Sunday, April 17, 2011

Why the “I Just Believe in One Less God than You” Argument Does not Work | Parchment and Pen

In another gem of a tweet from Brian Auten I found the following link to an article by
“I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one less god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” —Stephen F Roberts

Funny thing is I've heard this same argument multiple times from atheists who comment on John Lofus' blog Debunking Christianity. I've posted links to the answer for this objection in several posts on this blog from several people. I like this particular treatment also.

Why the “I Just Believe in One Less God than You” Argument Does not Work | Parchment and Pen
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eBook: The Gospel of Judas, by Mike Licona | The Apologist

Even tweets from Brian Auten are helpful. He tweeted the following link to a short essay from Michael Licona. I love Licona's work and this insightful piece comes as no surprise considering scholarship like his.

eBook: The Gospel of Judas, by Mike Licona | The Apologist
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Fighting Colonialism At Home Colonialism is the establishment,… | The Angry Black Woman

Fighting Colonialism At Home

Colonialism
is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Colonialism is a process whereby sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropole and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by colonists - people from the metropole. Colonialism is a set of unequal relationships: between the metropole and the colony, and between the colonists and the indigenous population.


Fighting Colonialism At Home Colonialism is the establishment,… | The Angry Black Woman
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Saturday, April 16, 2011

THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Racist Republican Strikes Again: Obama's Parents Were Monkeys

Opposition poster for the 1866 election. Geary...Image via WikipediaThis is "post-racial America"! Or so I keep being told. I guess someone forgot to tell Marilyn Davenport. She forward an e-mail picture of a 3 chimpanzees dressed like a human family with President Obama's face superimposed over the Baby's face with the Caption, “Now you know why — No birth certificate!” She said it was only a joke, but in order for her to say that one of the following must be true:

a. She's ignorant as to how black people have been stereotyped and mocked throughout American History.
b. She thinks we are all stupid.

I like this particular article because it bring up a point that I haven't been thinking a lot about. I thought that this "birther" thing would have been squashed by now, but as the blogger points out that Arizona has taken this a whole step farther.

It's bad enough that Arizona passed a "Birther" law which requires anyone (who they think is Kenyan) to submit a birth certificate, or show that you're circumcised (if you have a penis) to be on the ballot. This has never been done before in history (yeah white folks, see how they change rules once Black people get in the game?). Now you have this so-called non-racist because she has Black friends, continuing in racist tradition. Oh yeah, watch the following video and listen to them detail her racist and racism-defending antics as well as those of others. Hopefully Republican officials get her out of there; she gotta go. Everybody knows her, "I have Black friends," response is quite typical.
It's a scary world.





THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY: Racist Republican Strikes Again: Obama's Parents Were Monkeys
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THE APOLOGETIC FRONT: Richard Dawkins Interviews/Debates Wendy Wright

Mike Felker posted a great video worth watching. It's an interview Richard Dawkins did with Wendy Wright.

Wendy Wright is the current president and CEO of Concerned Women for America, a Conservative Christian political action group active in the United States. She joined the organization in 1999 and served as its executive vice president before being named president on January 30, 2006. Wright was listed as one of "The 100 Most Powerful Women of Washington" in 2006 by Washingtonian magazine. Wright is a frequent spokesperson for conservative causes, including pro-life and international issues.


I think Mike brings up an important point: Why is Dawkins discussing the technicalities of Evolution with a woman who isn't a scientist or in the field? When you read about where the interview was used it becomes obvious why Dawkins would do something like this:

This interview was recorded for the Channel 4 documentary series "The Genius of Charles Darwin". The Genius of Charles Darwin is a three-part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.
It was first shown in August 2008 on Channel 4. It won Best TV Documentary Series 2008 at the British Broadcast Awards in January 2009.


Given that it was used to promote Dawkins' worldview, it's not surprising to see the attempt to make people who don't think macro evolution truly explains why life is what it is on Earth and are against abortion as stupid and backward. Dawkins runs for the challenge of dialoguing with people who disagree with the conclusions he's come to yet are also scientists. Why didn't he talk to Michael Behe or Stephen C. Meyer or any of the scientists, engineers, or mathematicians that don't think all life descended from one cell. It's a lie that all educated people agree with that proposition.




THE APOLOGETIC FRONT: Richard Dawkins Interviews/Debates Wendy Wright
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Aslan is Not a Tame Lion: The Christchurch Earthquake Beyond Our Questions | MandM

There is an article on Matthew Flannagan's blog that requires comment and full attention. It's introduction says:

In the aftermath of the second Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand, “official” Christian spokesmen were exercised to assure people that God, the Living God, had nothing to do with earthquakes. They defalcated. Their theodicy was that their god was absent. In the face of likely outrage, church officials revealed that they worship, in fact, the idol god of eighteenth century Deism, not the God of Scripture.

The article is important because it reflects a theodicy that can be implied to all of the hard questions that come up before us and that we must live through. This is a good article and worth pondering.

Aslan is Not a Tame Lion: The Christchurch Earthquake Beyond Our Questions | MandM
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FistBump of the Day - Faithful Thinkers: What is Faith?

Luke Nix offers some great and insightful comments and observation about what faith is and what impedes having faith in God in our lives. Here is one of my favorite things he said:
If people were willing to understand the Christian God as He is (not as we want Him to be or think that He is so we can reject Him), man would find that trust in the Christian God is a very reasonable faith. - Luke Nix
Amen and Amen.


