
Elder Harvey Burnett recently posted his own thoughts on the debate between Lawrence Krauss and William Lane Craig. I thought his insights were well worth reading. Follow the link to see them.
The Dunamis Word: Atheist SmackDown
Personal blog that will cover my personal interests. I write about Christian Theology and Apologetics, politics, culture, science, and literature.

I'm not sure I worded that clearly, so here is a summary of what I am trying to say:
- Krauss has a scumbag friend who has exploited child prostitutes for sex.
- Krauss was an imbecile in the manner he chose to defend his friend.
- Since the pedophile is Krauss's friend, Krauss's behavior might be looked at through the lens: it is never easy to throw a friend under the bus--even when he richly deserves it.
- The free-thinking Gnu crowd is incapable of such nuance, because what Krauss did strikes them as anti-feminist, and nothing anti-feminist deserves a nuanced look.
Why is the multiverse theory science, and ID not science? Can we appeal to the unobserved and unobservable, so long as it's not personal? Can one, with a straight face, reject theism because of Ockham's razor, and then believe in the multiverse?
Victor,
I imagine one brand of a skeptic's response to be something like, anything natural is more probable than one instance of the supernatural.
As the publishers describe Dr. Jones' book:Follow the link to hear the program.
"Walking around in a blur? Afraid to talk about Jesus? Not sure how Christians fit with other religions? One or Two will help you see a world of difference... Using the apostle Paul's structure in Romans 1, Peter Jones shows why your choice affects everything you think and do: how you think about God (theology), what you worship (spirituality) and how you live your sexuality. Seeing a world of difference and distinctions will help you in making a world of difference."
For starters,Eve is the one blamed for being convinced and led astray in the garden of eden by the naughty snake that convinces her to eat the fruit of the tree so that they will become as gods, Eve then leads adam astray by helping convince Adam to do likewise through being led by Eves example,thus causing downfall of man.
3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3, New International Version, ©2011)
To top matters off evidently God made the male the head and the female the helper.Christians may try to argue this only means man bears the primary responsibility to lead the partnership in a God-glorifying direction.But this still tends to suggest that somehow the spiritual aspect of man is thought above that of a woman.Why do theists beat around the bush,if woman and man were thought equal there should have been absolutely no reason at all to even bother to discuss the male as the head and the female as being the helper.
3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. - 1 Corinthians 11:3
Ecclesiasticus 25:24 Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.
14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. (1 Timothy 2:14, New International Version, ©2011)Heavens to Betsy! IT looks like Paul disagrees with who ever wrote Ecclesiasticus, which you would be hard pressed to find many Christians or Jew to accept it as Scripture - from Jesus' time to now.
This religion is harmless ? pffffffttttt !
25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:25-27, New International Version, ©2011)
The farther away we move from the Bible the worst things are. The reason why the world is messed up and all the atrocities that Gandalf complains about happened was due to people ignoring what God said.
Maybe liberal religion is less harmless ,the further away it gets from the "origin" of this original religion.But still that does little to help suggest this original-religion is honestly harmless.
Men mistreat women because of their own lusts and evil in their hearts not because the Bible tells them to do it. Now Gandalf brings his hit parade of Bible passages that supposedly show that women should be subjugated as a sub species. Yaaaawn. Let's see if this assesment actually hold up.
From "origins" of this ancient religious thought of gender bias, evolved much of the bashing and beating of women folk we do still sometimes see continuing within our societies in general today.Sure liberal religious folk might have now joined the anti women-abuse movement in these more modern times,but sadly its a matter of too-little to late ,when "religious thought" in past history had already left the gate wide open and some "faith-groups" been involved helping give the green-light for such bigoted promotion of this sort of gender bias, that now sadly has also infected our whole societies like a cursed plague ,that still ends up helping produce some men who will end up in jail for mistreating women.
Genesis 3:16: Adam's role is to be Eve's master.
A man could marry (literally "become the master of the woman") as often as he desired. In Genesis 4:19
19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. (Genesis 4:19, New International Version, ©2011)
Genesis 16:2 : Sarah gave permission to her husband Abraham to engage in sexual intercourse with her maid, Hagar
Genesis 19:8 Lot offers his two virgin daughters to be raped instead
Genesis 21:10: A man could simultaneously keep numerous concubines
10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” (Genesis 21:10, New International Version, ©2011)
Exodus 20, 21: A woman as the property of her father. At marriage, her ownership was transferred to her new husband
Leviticus 12:1-5 Quotes God as stating that a woman who has given birth to a boy is ritually unclean for 7 days. If the baby is a girl, the mother is unclean for 14 days.
Leviticus 27:6 A child aged 1 month to five years of age was worth 5 shekels if a boy and 3 shekels if a girl.
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the LORD by giving the equivalent value, 3 set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; 4 for a female, set her value at thirty shekels; 5 for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and of a female at ten shekels; 6 for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels of silver; 7 for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels and of a female at ten shekels. 8 If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford. (Leviticus 27:1-8, New International Version, ©2011)
Numbers 5:11-31 Women subjected to nasty tests to find out if guilty of an affair.No such test for men
Numbers 27:8-11, Moses describes the rules of inheritance that God has stated. If a man dies, his son inherits the estate; his daughter gets nothing.
This particular passage is difficult given our modern sensibilities. Do you really think that any other nation had laws that a captive women could be any more than a sex slave and not a wife? Would she be treated as a full member of society with all the rights and privileges that came with being a full wife? Would she had gotten a month to mourn her family? I think not. I also would find it hard to believe that a man would marry a woman whom she did not want to marry him knowing all the stuff that was required of him towards her.
