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:
. 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
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.
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.
"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!!
Christian Professor Alvin Plantinga is Retiring
Yep, this is true. A fitting epilogue of this worthy Christian adversary was written by The Teapot Atheist.
My Debate With Dinesh D'Souza
I'm doing some preparation for my upcoming debate next Tuesday at the University of Illinois. What's interesting is that I've got to find a way to answer his arguments succinctly and in just a few sentences. While I have my own answers, how would you respond succinctly with an economy of words to the following types of claims?
Best Philosophy of Religion Books of the Decade
My friend Luke at Common Sense Atheism loves lists so here is another one, this time on the best Philosophy of Religion books of the decade. Want to suggest any others?
An Important Epistemological Question by James McGrath
If we adopt a skeptical approach, we are less likely to believe things that are false, but will also probably not believe many things that are true but for which evidence is lacking. If we take a credulous approach, by believing everything we may be certain that we have believed everything that is true, but we will inevitably believe many things that are false as well.
Which approach do you consider preferable? Is there any real way to find a middle ground between them? And for those whose religious standpoint leads them to believe that God prefers one or the other of these approaches (or looks favorably on humans who adopt one or the other), why do you think that might be the case?
Link
Tony Hickman Makes Headlines by Joe Holman
A young Tony Hickman (8) of Andrew Falls, Michigan attended what could well have been his last day of school Monday at St. Rose Elementary. The second-grader, mute as the cameras rolled while being removed from school property by his parents, had no opinion except to say: “It was a drawing. I did not do nothing wrong.”
Link.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The Great God Debate at the University of Illinois: Dinesh D'Souza vs. John W. Loftus
Below is the Press Release for this debate. Hope to see some of my readers there.
Christians Do Not Believe After All
Christians claim that people who do horrendous evils simply refuse to change despite God's repeated attempts to help them see the error of their ways. If I were God I could change anyone’s mind if I chose to. I could harden a person's heart like the Pharaoh’s. I could speak audibly to them, appear to them, or do a wondrous deed for them. That’s anyone, as in ANYONE. That Christians refuse to acknowledge this tells me something about them. They do not believe after all. They only believe what is convenient to believe. ;-)
Peter Kirk on the Haitian Disaster: Defending the Indefensible
I'm amused most of the time at what it takes to defend the Christian faith. I am even more amused when a defender of the faith lacks the required thinking skills to do so, like Kirk. Remember, he's the one who assures us that it wasn't God's fault for the Haitian disaster. Nothing personal here, but with critical thinking skills like this no wonder he believes. Let's take a look:
Why People Walk Away From Their Faith
I had previously wrote about Ruth Tucker's talk to the Freethought Association of West Michigan, in which she gave 5 myths about those who walk away from their faith. See here. Ken Pulliam recently mentioned this talk and highlighted the fact that Tucker went on to list the real reasons people give for leaving their faith:
Shayne Looper: John Loftus Did Not Reject True Christianity
I believe that Mr. Loftus was right to reject his beliefs. The former pastor did well to turn away from his god — because his god was not the real one. His view of God, as even my cursory reading made clear, was inconsistent with, and contradictory to, the view of God presented by Jesus in the Bible.Hey Shayne, you just made my case for me!
The god John Loftus renounced merited rejection. The God made known by Jesus merits devotion. The degree to which a person’s view of God conforms to reality will determine the degree of loyalty that person has to the faith. It is hard to remain true to an illusion. Link
Peter Kirk Responds To Assure Us God is Not to Blame for Haiti's Disaster
I previously wrote: "We atheists do not revel in tragedy. We hate the fact that people suffer in this world as all people do. It's just that in times like these it's good to be an atheist. Earthquakes happen. That's all there is to it. What we revel in are attempts by Christians to justify God's actions. They are pathetic, all of them. And guess what? God isn't to blame for the Haitian disaster! Nope. God is completely good and loving towards us all. His ways are perfect. Atheists like myself and Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins, and Valerie Tarico have had a heyday with Christian responses so far." Link. Peter Kirk showed up in the comments with some answers.
Paul Helm on "God and Spacelessness"
Here is a summary of Paul Helm’s “God and Spacelessness,” Philosophy 55 (1980):
Guess What? God Isn't to Blame for the Haitian Disaster!
