Yes. Brilliant. I LOVE the description of divisiveness CAUSED BY THE CHURCH! Does this show publish transcripts? I did find it a bit ironic that he called faith “gullibility.” He didn’t state that God may or may not exist, so I presume that he believes (on faith, without evidence) that God does not exist?
Geez, I love intelligent, articulate, compassionate people! I live in Bible country, but in a college town with a fair number of intellectuals, some of whom are atheists. The atheists I’ve met are every bit as smug, insular, narrow and condescending as the Christians! This show is so refreshing! Thanks for posting.
You’re right, to believe without evidence that a god does not exist is kind of like faith. Matt Dillahunty has repeatedly said that he does NOT make the claim that god does not exist. I’m in that camp as well. We simply not persuaded by those who say he does exist. We lack that particular belief.
Yes, I too have run across atheists who are pretty dogmatic and condescending. But finding a condescending atheist does not mean that god impregnated a virgin.
But that raises a good point. Is Christianity about supernatural claims, or about how to treat each other more humanely? I still think sometimes that atheists and Christians are arguing about different things. Like I’m claiming the sky is blue, and they counter it by saying that trees are green. Atheists have the superior argument on supernatural claims. Religion could (and should) have some good things to say about how to treat each other. Jesus made a lot of progress on that front. If religion took out all the supernatural claims (I don’t see that happening soon), we could learn a lot from them about how to treat one another, care for one another, etc… Atheists are simply battling the supernatural arguments in religion.
Thanks for clarifying Matt’s position, and blue sky /green trees is an excellent analogy! Thanks to the Church, most Christians forget that Christ’s teachings are what their religion is really all about. Christianity SHOULD be almost exactly the same a humanism, but like most religions, it give us built-in excuses for tribalism and exclusion. I understand the human need for an “us vs. them” mentality, but that should be the start of the dialog, not the whole thing. Once you define someone as “different,” must you automatically assume they are “inferior” as well? Apparently so, for far too many of us.
I’ll watch it tomorrow at my desk after work. My home internet connection has been slow lately – took an hour to download 5 minutes of it!
[Reply]
Yes. Brilliant. I LOVE the description of divisiveness CAUSED BY THE CHURCH! Does this show publish transcripts? I did find it a bit ironic that he called faith “gullibility.” He didn’t state that God may or may not exist, so I presume that he believes (on faith, without evidence) that God does not exist?
Geez, I love intelligent, articulate, compassionate people! I live in Bible country, but in a college town with a fair number of intellectuals, some of whom are atheists. The atheists I’ve met are every bit as smug, insular, narrow and condescending as the Christians! This show is so refreshing! Thanks for posting.
[Reply]
admin Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Hey Suz,
You’re right, to believe without evidence that a god does not exist is kind of like faith. Matt Dillahunty has repeatedly said that he does NOT make the claim that god does not exist. I’m in that camp as well. We simply not persuaded by those who say he does exist. We lack that particular belief.
Yes, I too have run across atheists who are pretty dogmatic and condescending. But finding a condescending atheist does not mean that god impregnated a virgin.
But that raises a good point. Is Christianity about supernatural claims, or about how to treat each other more humanely? I still think sometimes that atheists and Christians are arguing about different things. Like I’m claiming the sky is blue, and they counter it by saying that trees are green. Atheists have the superior argument on supernatural claims. Religion could (and should) have some good things to say about how to treat each other. Jesus made a lot of progress on that front. If religion took out all the supernatural claims (I don’t see that happening soon), we could learn a lot from them about how to treat one another, care for one another, etc… Atheists are simply battling the supernatural arguments in religion.
[Reply]
Suz Reply:
March 1st, 2011 at 4:33 am
Thanks for clarifying Matt’s position, and blue sky /green trees is an excellent analogy! Thanks to the Church, most Christians forget that Christ’s teachings are what their religion is really all about. Christianity SHOULD be almost exactly the same a humanism, but like most religions, it give us built-in excuses for tribalism and exclusion. I understand the human need for an “us vs. them” mentality, but that should be the start of the dialog, not the whole thing. Once you define someone as “different,” must you automatically assume they are “inferior” as well? Apparently so, for far too many of us.
[Reply]
Wonderful blog!
[Reply]