Annual Islamic Hajj Pilgrimage Leaves at Least 719 People Dead and 863 Injured: God Is Great!

The Dead Line the Street at Mina

"Saudi Arabia's crown prince has ordered an investigation after a stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage left at least 719 people dead and 863 injured, according to state media."  Story Here

George Will on Torture, Solitary Confinement, and Hell

Most Christians who reject an everlasting punishment in a literal hell, with fire and brimstone, embrace a softer view of hell. Rather than embrace a literal interpretation of most NT passages they choose instead a metaphorical view based on a small minority of them. To do this they gerrymander the biblical texts around in order to find the real canon inside the biblical canon.

The metaphorical view of hell is that sinners are merely banished from God's presence forever. Hell is pictured something like a solitary confinement in a jail cell, where sinners are given what they desire, to be left alone. Since nothing is as harsh as eternally conscious suffering in flames of fire, it's believed the metaphorical view softens the horrific tortures of hell.

While this is true, consider how painful solitary confinement would be for an eternity. George Will, whom I generally detest, wrote about the pain of solitary confinement in "The torture of solitary confinement" for The Washington Post (Feb 2013). He wrote:

Supermax prisons isolate inmates from social contact. Often prisoners are in their cells, sometimes smaller than 8 by 12 feet, 23 hours a day, released only for a shower or exercise in a small fenced-in outdoor space. Isolation changes the way the brain works, often making individuals more impulsive, less able to control themselves. The mental pain of solitary confinement is crippling: Brain studies reveal durable impairments and abnormalities in individuals denied social interaction. Plainly put, prisoners often lose their minds. LINK.

This still depicts tortures beyond what human beings could endure, especially if consciously suffering them forever. So we still have a barbaric God that no one should trust in, much less worship. The punishment would still not fit the crimes committed in this life.

Try again.

My Interview for The Humanist Hour

In this episode of the Humanist Hour we talk about my upcoming book, How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist.LINK.

Coming Soon: Dr. James Lindsay's Book "Everybody is Wrong About God"

On his blog Lindsay shares the Preface and Contents to this book. In his words:

Everybody Is Wrong About God is, frankly, an ambitious project of mine in which I aim to completely pull the rug out from under theism and theology. With them, therefore, atheism has to go too. My goal, then, is nothing less than turning the first page in a new chapter, one that points us toward a new post-theistic phase in human history--one that leaves God behind, for good (and I mean that both ways).

I wrote a blurb for it:

Lindsay correctly argues in this book that theism (or “God”) is dead, even though most people don’t realize it yet, echoing the words of Nietzsche’s madman. Lindsay surprisingly goes on to argue that if theism is dead then so is atheism. For without theism we shouldn’t be atheists either, just human beings living in a post-theistic secular society where the relevancy of theism for our lives is beneath serious consideration. Lindsay calls us to completely rethink both theism and atheism, and he informs us what this means and how we should proceed into the future. This is a very thought provoking book, sure to be controversial. I love it!

Dr. Jim Beilby: "In the face of evils like the holocaust, silence is appropriate."

On Facebook I shared the following poster:

Afterward I had a brief exchange with a Christian simpleton. He was not impressed to say the least, describing the poster with a "LMAO" or "laugh my ass off." I called him a simpleton, saying he needs to be informed that this is a serious problem for his faith by someone on his side. So along came Dr. James K. Beilby who did just that. Beilby is the author and editor of a growing number of books seen here on Amazon. He's a Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Bethel University (Minnesota). His areas of expertise are systematic and philosophical theology, apologetics, and ethics. He has criticized two of Alvin Plantinga's views in the philosophy of religion: 1) his epistemology, and 2) his Evolutionary Argument Against Evolution, as Ex-Apologist notes.