Deuteronomy 21:10-13 describes how a soldier can force a woman captive to marry him without regard for her wishes
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 requires that a woman be a virgin when she is married. If she has had sexual relations while single in her father's house, then she would be stoned to death. There were no similar virginity requirements for men.
This was written for the woman benefit. Having been dishonored in that culture would have meant no one would most likely marry her. This would ensure that the man would have to take care of her, considering that she would have no other recourse.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 requires that a virgin woman who has been raped must marry her attacker, no matter what her feelings are towards the rapist.
This is why Jesus answered the question "Can a man divorce his wife for any reason?" The answer was "No!" See Matthew 24:1-11,
Deuteronomy 24:1 describes the procedure for obtaining a divorce. This can only be initiated by the husband, not by the wife
This law was to keep order in society. Women and Men have roles and I suspect that this law is to help keep those roles respected.
Deuteronomy 25:11: If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them grabs the other man's testicles, her hand is to be chopped off. There is no penalty if a male relative were to grab the other man
So. The first people who got the news of the Resurrection were women! They told the disciples and then the male disciples saw Jesus. He had female followers. Ever hear of Phoebe who was a leader in the church?
12 disciples of Jesus were recorded as all male
Jesus did. Look at Matthew 19 and Mark 12! He said you can't just kick your wife to the curb when you get tired of her. Besides we don't have all of Jesus' teachings. We don't know that he never said anything about it.
Mark 12:18-27 Jesus doesnt bother to preach against the sexism and unfairness of Jewish law (from Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
Racist Jesus insults women referred to her as a dog or sub-human Matthew 15:22-28 Mark 7:25-30Um, Jesus was emphasizing a point not tossing her to the side. He was showing that she had greater faith than people who were supposed to have it.
1 Corinthians 11:7-9:"For a man...is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head."
I've written on what this means. Follow the link
1 Corinthians 14:34-35: "...women should remain silent in the churches.
Ephesians 5:22-24: "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife
23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:23-33, New International Version, ©2011)
1 Timothy 2:11-15:"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent
Titus 2:4: "...train the younger women...to be subject to their husbands
1 Peter 3:7: Women are referred to as "the weaker vessel"
7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. (1 Peter 3:7, New International Version, ©2011)
No where is the Bible teaching that women should be subjugated in any way. "Submission" is about a woman voluntarily trusting God. There were women in the early church who were leaders. Check out this link on one of those leaders.
And there is plenty more verses that caused harm, whether intended or not harm is harm.Whether through ancient ignorance of man or not , this was indeed about religion ,and religious views did not have the ability to be deemed wrong and evolve and change fast the same way that science does.If use of nuclear bombs was connected to religion and religious beliefs,the grave danger of these beliefs might become a scurge that is hard to budge for thousands of years.Just as is subjection of women still a scurge that still is hard to budge with regards to women being given equal rights,in becoming leaders within some churches to this very day.
I disagree that the blame for the subjugation of women can be laid at the Bible. The text just don't say what Gandalf says they do.
I would totally agree than Dan Wilkinson and his liberal friends are surely very nice people,most will be genuine people who mean well, and definitly are a big step forward.But for them to try and suggest these religious beliefs have no responsibility for heinous acts commited in the name of a religious belief system.To me seems lots like trying to say people killed by nuclear bombs,is not the responsibility of the existence of these nuclear bombs.
And while liberal folk try to water down sanitize and sanction the adverse detrimental effects of religion.Liberal folk liberally continue to also help enable unwarrented respect of religion,which in turn continues to convert folk toward liberal faith,many who through their respect of religion will also allow for the laws of "freedom of religion" to continue onward unchallenged, inturn "cementing" the rights of some faithful folk in the more abusive fundamental faiths ,to also continue onward abusing people existing among their faith groups, totally unchallenged.
When people twist and subvert scripture, they can only cause harm as history has shown.
Thus why i suggest, the liberal faithful cannot honestly lay claim of being so very harmless either
When they finally have the guts to ALL promptly step forward ,boldly speak-up! and stand alongside atheists,and petition our governments and authorities, demanding that old laws surrouding "freedom of religion" that currently still allow for this faith-abuse ,need to be reconsidered and amended .Then they might be honest in laying their claim to being harmless.
Until such time,their liberal faith also liberally allows for the faith abuses of abusive fundamental faith groups,to continue to continue onward unchallenged.
Ahhhhhhreh? LK, go to the board and write 500 times: cosmological fine-tuning is not the same as the anthropic principle.
If, as liberal theologians tell us, the “necessary” evils of this world are exactly what God would produce given his penchant for human free will and for physical “freedom” like the movement of tectonic plates, then would a nicer world disprove the God Hypothesis? Don’t hold your breath, for the nature of the God Hypothesis is that no observation could ever disprove it. That’s why it’s not scientific at all, and why religion and science will never find an amiable concordat. Link.
In the most recent issue of Free Inquiry (April/May 2011) Mallory tells of tragic time when his son Paul narrowly escaped death. His older brother Bill came to visit Paul in the hospital to pray for him and he recovered. Mallory says: "I imagine my brother believes he delivered us a miracle...Whatever happened, Paul is the one who did it, that much I know...God is dead, but Paul's still going." Now there's a person who doesn't accept anecdotal evidence! The interesting thing to me is what Mallory said about Bill: "I still remember when he got religion back in High School--the misfit debate team nerd had found a community to join. Over the subsequent years, his inexorable transition from science-lover to science-denier was fascinating, though heartbreaking, to witness." Mallory, we all have black sheep in our families, eh? ;-)
...when one rebuts a particular criticism of one’s own position by showing one’s opponent’s position is subject to the same criticism; this is done instead of showing that one’s own position is not susceptible to the criticism.