The other day I posted an interview with the apologist and philosopher Matthew Flannagan. The interview consisted of a forty-five minute conversation in which Matt developed a thoughtful and nuanced perspective on the nexus between biblical hermeneutics, metaethics, and normative ethics. The Atheist Missionary responded in the comment thread. While he declined to offer any […]
The atheist missionary
Mocking Christians who believe in talking snakes? A response to The Atheist Missionary
Last week I wrote “Laughing at Fundamentalists” in critique of those who would propose to mock certain groups. (Of course to mock a group it is best to label them first and “Fundamentalist” is as good a label as any.) In response I received the following comment from The Atheist Missionary: “I’ve always taken the position […]
Can we end atheist and Christian name-calling?
Earlier today The Atheist Missionary posted a comment which offered a link to a postcard length caricature of Christianity. The comment came replete with TAM’s own self-satisfied commentary: what’s absurd are the theological underpinnings of Christian theology, succinctly expressed here: http://p.twimg.com/AoGpjSCCAAAhv8G.jpg:small Atheists look at something like this and chuckle. I’m not sure what goes through […]
Unintelligent double standards on intelligent design
The Atheist Missionary demurs from my advice on when an intelligent agent is a warranted causal explanation. He explains why as follows: The best provisional judgment is to look for (an as yet) unknown non-intelligent causes while, in fairness, not dogmatically ruling out an intelligent one. Why? Because, to date, we have no evidence to […]
Where Stephen Law goes wrong with his evil god argument
The Atheist Missionary asked me to respond to Stephen Law’s evil god argument. His challenge came with an extended quote from Law. I’ve quoted the most important parts below: “Most people will happily conclude there’s no evil god purely on the basis of the evidential problem of good (whether or not there are other reasons […]
Leprechauns and God: The dialogue continues
We live in a day when “Transformers 3” cleans up at the cineplex while Malik’s “The Tree of Life” languishes at the decrepit Bijou Theatre. So I probably shouldn’t be surprised that many atheists have degereated to the point of defending their beliefs by saying “I don’t believe in leprechauns or unicorns either. Haw haw!” […]
Getting to the bedrock of naturalism
This is the final installment in my dressing down of The Atheist Missionary’s slapdash approach to the pedagogy of his children. We saw him dismiss the resurrection because New Testament historians are supposedly constrained by religion and institutional affiliation to affirm the things they do. (This bizarrely contentious series of asertions demosntrates that the discrimination against “religion” […]
Atheists, the problem of evil, and lame Duane
Remember when you were a kid riding your BMX bike down at the old quarry? You were bold, if a bit foolhardy at times. But regardless, you were always willing to try jumping your Kuwahara over just about anything. And then there was that kid Duane. Remember how he taunted you? “Try to jump the old […]
The Apostate Atheist
Tory Ninja raised the problem of self-described Christians who do not believe any person like God exists. That’s a problem. That is, it is a problem that some self-described Christians deny p where p is “God exists.” But the same thing goes in the other direction. Last week in one of the blog threads so-called “Atheist […]
How to confound Christians with bad arguments: #2 The Indistinguishable Argument
This morning I was in a state of some emotional distress for I could not figure out what to blog about. So I put on my best white suit, plastered my hair down with Brylcreem, laid hands on the computer, and prayed in my best televangelist voice “Oh Lawrd! Send your servant a topic!” And […]
