Of this debate Dr. Hector Avalos said to David Marshall: "I’ve seen your debate with Carrier, in which you were clearly outmatched intellectually, theologicaly, historically, and scientifically." Having seen it myself I agree.
"I have always admitted I have no way to distinguish my faith from insanity."
Really? Please tell us more. ;-)
There are many Christians who come to this blog seeking answers to spiritual questions that have vexed their soul. Indeed, while most of the posts here are on the secular level, I want to address a perplexing question with an important message all praying Christians have had to face at one time or another:
Why doesn’t Jesus answer my prayers?
Listen to the agony expressed in this Christian song. I was there at one time. I remember crying out to a God who never answered. It's very painful to leave what you've believed for all of your life. Although I argue against faith I know what it feels like very well. This song made me feel like it was only just yesterday.
The following final exam is from the
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations: Anci
ent Near East 105 (
History of the Ancient Near East: The Levant up to Alexander the Great). The course number in this department is
ANE 105 / Harvard Divinity School course HDS 1118.
Behind all the furor over gay marriage, there seems to be the underlying belief by fundamentalists, and the preachers and pundits of the Religious Right, that the purpose of marriage is this: To be a method of funneling men and women together into a government-backed monogamous, lifetime child-production alliance. They also contend that Traditional Marriage™ is in a weakened state and needs to be protected and propped up by the government, since the future of society, our country, and indeed perhaps civilization itself could be threatened if gay marriage becomes a legally-recognized union. Traditional marriage does seem to be in trouble, and in light of this, I would like to present a solution which addresses all the important root causes. If you are a literal-minded Christian, please stop reading immediately, get a dictionary, and look up the word ‘satire’ before proceeding.
It was just a joke! ;-) What's the best other prank you've ever done on this date?
I'm bored. Are you? Why do I keep kicking the dead horse of Christianity over and over and over again? Could very many people sustain such a focus as I have for seven years of blogging? I've said all that needs to be said. Christianity is dead. Those who continue believing and defending it just don't realize it yet, something akin to Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie Psycho, who believed his dead mother upstairs was still alive and speaking to him. Oh, it's not like I won't offer links to items that debunk Christianity, and it's not like I won't continue defending my books against attacks, or writing about them. It's just that I need to do something different, otherwise I could get too bored to continue. And it's not like I plan on doing something that far afield since I'll still be writing in areas I have an expertise in. Here is my plan, at least for the foreseeable future:
Forget the Rapture, the Mayan calendar, the sinister United Nations, and socialist/Muslim/antichrist President Obama. Fundamentalist Christians know what will trigger the end of America, Western Civilization, and possibly herald the start of the Great Tribulation. Gay marriage! That’s right folks, if same-gender marriage is recognized by the Federal government; if gays are extended the same rights and protections as straights, Very Bad Things will happen!
Who knew that the future of the planet dangled from the slim thread of a word definition? Who knew that marriage, which has existed in such a variety of cultural forms throughout history, could be neatly squeezed into the Traditional Marriage™ box and that Christians owned the rights to it?
"atheistspirit" sent me this criticism of the Kalam for your consideration. Enjoy.
Dusty Smith bills himself as "The People's Atheist! Making a mockery out of Religion. One vid at a time." Here are three of his vids. The first two offer a hilarious commentary on the History Channel's "The Bible" series (Parts 1-4) in under 11 minutes. The third one concerns the title to this post. *Warning* this is raw comedy with cuss words in it.
The central doctrine of Christianity is found in its eschatology that the dead will live eternally, especially if they died in righteous faith. Thus, the fear of death and it’s limitations on human mortality can be overcome via faith. Though they are few in number, some of these righteous believers are given guided tours by angels which reveal the states of the afterlife with wonderful views of paradise (Heaven) as well as the horrible suffering of the wicked being tormented (Hell).
More clichéd Christian ‘challenges’ which have been floating around for a while now. Just a little more shit to clean up and then we’ll wash our hands of this mess.
“You can’t see love or air. I suppose you don’t believe in them either?”
Translation:
“Please God, don’t let them bring up oxytocin levels, or the fact that air has weight!”
A friend of mine placed some ads in the NYT and in the Harvard Crimson to all students, faculty, staff and alumnae. I thought I'd let others see them. What do you think? Click on them for a better view.
This book seeks to help readers view religion from an outside perspective, to better understand the irrationality of believing in one god (or set of gods) over all others. And it encourages believers to apply the skepticism they have toward other religions to their own. LINK.
Blurbs can be seen below:
could be so unreasonable or utterly ignorant about atheism, but he is. The prerequisite for offering criticisms of atheism is to understand it. Let's explore his ignorance, below:
is presently ranked 2nd place, or 7,000th over-all. It most likely won't stay there, but it sure is nice to see. What I can't figure out is how many books this represents.
that the issue of sex will be the demise of Evangelical Christianity, he was on to something big!