JCC Arena The Theist/Atheist Thunderdome™

I wonder what timmo thinks of all of that...

 

well i guess the poll is interesting but the guy they interviewed is hardly surprising in his stance. he works for francis collin's "biologos" outfit. collins is an eminent geneticist and has always been upfront with the whole "yeah im an evangelical christian but young earth creatonism is wrong" thing. hitchens (or somebody, i think it was hitchens, maybe the dawk, maybe both) used to throw his name around in debates in a "One of the Good Ones" sort of context

 

Interactive Visualisation of Biblical contradictions.

http://bibviz.com/

 

Looks awful and doesn't work properly on my netbook. Not very intelligently designed at all.

 

Well played, sir.

 

Religious kids have trouble separating fiction from reality

My favorite reply:

Strangely, my very religious parents made me quit playing Dungeons and Dragons because they were concerned I couldn't tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

So, I am an atheist now.

And a 8th Level Paladin.

 

People will always find something to be radical about, whether it's religion or anti-religion or political parties or anything really. There will always be some excuse for abusing power even if religion disappears.

 

yah that's info-crapic. However, I hope there is some Christian out there devout enough to refute these contradictions line by line.

 

Well, Skywalkernumbers is now gone forever . . . FOREVER!!! So we'll never know.

 

SkywalkerNumbers is gone? Where? When? Why?

 

How does one refute contradictions? By going "it's all Satan's fault"?

 

I think terrible link that Jp posted gives too much credence to the bible. Its more about how one embraces the bible that determines the effects.

But I've met people who accept the bible as fact but are supremely open minded and intelligent. Whenever I bring up the "How old is the earth?" thing, he would say "Well if I take the biblical timeline, its not that old, but I don't think it matters all that much."

First reaction: He's crazy, what does he mean it doesn't matter? But then he explained: He was stating that how he lives and how he thinks about life doesn't come solely from the bible and that the age of the earth, at least for his 80 or so years on the planet, wouldn't matter to him. He wasn't a geologist or a historian; he was a welder and all that mattered to him was making sure he could live his life as fully as he could without being burdened by questions that he could not care less about and that, ultimately, wouldn't affect his life.

I found it an interesting christian interpretation and takeaway from the bible. Small anecdote.

 

He has a point. If you go over to Ramza's Philosophy of Science thread you'll find a similar-ish sort of sentiment floating in there that arrives at the same conclusion: we don't know **** all about **** all, so eh, why not go for a bible? Not to mention he's got the Book of Enoch on his side: "What is too sublime for you, do not inquire into; what is given to you, care for." Or similar.

 

You rang?

 

Sure, but religion's such a convenient one stop shop for racism, bigotry, intolerance, fear, insecurity, resistance to change, anti-intellectualism and misogyny that it'd be hard to find something else that so efficiently panders to the worst elements of humanity.

 

Australia.

 

I... that was very well played dp. Well played.

I would also have accepted the more obvious answer, but that will do.

 

The rhetoric of the British Empire in regard to anyone that wasn't lily white?

 

Or America, Wocky. You know, the intellectual and cultural anus you reside in?

 

and some who were, interestingly enough

 

This is incredibly subjective and only how you view it. Its the human mind that latches on to ideas and highlights them or casts them aside. Anyone can find anything to be radical about, but religion doesn't make it convenient, for a human who tenders more towards the darker element of humanity would seek out something to justify them anyway. I'm not saying you're wrong, I just think that's not necessarily the best way to approach that issue.

 

How many acts of mass violence or depravity have their roots in religion? Most?

 

Hmm... not sure I agree. To assert that religion is a primary cause in the sense you seem to be driving at is to deny the interplay of myriads of common threads interacting in societies throughout history.