Faithful Thinkers: What is Faith?
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A New Look at the Exodus | Dr. Claude Mariottini – Professor of Old Testament

If Moses and the Israelites had social networks on the Internet 4,000 years ago, the Exodus may would have looked like this. Thanks, Dr. Claude Mariottini for calling attention to this videl




A New Look at the Exodus | Dr. Claude Mariottini – Professor of Old Testament
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Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: Evidence for Jesus' Trial and Death as real history

Here is an amazing article on the oldest fragment of the New Testament and what it means.

Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: Evidence for Jesus' Trial and Death as real history
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5 Ancient Acts of War That Changed the Face of the Earth | Cracked.com

Here is an article listing how 5 acts of war changed human history and the face of the earth. Informative and funny. Could do without the profanity but it does drive the points home.

5 Ancient Acts of War That Changed the Face of the Earth | Cracked.com
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Fallacy Friday: False Cause & Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc - Apologetics 315

Yesterday, Brian Auten and Matthew Flannagan teamed again to provide another great article detailing another logical fallacy. Follow the link to see it!

Fallacy Friday: False Cause & Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc - Apologetics 315
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EXCLUSIVE Interview: Shannon Lee

Bruce Lee was a Renaissance Man. I saw a link from Facebook of an interview of his daughter, Shannon. Shannon is overseeing her late father's estate and legacy. I really enjoyed the article and I recommend reading it and seeing what she's up to. I think her father would be proud of her.

EXCLUSIVE Interview: Shannon Lee
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Friday, April 15, 2011

Faithful Thinkers: Video: People Are Basically Good

In a word: Nope! But check out the video.





Faithful Thinkers: Video: People Are Basically Good
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Christianity & the Tooth Fairy: John Lennox Audio - Apologetics 315

John LennoxImage by Medienmagazin pro via FlickrBrian Auten has posted a discussion by Dr. John Lennox He discusses the following: Does belief in Jesus Christ require a suspension of logic? Can Christianity be proven to be true? Is belief in God just like believing in the Tooth Fairy? Brian posted links to both the audio and video.




Christianity & the Tooth Fairy: John Lennox Audio - Apologetics 315
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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Answering Muslims: Shariamerica: Islam, Obama, and the Establishment Clause

David Wood has posted a great video about how our government is placating Islam. I think it is important. I want to know why when Christians speak out, the cry comes out that there must be a separation of church and state and the state should not encourage one religion over another. Yet, it subsidizes insulting Christianity yet protects Islam. Really inconsistent.




Answering Muslims: Shariamerica: Islam, Obama, and the Establishment Clause
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Vintage Computing and Gaming | Archive » Jerry Lawson (1940-2011)

Gerald Lawson had a profound impact on my life and society but until today I had never heard of him. He recently died.

I am very saddened to announce the passing of a truly important figure in the history of video games. Jerry Lawson died Saturday morning, April 9th, 2011, at the age of 70.
Lawson was notable not only for being a rare African American electronic engineer in Silicon Valley, but also for leading the team that created the world's first ROM cartridge-based video game console. I speak, of course, of the Fairchild Channel F, which hit the market in August 1976.

Think about it: without the Fairchild Channel F, no Atari, NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast, Gamboys, or any of the consoles we take for grant it. In short, no Video Game industry.

Vintage Computing and Gaming | Archive » Jerry Lawson (1940-2011)
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Lectures Available for Download | Reflections

Here is a link to many lectures by Dr. Ken Samples. I really like this guy's work.


Lectures Available for Download | Reflections
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A Sermon for Ergun Caner and Norman Geisler

Dr. James White posted this interesting sermon to contrast Dr. Ergun Caner's testimony as to how to to witness and evangelize Muslims. Very interesting contrast.

Here's Dr. Patterson's sermon on the 9th Commandment.

A Sermon for Ergun Caner and Norman Geisler
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Sam Harris, Norman Geisler, and the Non-Denominational Denomination, on Today's DL

Today, Dr. James White finished his comments on the Craig/Harris debate from last week on his webcast. Follow the link to hear the program.

Sam Harris, Norman Geisler, and the Non-Denominational Denomination, on Today's DL
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Debunking Christianity: Goodness Without God is Good Enough: William Lane Craig vs Paul Kurtz

A couple of atheist have been through dredging up old debates Dr. William Lane Craig has done in the past on Morality. I think it's to make up for the Sam Harris.  For example, John Loftus posted the following:

This debate took place in 2001. Bill Craig has been debating this topic for a long time. Link. A book came out in 2009 with a transcript of this debate along with other essays: Is Goodness without God Good Enough?: A Debate on Faith, Secularism, and Ethics.Check it out. I am.

I realize that the truth is that all of the debates and comments that I have heard from Dr. Craig are the same regarding Morality. Anyone who debates him should know what his arguments are going to be and if they have had any decent rebuttal and alternatives they should have brought them. I appreciate Loftus posting links to the following debate. I don't agree with Dr. Craig on every single point of his theology but we do agree that God is the basis for morality. Without God objective morality is not possible. I'll update this post when I decide if I think Paul Kurtz did better than Sam Harris.





Debunking Christianity: Goodness Without God is Good Enough: William Lane Craig vs Paul Kurtz
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