It's good there are people on both sides of our debates who are consistently willing to honestly set the record straight, people who are not so ideologically driven that they lose sight of the primary goal of being honest seekers of the truth. Here is what Jim wrote:

Professor Keith Parsons On Darwin the Philosopher

Dr. Parsons recently argued that Darwin engaged in philosophical questions. Given the title to his post, the point is that Darwin was also a philosopher. What does Parsons say is the criteria for when someone is engaging in philosophy, as opposed to science? He says this:

In cases ... where the evidence will not settle the dispute, scientists must employ philosophical arguments. And they do. Therefore, the suggestion that science can simply replace philosophy is wrong for the reason that, as [Thomas] Kuhn observed, scientific debates often embed—or are embedded within—philosophical debates. These philosophical differences often cannot be settled by straightforward empirical means, but must be addressed with philosophical argument. Science cannot replace philosophy because philosophy is an essential part of the scientific enterprise. Kuhn was wrong about many things, but on this point he was absolutely right.

I had commented previously on what makes for philosophy right here. And I have no bone to pick with philosophy per se. But this is an interesting question. I think we can agree that mere reasoning is not equivalent to philosophy, so scientific reasoning is not necessarily doing philosophy. We should also agree that we don't need to wait until everyone agrees that a particular dispute has been settled by science, before we can say scientists are no longer doing philosophy when reasoning about the evidence. This was the case in Darwin's day, but the dispute over evolution has been settled in our day. I think the implications about evolution are settled too. What Parsons needs to do is show why anyone should wait until evolution deniers agree that this dispute has been settled, before saying evolutionists are not doing philosophy. So I see no reason to accept that criteria with regard to his specific example.

On Defining Atheism

I was recently sent a book to review, by Franz Kiekeben, called The Truth About God which is a whistlestop tour, I think, through atheism and counter-apologetics to arrive at the conclusion not that God is improbable, but that God is impossible. I will be interested to see where that goes.

Why I mention this is that I am pleased the author started off the book by briefly sketching out the different ways of seeing atheism and stating that there is a modern trend to defining atheism as a lack of belief in God. This is something upon which I have commented in various places before, and something which I feel quite strongly about.

I Met With Christian Philosopher Chad V. Meister Today

Who is he? On Amazon we read: "I am Professor of Philosophy at Bethel College in Indiana, USA. I'm a Christian philosopher and most of my books have to do with God or some subject related to God or Christianity. But I also have a deep appreciation for other faith traditions and for thoughtful skeptics, agnostics, and atheists as well. In fact, some of my books include writings of leading thinkers from the major world religions and from those who deny the reality of God altogether. As I see it, there is tremendous value in the dialogue, and much to learn from those with whom we disagree."


His mother lives about 15 minutes away from me. How cool is that? Just before we met he said he got an email from William Lane Craig about an upcoming book. How cool is that? And we traded books. That too is cool! I made out on that deal since the paperback of The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion is $75.

He's working on a six volume work that will include the best authors in their respective fields on the problem of evil. He seemed somewhat interested in editing a Zondervan Five Views book on my Outsider Test for Faith, so we'll see if that pans out.

One thing impressive about Chad is that he's first and foremost a philosopher, an educator. He doesn't appear to have an axe to grind, nor anything to sell. From all I can tell he's interested in the search for truth. I'm also impressed that he wants a copy of my new book, How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist, so I'll be sending him one.We'll probably run ideas past each other in the future. Good time. Good person. Good discussion.

Jerry Coyne Announces My New Book!

Well this is quite an honor! In the dedication to my book I mention four scholarly friends I consider to be intellectual giants. These are the scholars who have been the most encouraging to me over the years, and from whom I've learned the most. Care to guess who they might be?

All Scientists Should Be Militant Atheists, by Lawrence Krauss.

LINK.

Hermeneutical Fun with the Bible, Salvation and Christology

Christian salvation is an eclectic mix of cutting and pasting New Testament verses together to make an ancient dogma sound logical.  Accordingly, without human ingenuity, even Jesus himself cannot explain how one is to obtain salvation.  Ironically, the ramblings of Jesus about the Kingdom in the Coptic Gospel of Thomas are on par with those of the Synoptic Gospels or John.

