Once again, another court case is on the books regarding separation of church and state. This time due to high-school officials taking down a copy of the Ten Commandments from a student’s locker. Fortunately, this was reversed and the student is now allowed to post the Commandments on his locker again.
Many people who fall away from the Church have a number of reasons for doing so. While a number of the more outspoken of them tend to claim that they left the Church due to intellectual reasons. However, it seems that when one hears their “un-testimony” it becomes clear that they are more likely emotional reasons.
It is no secret that rhetoric can be very powerful when used the right way. It can be a very effective tool to persuade people to your point of view without ever offering any sort of argument or evidence to back them up.
It seems to be taking me an obscenely long time to read through Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. One reason for this is the fact that shortly after starting the book, I began to realize how utterly ridiculous Dawkins’ arguments were against theism. They were riddled with double-standards and self-refuting ideas.
It seems that the more I read or listen to many of the common arguments from non-believers, there is a very narrow range of types of objections to Christianity or any sort of theism. One such argument has to do with the level of skepticism they have regarding any claims of a divine being. What I have found, however, is that this argument tends to be every bit as inconsistent as many others.
Recently, I read a news article about the now famous (or infamous) abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell who was recently charged with eight counts of murder for abortions he performed. The story is not for the faint of heart, so if you’re going to read the entire article, please be prepared.
Recently, I’ve been listening to the Unbelievable? podcast, available on iTunes. In my usual, borderline OCD manner I had to start listening beginning with the oldest podcast available, so I started listening to episodes from the end of 2007. On one such episode, they had a guest on the show who was a Reiki healer named Beverly. While there were a number of things that she said that I took issue with theologically, one of the things I wanted to cover today was with regards to a discussion she had with a Christian on the program regarding God’s judgment.
There was a podcast that I used to listen to called The Atheist Experience. One of the hosts, Matt Dillahunty, was once a Christian and was planning to go into seminary until he eventually lost his faith because he felt it was not reasonable to be believe any more.
As a Christian, you might expect me to say that I believe that the Bible is the greatest book in the history of the world. The doctrines taught in the Bible have, arguably, led to more philanthropy, selfless action and other beneficial things such as schools, hospitals, etc. than any other book, religion, worldview or ideal.
Perhaps the most outspoken person against the idea of religious indoctrination of children is Richard Dawkins. When writing about it in The God Delusion or talking about it in interviews and such, he becomes quite venomous toward those who would teach their children their own system of beliefs.
