Some arguments against atheism just cannot be answered. Seriously.
Feel the Love! Not to mention the Peace and Joy. QED:
Speaking of Dawkins, the hilarious episode of PZ's expulsion from the screening of Ben Stein's Science Fiction movie, Expelled, is going viral on the net. Don't blame Stein, though. He's doing it for the children:
More like this
Does anyone remember a few months ago, when I wrote about Ben Stein? No? Here, then, I'll jog your memory.
The culture wars are proceeding as expected, and Ben Stein's reputation is following a predictable trajectory.
Or so it seems.
Donald Trump won the 2016 election with 306 votes to Hillary Clinton's 232 votes. That is a spread of 74 votes.
As Ben Stein's egregiously bad Expelled opens in Canada, the Canadian press is getting a taste of the offensive bile
First video: That would be the sharpshooter fallacy. Shoot a nice tight pattern of holes on the wall of the barn and then paint a target over the holes.
God's ways are mysterious - the famous answer that religious people pull out of the bag when they are stumped. Implies a God that likes toying with his creation eh?
God is a sadist.
That's about all I got out of 17 years of catholic school (most of them after I decided it was all BS at age 9). One has to tow the line in a strict family, but once I was about 16 church pews never saw my ass again. I have enough problems without making my self believe some sky fairy hates me if I am "bad".
In response to G in INdiana-
I think Jack Miles certainly showed the nature of the god of the old testament in his book "God, A Biography." I'm sure it is available at Prometheus Books and other sources.
Miles approaches this god as one would review a character in a literary work. Using material taken from the individual books of the old testament he traces the subtle and not so subtle changes in the nature of the god so many consider unchangingly just and timelessly loving.
Reading his book was a walk down memory lane for me, a seriously backslidden Jesus Freak (blush). Miles helped me to revisit all those wonderful stories of creation, expulsion, law giving, war making, slave taking and so on. The change in perspective re my previous perspective was jarring, yet confirming. God was a sadist, among other unsavory things.
The one point shown in the book that stands out in memory is this: Throughout the old testament, the words of the god are given as dialog, words actually spoken and actually heard. That is until one quite specific point, in fact in one particular book. The very last words that this god speaks are recorded by the scribes of the book of Job. That simple observation played a key role in being quite comfortably apostate.
I'll wager three kilos of martial salts that you would enjoy reading this, and I think Miles may have written a second book that covers the newer testaments. Check it out.
Oops. In my cleverness is did not spell "martian" correctly.
The video did not leave me feeling the love so prominently mentioned. I got the impression of seething undercurrents of violence.
Why can't life just be? Why complicate things with sky fairies and stories? Life just is. Taking control of your own life, and making decisions for yourself, gives the individual power. Learning to live with one's self and with others is what life is about. A bit of give and take. We learn from our mistakes. Life just is. Nothing else.
Tegumai: LOL. Oh, you noticed?
Thanks for the tip, Crudely. I will check it out. Fortunately I have never been the recipient of any nasty god surprises, but ALL of my religious relatives have. Amazing how that works. Guess I am too cynical for god to bother with.
Yes, it is amazing how that works. Glad to hear of your good luck.