On the "Right Side of Futurology": Atheism and Human Extinction

Dan Barker, echoing an idea expressed by many atheists, describes theology as “a subject without an object.” Since there's little reason for thinking a God exists – much less the God of the Bible – the entire field is ultimately vacuous, despite the grandiloquent rigamarole of, as Jerry Coyne puts it, Sophisticated Theologians(TM). Theology studies nothing. Its heart and soul is a phenomenon that almost certainly doesn't exist.

Dr. Ben Carson's Bible-Based Taxes

I have written a newspaper column about Dr. Ben Carson's Bible-Based taxation system. Aside from the problems of interpreting the "tithe" in its original context, Carson omits the fact that the Bible also mandates that 10% of what ancient Israel produces be devoted to social welfare causes.

An Older Review of My Book WIBA

LINK. Full text below:

13 Jobs Bible-Believing Kentucky Marriage Clerk Probably Shouldn’t Apply For

I had previously posted this on my Facebook wall but not here. Enjoy.

"Here it Comes" My Book Went to Print Today!

The following clip from "The Wrath of Khan" expresses my thoughts as I ponder the impact of my book, How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist.

On Ending the Philosophy of Religion *Again* and *Again*

Let's do it this way. Consider the following five science related books (I could multiply them if needed). Now grant that what we find in them presents the required objective evidence to say religious faith is false and/or foolish. Okay? Grant it. Say it: "Religious faith is false and/or foolish." Good. Then there would be no reason for teaching philosophy of religion classes. None. Doing so would be unnecessary since science has already shown philosophical arguments for religious faiths to be false and/or foolish. Rather than teaching philosophy of religion classes, we should instead teach science related classes. For someone who says we cannot do science without also doing philosophy of some kind, that's not necessarily true.




My name is John W. Loftus. Thank you, thank you very much! ;-)

More In Defense of Ridicule *Sigh*

There seems to be a great amount of (willful?) misunderstanding about my defense of ridicule. It's as if people don't even try to understand. The fact that we laugh at ridiculous beliefs is not going away, nor is the social pressure to conform to one's peers. Several important people agree with me and/or have used ridicule successfully. Without needing to write a whole book on the nuances and uses of ridicule, or on what constitutes good ridicule (which might end up being in the eye of the beholder), let's look at three concrete examples below. I like concrete examples. They work when I don't want to waste time chasing the rabbit of endless qualifications down the rabbit hole.

Chris Matheson's new book is a comedy about God from the biblical texts themselves, titled: The Story of God: A Biblical Comedy about Love (and Hate). I provided a sample of his book right here. It holds up for ridicule the God of the Bible. I wrote a blurb for it. It's laugh out loud funny. Read it and tell me what Chris did wrong, and/or about its effectiveness. My claim is that it's funny because with keen insight Chris accurately teaches us what's supposedly going on behind the scenes.

Since reading is a chore to some people, let's try two posters I think are funny. They're funny to me regardless of whether or not I share them. They're funny to almost all atheists. These kinds of things are what we laugh about at conferences. They are accurate and insightful.

“It’s Over, Dad': Son of Long-time Christian College President Exposes Father’s Affair”

“No one was quite sure why North Greenville University’s long-time president, Dr. Jimmy Epting, hastily announced his resignation from the school he had run for 23 years – but his son may have just filled in a few of the missing pieces.

In a video released to several social media sites including YouTube, Epting’s son, Paul, films himself confronting his dad about his alleged affair and may have even caught him in the act. It’s not a great look for the esteemed former president of a college that has built everything on conservative family values and Christian morality.”  Story and Video Here   

What Is the Point of Me Saying Christians are Deluded?

Here's a recent exchange:

David Bolen: Calling people deluded doesn't help them change their minds, and often prevents it.

