums my position up well. What he's describing is called "Hume's Stopper." It stops Christians dead in their tracks. This highlights what I consider the trouble with natural theology

Excerpt From My Book on Child Sacrifice

I've received more than one email from Christians who say that of all the issues I write about in my book the most troubling one concerns child sacrifice in the Bible (imagine that!?). Here's the excerpt below (from pp. 136-37). What d'ya think?

Muslims vs Christians: The New Wars of the Future

It's true that Islam and Christianity are growing exponentially around the world. Christianity is growing in the southern hemisphere and Asia, while Islam is growing in Europe. What alarms me is that in maybe in 50-100 years Europe will be dominated by Muslims while the southern parts of the world will be dominated by Christians. If so there could be wars. America is following in the footsteps of Europe by becoming more secular. If America steps in between them she will have to deal with the might of Europe aimed at the Christian tribes in the south. Then all hell will break loose with another World War. And in this war these countries will have more advanced weapons of warfare. It could happen. We have just a small window of opportunity.

Daniel Dennett on Preachers Who Do Not Believe

Yep, that's right. There are preachers who don't believe. That's what Dennett's study explored in a recent study.

Finally, My Book Made it on a Top Ten List at Amazon.co.uk

I say "finally" because it hasn't gotten much attention over there. Check it out.

The Evolution of Sin

My claim is that religion and morality both evolve. Since the canonical Bible was written over a period of about 1200 years or so, we can see this evolution in the Bible itself. Professor Gary Anderson tells us of the evolution of ideas about sin in this interview.

How to Undercut Christianity at a Fundamental Level

I am not arguing to please skeptics. They are not my target audience. And devout Christians will think my arguments are weak. But I am making a difference. Maybe people should think about that. Maybe I do know what I'm doing?

David Wood vs John W. Loftus: Does God Exist?

See what you think.

Notes From Stephen Law's Debate on the Existence of God

He recently debated Hamza Andreas Tzortzis and he concludes a bit like me:

We may not be able to answer the question “Why is there something rather than nothing?” But we can be rightly confident the answer isn’t “Because a supremely powerful and evil person made it.” So why can’t we be equally confident that the answer isn’t “Because a supremely powerful and good person made it”? Link

Why Do My Arguments Not Convince Devout Believers?

I merely offer up good arguments against their faith. That's all I can do. Devout believers (my target audience) won't seriously consider them until such time as they have some sort of crisis in their lives that cannot be adequately explained by a good God. They'll seriously consider them at that time. My arguments are like seeds of doubt ready to sprout if and when they experience that crisis. Since many believers do experience some kind of crisis in their lives there will be a certain percentage of believers who, having been previously exposed to my arguments, will leave their faith at that time. It's a waiting game.

Celebrating Life Beyond Belief

LIKE revivalists from an alternative universe, 2500 hardcore believers in the absence of religion packed into the Global Atheists Convention in Melbourne last weekend to give a hero's welcome to the high priest of belief in unbelief, Richard Dawkins. Link. Read more about this event From the Australian

Either the Garden of Eden Test Was a Sham or a Myth

In a previous post of mine I argued that the "supposed" test in the Garden of Eden was a sham. Then along comes my friend Dr. Dan Lambert who argued that we atheists have it wrong because "The Garden story is a myth invented to explain why people sin. Simple. End of story." At least Dan understands it for what it is. But if he's correct then how does this save his faith from refutation? Whether it's a sham test or a myth it doesn't matter. Why should any intelligent person base his faith on ancient myths? And there are lots of them in the Bible.