You Can't Trust Science!

Just so you know, I had no idea this video was rigged to have that particular image as the default. So, whatever, be adult about it please.

Or not, I don't really care.

Greg, that was a disappointing video that failed badly after it brought up what religion has brought vs science. I could do a similar one showing science and scientists in a bad light by using the same logic they used.

I could create strawmen and cherry-pick examples from both sides--religion started relief programs at home and abroad to alleviate hunger and poverty, created vibrant communities where before there was chaos and high crime rates, taught people to look after one another, to stand up for the poor, oppressed and rally against injustice. It inspired scientists to look for order in things as the creator they believed in was an orderly creator, it brought forth great scientists who attributed their discoveries to their beliefs, and has given meaning to millions of lives.

What has science brought us? Methods of mass murder in the form of atomic bomb and chemical weapons, misogynistic thugs and bullies, a me-first mindset where knowledge trumps ethics, and scientists faking data and stealing money, a system where wrongs are ignored, and where professors molesting their students is overlooked, and leaving people with a bleak nihilistic mindset with very little hope.

We can so easily pick out logically flawed arguments when they're employed against our view. Why is it so hard to spot the same logically flawed arguments when they support our views instead? PZ, Dawkins, and some of the commenters on the Panda's Thumb blog consistently fail in this regard.

I can tell you what will happen to that video. It will be shown at some youth groups and church study groups, and people will be asked to discuss it. They'll spot the flaws in it and debunk it, and they'll come away thinking that if this is an example of the strength of the arguments "atheists" have, then the atheists are in desperate straits trying to shore up an untenable philosophy with jello.

The religious will come away convinced more than ever that they're the ones who are capable of critical thinking, and that they're the ones who are not blinded by secularism, and that they're the ones who are on the right track.

You can tell a lot about a position based on the strength of the arguments against it. I don't have to be an expert in global warming or evolutionary theory to know how strong those positions are because the arguments against it are so transparent, weak and filled with cherry-picked distortions and lies.

This is a pathetic video which serves up strawmen and actually lends support to the very thing they're trying to dismiss. Talk about scoring your own goal. We deserve, and actually have, far better rhetoric.

btw, based on some of your thoughtful posts I'm pretty sure you know it is a bad video too.