Reading Time: 4 minutes Christian Tom Gilson attacks science as the source of all truth. No, it’s not, but let’s not imagine Religion has anything to offer.
burden of proof
Posted inReligion
Maybe atheists don’t reason so well after all
Reading Time: 2 minutes Are atheists devout followers of Reason? A conservative Christian thinks not. Maybe those atheists aren’t as reasonable as they think.
Posted inReligion
Beliefs vs. Behavior: Evangelicals’ Redefinition of Occam’s Razor
Reading Time: 13 minutes Hi and welcome back! Yesterday, I mentioned briefly that White evangelicals’ own stated beliefs regarding racism contrast mightily with their actual often-very-racist behavior. Indeed, a lot of the awful stuff these Christians do should be impossible for people holding their stated beliefs. This whole topic came to me a bit ago, when we talked about an Evangelical’s […]
Posted inScience
Avoiding the Burden of Proof in ‘Atheist Overreach’
Reading Time: 11 minutes Hi and welcome back! Lately, we’ve been reviewing Christian Smith’s 2019 book Atheist Overreach. In it, he seeks to persuade his audience of two things: first, atheists need to quit talking about religion, and second, that everyone actually needs religion to continue to be a dominant force in the world. One section of the book deals […]
Posted inReligion
Why So Many Christians Act Mystified About Their Religion’s False Claims
Reading Time: 8 minutes In the settling dust of apostasy, a few common Christian responses swam into focus. One of the most-common of the ones I saw involved Christians spluttering in confusion over the idea of their religion’s various claims being tested and found wanting. Like they just had no idea how that could happen! Today, I’ll show you what those Christians don’t know–and likely don’t want to know–about simply identifying their very own claims so they can begin the process of supporting them.
Posted inReligion
Meet the Christians Who Are Curious About the God We Don’t Believe In
Reading Time: 11 minutes But one evangelism technique comes to us from both progressive and evangelical Christians. Today, let me show you show you the Christians who profess great curiosity about the god we’ve rejected. And then we’ll see how this tactic actually works for them.
Posted inReligion
The Last Ideology Standing (Still Won’t Win)
Reading Time: 7 minutes Christians seeking to sell their religion to others rely on two main methods. They can try to sell their religion on its own merits. Or they can try to knock down whatever they view right then as their main competition. It’s a big ole game of Last Ideology Standing, and for some reason it’s not working as well as expected these days.
Posted inReligion
Miracle Maxin’ and the Immorality of Miracles.
Reading Time: 12 minutes Christians love to claim that their god works miracles in their lives, and this claim comes from their nearly-universal belief in the possibility of divine miracles. We settled that idea last time. Now we find ourselves moving inexorably toward the second and third steps of our pushback: If miracles really did happen, and could be demonstrated to have come only from the Christian god, Christians would still not be any closer to establishing that their god was actually a good divinity who deserved our worship.
Posted inReligion
Miracle Maxin’: The Ongoing Problems With Miracles
Reading Time: 8 minutes Today, almost five years after Miracle Maxin’ debuted, we look back at why miracles are still at once one of evangelists’ most treasured persuasion tools–and yet one of the most damning pieces of evidence contradicting their claims. Today I’ll show you why so many Christians cling to the idea of divine aid and why they can’t look away from the idea of miracles–and even why they get so touchy about people who refuse to buy into their claims.
Posted inReligion
Lawrence Krauss and How a Broken System Perpetuates Itself
Reading Time: 11 minutes Lawrence Krauss has all but admitted that he swims in a seriously broken system, revels in it, and has no plans whatsoever to examine himself for flaws or to change anything he’s doing. Here’s how I know that, and why this denial bodes so poorly for a movement that puts its superstars above its principles.