Reading Time: 4 minutes Here is one I wrote a few years back, but came up in a conversation on another thread. When thinking about subjects like the fine-tuning argument it becomes apparent that the theist loves to have their cake and eat it. They thrive off a “heads I win, tails you lose” scenario. What I mean by […]
Richard Carrier
Posted inReligion
Anecdotes Aren’t Evidence: The Marshall-Carrier Debate.
Reading Time: 12 minutes In 2013, a Christian apologist named David Marshall debated historian Richard Carrier on the topic “Is the Christian Faith Reasonable?” The debate was hosted by both an atheist and a Christian student group at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Today we’ll be talking about it–and about debates generally. Here is the video of the […]
Posted inGaming, Religion
Greatness As An Inherited Condition
Reading Time: 8 minutes Long ago, I began noticing something about the online roleplaying game I helped run–something that I’m noticing more and more often in various denominations of Christianity. Today I want to talk about this similarity and why I think it’s becoming so prevalent.
Posted inGeneral
Expertise, Apologetics, and David Marshall.
Reading Time: 8 minutes Recently I ran into this debate between David Marshall and Richard Carrier regarding whether or not belief in Christianity is “reasonable.” It got me thinking about apologetics generally, and about this new name specifically because I’d never even heard of him till now. Today I want to talk about how apologetics plays into right-wing Christians’ distrust of education and credentials, and what David Marshall’s brand of apologetics represents in the religion.
Posted inPolitics, The Secular
Christianity is fundamentally opposed to freedom of speech
Reading Time: 4 minutes In reading Richard Carrier’s excellent chapter in John Loftus’ superb Christianity is not Great in which I have a chapter myself, there is much to glean concerning matters of democracy and the American Constitution in the context of the Bible and religion.download
It is funny how so many libertarians/right-leaners and political commentators in the US are fans of both religion and freedom of speech. Freedom of speech seems to be something which, though actually complex and problematic, is intuitively argued for by many who also favour free market economics and general human liberties.
Posted inPolitics, The Secular
Founding Father John Adams: Christianity, Atheism and Democracy
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Founding Fathers are still on the front line of debate amongst atheists and Christians, secularists and theocrats alike. All these years later there is still confusion abounding. Part of the reason why is that there are many misquotes (and this can happen on both sides). Here, for example, is a quote (A letter from Adams to Jefferson) sometimes used by secularists:
Posted inPhilosophy
In defence of Methodological Naturalism
Reading Time: 4 minutes I am having a debate elsewhere with a fellow Tippling Philosopher and just rushed out this response. Might as well double it up here. He is arguing that science might not have the answer, that a supernatural explanation should not be ruled out. He stated:
Posted inThe Secular
Jesus mythicism. My opinion.
Reading Time: 2 minutes I am quite often asked as to whether I am a Jesus mythicist. David Fitzgerald, in that camp, kindly wrote the foreword for my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination, and Derek Murphy, author of Jesus Potter Harry Christ is also a mythicist, and he wrote some blurbs for a few of my books. That said, I […]
Posted inThe Secular
Joseph of Arimathea; a rich prophecy fulfilment
Reading Time: 4 minutes I have spoken about Joseph of Arimathea before, in the videos linked below. Just reading a chapter by Robert M. Price in The End of Christianity, I came across this very simple aspect which shows, to me at any rate, that Matthew’s sole job seemed to be to contrive as many random prophecy fulfilments from the Old Testament as humanly possible.
Posted inEthics and Morality, The Secular
The Problem with Divine Command Theory #1
Reading Time: 7 minutes Divine Command Theory (DCT) is the idea that morality is grounded in God or God’s nature such that what God commands is necessarily morally good. Historically speaking, the Euthyphro Dilemma has been used to combat such a position. DCT comes in several forms and is adhered to by a good many theologians and apologists.