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atheism, article from a friend

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Your link came out funny -- it should be THIS URL.

IMHO, the problem with Theism is that folks don't realize that if there is an Almighty, The Creator, then He would in no way be biased toward coddling the human species. NO! He would be more interested in safeguarding this precious globe from scourges, demagogues, the ruthless, the filthy, like what humankind is now clearly become. A hundred species per week fall prey to our evil monopolizing ways. Now it's MAN'S TURN to perish. Alleluia! Amen.

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These theists ought to read a decent text on evolution before criticizing the strawman that we see taught to kids we see in movies like "Jesus Camp". It is not about "time plus chance". Pick up Darwin's "Origin of the Species" and just read the first two chapters.

If you want the polemic answer to the idea that someone super-intelligent had to create all this great stuff, then who created that super-intelligent guy? If there does not have to be any creator for something as omnipotent as God, why does there need to be a creator for things that are less potent. The argument caves in upon itself. I don't take credit for it...it's an ancient argument, still unrefuted. The only plausible route to God is to quit the faulty reasoning, and use faith.

Edited by softwareNerd
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The point is that every person on earth is an atheist, including your friend. Evolution is an argument, atheism isn't; it's the negation of a belief in god.

It's just bad philosophy and bad metaphysics. The question of god is really a metaphysical one and so the easiest way to refute it is by challenging the metaphysics. The answer is that there is no supernatural. The concept of supernatural is absurd, it's an anti-concept in my opinoin, and it's simply not true.

You can't say that something exists outside of what exists, because existence is the sum of everything that exists... if you understand htat, there's no need to pull out any of the more complicated arguments. Argument over. Every other false argument is just an extension of the belief in the supernatural. Attack the root and it all falls down!

Edited by avampirist
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The point is that every person on earth is an atheist, including your friend. Evolution is an argument, atheism isn't; it's the negation of a belief in god.

It's just bad philosophy and bad metaphysics. The question of god is really a metaphysical one and so the easiest way to refute it is by challenging the metaphysics. The answer is that there is no supernatural. The concept of supernatural is absurd, it's an anti-concept in my opinoin, and it's simply not true.

You can't say that something exists outside of what exists, because existence is the sum of everything that exists... if you understand htat, there's no need to pull out any of the more complicated arguments. Argument over. Every other false argument is just an extension of the belief in the supernatural. Attack the root and it all falls down!

Hello all, thanks for the interest. Actually, I've read most of the books by Dawkins like The blind Watchmaker, and I just finished reading God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. I find it easier to believe someone would be convinced of atheism after reading The Astonishing Hypothesis by Dr. francis Crick than by reading Hitchens' book, but maybe that's just me. Any books on evolution you'd recommend to me?

www.darrellepp.com

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  • 2 weeks later...

That article is not very good. It is basically the old teological argument, or the argument from design, which has been refuted thousands of times in many different ways. Basically the whole argument rests on the assumption that there is no possible way that information and complexity can arise through natural forces, and no theist has ever proven that and they never will.

There's no point in even responding to the other stuff. It isn't very intellectual. But I'd just like to say that there IS a conflict between reason and faith, because you have to delimit reason in some area and aspect in order to have any need for faith at all. Insofar as faith is a means of knowledge and not just some other word for "hope" or "trust," faith is inherently irrational.

And if you want the definitive book on the atheism vs theism debate, go here: http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-Case-Against...8745&sr=8-1

Edited by Renee Katz
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God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. I find it easier to believe someone would be convinced of atheism after reading The Astonishing Hypothesis by Dr. francis Crick than by reading Hitchens' book, but maybe that's just me.

Hitchens (from what I've heard, I've not read any of his books) seems to be more a writer for atheists, rather than a writer that can effectively convert religionists. His books are mounted more as an attack, than as an argument. I could be wrong, though, as I've said, I've not read any of his books.

Any books on evolution you'd recommend to me?

Not sure if you have or not, but you could always try the original book on evolution: The Origin of Species

That said, for a book on metaphysics and epistemology, I would strongly recommend Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, which does a thorough job of establishing a rational theory of knowledge, incidentally, one that addresses and dismisses the supernatural.

Edited by Chops
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