RE: How to debate a Christian
August 16, 2010 at 4:26 pm
(This post was last modified: August 16, 2010 at 4:27 pm by The Omnissiunt One.)
(August 16, 2010 at 11:01 am)RAD Wrote: Broad is right. What's mind boggling about these is that to be valid, they depend on Flew's NTS "fallacy" which he invented from thin air in the 70's. He invented it so atheists could stop making intelligent distinctions between people claiming to be Christians
It is a fallacy in certain situations, such as the example he gave. A Scotsman is someone born in Scotland, so arbitrarily changing the definition of Scotsman to fit a particular theory is a fallacy. Whether or not the word 'Christian' would discount these examples depends upon the definition.
Quote:I agree except this is like saying we should let homosexuals who hate wearing condoms marry because they will get less AIDS. (The other issues aside)
No, it's nothing like it, as gay people marrying harms no-one.
Quote:So the question is, if a "Christian" hasn't even read the NT or refuses to follow it, what does that have to do with whether Jesus should be followed, by you or me? Answer: nothing
Tell me, was Marx evil merely because his followers commited atrocities that make the Inquisitions look like a bump on the knee? And of course Marx doesn't seem to have worried much about Communists using violence against heretics like Jesus clearly did (And the apostles)
Ironically, all you have done is support Chesterton's and my claim that few have ever actually tried Christianity.
You asked us to name evils caused by religion. We did so. Whether they were based on an accurate interpretation of Jesus' teaching is another matter, but they were most probably inspired by religious beliefs in most cases. Anyway, why pick out Jesus' teaching, when the OT is full of such delightfully heinous moral guidance? Indeed, why ignore Jesus' own teachings which are often distinctly sectarian, as in Matthew 15:26, when he initially refuses to help a woman from Canaan? Why ignore his teachings on family values: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.' -- Luke 14:26
All in all, I'd rather not follow Jesus' teachings, good though some of them are.
Quote:I don't know a single Christian who has a problem with stem cell research per se. They just want to know how and where the cells were aquired
Ah, yes, it's only okay if it comes from adults. That does rather narrow the scope of stem cell research.
'We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.' H.L. Mencken
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
