Thursday, August 9, 2012

Deep Thoughts on a Thursday


The only way your prayers might be answered is if you say them out loud around people who love you, preferably with power & money.

There is no evidence against God. Evidence has always been natural. God is, by definition, supernatural. There has never been supernatural evidence for or against anything. The lack of supernatural evidence, is, in a way, evidence against the supernatural in general and God specifically. It's impossible to prove the existence of a criminal if he never committed a crime.

To take the slippery slope argument one step forward and one step back, we have something like this: If we allow men to marry women, next thing you know we'll have station wagons marrying palm trees.

Jesus's lessons were 90% positive, the other 10%* was his sponsorship of the Hebrew Bible, which has pro-violence rhetoric and out-dated rules. If the guy wanted to make up a new religion from scratch without staying in Jewish continuity, things might be better off today. However, I doubt he could have gained the momentum without claiming to be the Jewish messiah.

If you have faith, then you don't need apologetics. If you are confident of your apologetics, then you don't need faith. I don't understand why or how some people claim both.

I love it when a company labels itself a "faith-based" company. Do they pray for profits? I'm sure they are still a cash-based company. (this was on my mind because a "faith-based" company wanted a logo designed for them recently, I turned them down)

Ever wake up, look in the mirror, and say "I devote an awful lot of time debunking a zombie who is his own father"?

*the percentages of this post are completely subjective and guesstimated.
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10 comments:

  1. vjackAugust 9, 2012 at 7:57 AM

    That last sentence was priceless. Exactly what I needed this morning!

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  2. HausdorffAugust 9, 2012 at 12:14 PM

    Do you think Jesus' lessons were really 90% positive? Seems about 50/50 to me.

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    Replies
    1. GrundyAugust 12, 2012 at 8:43 AM

      I added a disclaimer. Can you think of any Jesusisms that are both negative and wasn't first said in the Old Testament?

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    2. HausdorffAugust 12, 2012 at 5:09 PM

      That's a good question. I really don't know what is in the old testament, even though I was a christian for a long time I rarely read the bible. I know the parts that are widely known (creation, noah's ark, issac and abraham, job,10 commandments...uhh...I'm sure there's a few others), but generally I don't know whats in there.

      With that disclaimer, I'm going to say when Jesus said that you should follow me and if your family won't also follow you should tell them to F off. Is there a version of that in the OT?

      Delete
    3. GrundyAugust 12, 2012 at 6:09 PM

      Probably not. Maybe 90% is too optimistic, but I feel like it's more the 50/50. Still, I don't feel like rereading the Bible to find out.

      Delete
    4. HausdorffAugust 13, 2012 at 7:54 AM

      Well, after I finish the NT I'm planning on going back and doing the OT. If you got about 5 years to wait I can tell you the answer :)

      Delete
  3. ReasonBeingAugust 9, 2012 at 12:24 PM

    I agree with vjack---that was priceless. I also find myself in agreement with Haus---I am not sure I would put the positive things that Jesus had to say at 90%, though I do agree with you, if he had abandoned the OT, we would have a radically different world today.

    I also think that apologists are often weak in their faith, and that much of apologetics doesn't really change other people's minds, it just seems to strengthen their already held beliefs.

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  4. AnonymousAugust 9, 2012 at 1:39 PM

    Those are good points.

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  5. AhabAugust 13, 2012 at 6:55 AM

    "If you have faith, then you don't need apologetics. If you are confident of your apologetics, then you don't need faith. I don't understand why or how some people claim both."

    Believers who are insecure in their faith hide behind apologetics. Because apologetics are often little more than casuistry, believers resort to faith to fill in the gaps. Both are flawed, and both are used to shore up each other.

    "The only way your prayers might be answered is if you say them out loud around people who love you, preferably with power & money."

    I always wondered about that. Why do we need to say prayers out loud in groups? Is God hard-of-hearing or something?

    "...next thing you know we'll have station wagons marrying palm trees."

    I'd hate to imagine what THAT bridal shower registry would look like.

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