We atheists do not revel in tragedy. We hate the fact that people suffer in this world as all people do. It's just that in times like these it's good to be an atheist. Earthquakes happen. That's all there is to it. What we revel in are attempts by Christians to justify God's actions. They are pathetic, all of them. And guess what? God isn't to blame for the Haitian Disaster! Nope. God is completely good and loving towards us all. His ways are perfect. Atheists like myself and Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins and Valerie Tarico have had a heyday with Christian responses so far. Now there is another one.
Stupid is As Stupid Does: Defending the Faith Makes a Person Stupid
When it comes to defending the faith even PhD's show they are ignorant. I'm not joking either and it should be obvious to see. I previously endorsed Richard Dawkins' column on Pat Robertson's comments about the Haitian disaster. Then comes Glenn Peoples who said of me:
Christian Police Your Own Ranks: Bill Wiese Saw Hell
This guy is wacko. But here's a problem as I see it. Christians believe because they claim to have experienced God, and yet most Christians in today's world do not accept a fire and brimstone hell. Many others argue for an annihilation view of hell. So, why do most Christians discount Bill Wiese's experience and yet trust their own experiences? Bill is so sure of what he experienced, you see. But it's ALL IN THE HEAD, all of it!
On SETI, the Brain/Mind Problem and the Best Explanation of the Evidence
I'm carrying on an email exchange with an old friend who studied under Norman Geisler and did further Ph.D. work in philosophy. He had asked me about the SETI project and what it would take for me to accept that there might be extra-terrestrial life in the universe as a parallel to accepting the evidence that there might be a supernatural intelligent being, God. Here are my rambling thoughts on this:
My Critique of Open Theism
I was asked to offer a critique of Open Theism. At one time I embraced it so I'm very familiar with it. But it seems to be an in house argument. Other Christians who are not open theists effectively criticize it. I try not to tell Christians what they should believe. If I spend time critiquing it then I have not debunked Christianity because other Christians would enjoy my critique. I try to offer a more fundamental critique of Christianity and everyone in it, especially conservatives. Conservatives as a whole are my target, not one branch of them.
The Inspirational Power of Dreams
I don't think those of us who live in the modern world quite understand the the power of dreams in the pre-scientific ancient world. Our brains need to dream while we sleep, and they do so as the imaginative side runs wild with our current thoughts. Some of our dreams seem very real and sometimes they're bizarre. You know what I'm talking about. But can you imagine a world where no one had a clue why they dreamed? That's why we find dreams figuring prominently in the Bible, from Pharaoh, to the dreams of the prophets, Nebuchadnezzar, and Pilate's wife. It was a mixed up superstitious world where they concluded dreams were sent from the gods as divine messages. This is something we can no longer accept and just one more reason why I reject the Bible as inspired by God since dreams were a major source of its inspiration. Even today people consider dreams as evidence of a spiritual world. Poppycock!
Solar Powered Bibles for Haiti: Why Some Christians Feel Compelled to Exploit Disaster
Written by Valerie Tarico:
While Doctors without Borders was struggling to get anesthetics for amputations into Haiti, an Albuquerque group queued up aid of their own sort: 600 solar powered talking Bibles. Even now, food, water, and medicine are having trouble reaching Haitians because of damaged transportation facilities and supply lines, but the missionary group says some of their Bibles are on the way.
Bobby Kern Is Taking the Debunking Christianity Challenge
He is a 32 year old student minister, on a break, who is currently working on his Ph.D. in Family Science. This is his official announcement. You can find the DC Challenge right here. Don't accept any imitations. This is the real deal. Come on. Consider doing this yourself as others have. What do you have to lose?
An Index From Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot
As you know I recommend Luke's Blog Common Sense Atheism. He has a podcast that I also recommend where he interviews several top notch thinkers on both sides of our debates. Check it out. I heard from my friend Dr. James Sennett that Luke is planning on interviewing him sometime soon. I'm really interested in that one.
Why Humans Build Their Societies on Fault Lines in the Earth
I'm posting this again to emphasize what a great program it is. In this must see BBC video (total 60 minutes)...
Iain Stewart tells the epic story of how the planet has shaped our history. With spectacular images, surprising stories and a compelling narrative, the series discovers the central role played in human history by four different planetary forces.
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