John W. Loftus: Oh, okay then, indoctrinated minds, brainwashed minds. You see, deluded minds do not know they are deluded. Putting them in the same category of other people whom they are convinced are deluded, tells them what someone like me thinks of their faith. And no one can say I'm ignorant.

David Bolin: I agree, deluded minds do not know they are deluded. That is why calling them that just offends people and makes it more likely that they will not change their minds, even when they are actually deluded. That also applies to calling people indoctrinated and brainwashed.

John W. Loftus: I have earned the right to tell it like it is. That's my point. I put the full weight of my education and works into it. All they need to do at that point is learn who I am. It's not an ad hominem because I'm an expert, an intellectual on these matters. Now keep in mind I only do this on a mass basis, never in person.

David Bolen: I doubt you've convinced many people, with that method. Also, for all the people you have convinced, you probably made a lot more people more stubborn than ever. If you were more polite you could help a lot more people.

John W. Loftus: No. The people you're thinking about cannot be changed. Read this and then click on the tag 'Ridicule' below it. LINK.

Another Anthology Accepted for Publication With Prometheus Books

Yep that's right and thank you, thank you very much! This will probably be my last anthology. In fact, after publishing eight books in eight years it'll probably be my last book. How many times should I kick a dead horse, right? Christianity, especially the evangelical kind, was already dead in the water before I began writing. Christians just don't know it yet. Eventually they will. I'm glad to have sped up this process by administering doses of reality to deluded minds. This new anthology is along the lines of the others I've produced, named after a NY Times bestselling atheist author. This one is based on the late Victor Stenger's book, God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist.He even submitted a chapter for it in hopes I would do an anthology on his book. It is his last known essay. It's tentatively being called, "Christianity: the Failed Hypothesis." Table of contents and list of authors can be seen below. It should be out one year from now.

Edit on December 17, 2015: This is the final listing of chapters and authors:

(Liberal) Implicit Egotism Fallacy or Bias and Islam

I was talking recently to a fellow liberal who happened to be a Hindu making correctly scathing attacks on UKIP (a right-wing pseudo-libertarian UK political party similar in many ways to the Tea Party), media bias and misrepresentation and, you guessed it, Islam. Again I was somewhat frustrated that an intelligent and informed guy was getting so much right and yet made one big error. I see it so often and have been involved in debating it here and here that I had to answer my critics here. The problem is so common that I am formally going to name it as a fallacy or bias (though no doubt it already exists and you readers will tell me).

What I'm Doing in My New Book, "How To Defend the Christian Faith"

Here's what I'm attempting to do in How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist:

Rich and Powerful American Christians Manage to Please Jesus by Being Persecuted

On Friday, at a Rally for Religious Liberty in Iowa, Ted Cruz lamented the woes of living under liberal fascist tyranny in the United States.

Satire At Its Finest: Chris Matheson Tells The Story of God Most Excellently!

[Re-dated post since this book is now available]

Chris Matheson is a screenwriter whose credits include the movies Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and Rapture-Palooza. If you have never seen the classic movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure do so soon, as it's EXCELLENT! The WIKI page for it is here.

Chris will release a book in just a month, where he writes a comedy about God from the biblical texts themselves, titled: The Story of God: A Biblical Comedy about Love (and Hate). I was very honored to see it beforehand and write a blurb for it, along with Jerry Coyne, Lawrence M. Krauss, Peter Boghossian, Michael Shermer, and others.

Below I'll whet your appetites with the lines from the first section of his hilarious and intelligent book. Humorously he points to some incongruities in the biblical text itself so we can laugh. This is satire and ridicule at it's finest and I highly endorse it. Will it convince people like Randal Rauser? *Cough* It's not meant to. [Rauser has still failed to respond to Tristan Vick's book, The Swedish Fish, Deflating the Scuba Diver and Working the Rabbit's Foot, for which I also wrote a blurb.]