Theists Can Always Deny the Evidence
One of the cool tricks you can use to check yourself for confirmation bias is to try swapping roles with someone who holds a contrary opinion. For example, suppose I wrote the following: One of the things that an atheist must never forget when speaking with a theist, and especially when speaking with a theist who intones … Theists Can Always Deny the Evidence
Why Does the U.S. Congress Have Official Chaplains?
Yesterday the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) sued the U.S. Congress for barring atheist Dan Barker from delivering the invocation. (See here.) I am no attorney — constitutional or otherwise — but it seems to be a blatant violation of the Establishment Clause for Congress to allow Christian invocations, while barring atheist invocations. Why? Because … Why Does the U.S. Congress Have Official Chaplains?
Debate 101
If your debate opponent defends a position (call it H1), argue against H1. Don’t argue against positions they don’t hold (H2 or H3 or …). Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional)
Moral Arguments for God and Coining a Name for a Common but Fallacious Objection
In response to Wintery Knight’s recent blog post on the plausibility of objective morality on atheism, I posted a comment in the combox on his site. The comment consisted solely of a link to my YouTube video, “Naturalism, Theism, and Moral Ontology: A Reply to William Lane Craig.” In response to that link, WK wrote … Moral Arguments for God and Coining a Name for a Common but Fallacious Objection
We Don’t Have Father-ist Apologetics; Why Do We Need Theistic Apologetics?
Anyone who has (or had) a loving father in their lives did not spend their time studying abstract, philosophical arguments for the existence of their father. In fact, the whole idea of “father-ist apologetics” as a thing seems weird as soon as you think about it. Compare theistic apologetics. I suspect that many people — or … We Don’t Have Father-ist Apologetics; Why Do We Need Theistic Apologetics?
Naturalism, Theism, and Moral Ontology: A Reply to William Lane Craig
(Reposting since this seems to be so popular. So far as I am aware, neither WLC nor anyone else has responded to this.)Abstract: This paper considers William Lane Craig’s metaethical argument for God’s existence. Roughly, the argument is that the existence of objective moral values provides strong evidence for God’s existence. I consider one by one … Naturalism, Theism, and Moral Ontology: A Reply to William Lane Craig
The Intellectual Poverty of Ken Ham’s Presuppositionalist Meme
I recently saw a Twitter meme of Ken Ham making a crude appeal to a presuppositionalist type of argument against all non-Christians, not just atheists. I don’t want to deal with any potential licensing issues with the image, so rather than display the image on my blog instead I’ll quote the words below. Non-Christian scientists are … The Intellectual Poverty of Ken Ham’s Presuppositionalist Meme
Think Airplane Legroom is Bad? Wait Until They Reduce Headroom!
Now that the U.S. Senate has defeated the airplane legroom amendment, airlines are breathing a big sigh of relief. In fact, according to several industry insiders — who all spoke only on condition of anonymity — their next move is to take away headroom. While the ceiling is normally 6′ above the floor on jets … Think Airplane Legroom is Bad? Wait Until They Reduce Headroom!
How to Think about Historical Evidence about Anything, Part 1: The Credibility of Testimony
Note: So far as I know, no one working in New Testament scholarship, apologetics, counter-apologetics, or ancient history is applying the concepts in this blog post. As will soon become obvious, most of the ideas in this blog post are not mine, but if other people find these techniques useful, I would appreciate being given credit for the … How to Think about Historical Evidence about Anything, Part 1: The Credibility of Testimony
Off-Topic: America Needs to Have Just Two Time Zones and the World Should Follow Suit
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