Posts by Hamish
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The invocation of bronze age theology, the death of Galileo, or teapots in orbit does not advance this debate.
Actually, it does. Bronze age theism was equally 'valid' a world-view for what was known by people at the time. The arguements for Religion have changed to accomodate scientific discoveries down the ages - but the underlying theme remains the same.
In my view both the theist and the atheist are making claims they need to prove, rather than simply assert.
Claiming that something doesn't exist is not a 'provable' claim. Logically, it is invalid to ask someone to prove that something doesn't exist. It's not a matter of not wanted to, or ignoring facts, or being contrite. If I say I have super-powers, you cannot prove me wrong. But the burden of proof still lies with me to prove a claim that I'm making. If you 'claim' I don't, then it is up to me to settle the claim.
...the difference between intelligent design and theistic evolution is not widely understood
What is 'theistic' evolution?
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Unfortunately, many athiests prefer not to accept that their own religious belief (the unprovable assertion that there is no god) is open to serious critique.
That is EXACTLY the kind of poor logic that riles Atheists. Something that is 'unprovable' is not false - there is very little that is 'provable'. You cannot 'prove' that a ball will fall if you drop it, but the overwhelming body of evidence supports the 'unprovable assertion' that gravity will cause the ball to drop.
It is not about preference - if you look at the overwhelming body of scientific evidence then the natural conclusion is that supernatural beings are highly unlikely.
Feel free to point us in the direction of serious critique based on sound science that says otherwise.
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I'm not sure that the absence of something needs to be proved.
It it can't be, which is more or less the point of Agnostism.
But Agnostism is just I don't know.. it's a pointless system because it means you have to be agnostic about everything that could 'possibly' be true, but you are not sure. The agnostic cannot say that they don't believe anything at all - which is completely meaningless. Agnostics remove themselves from the arguement, but it says nothing about what is, or isn't, true.
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Deborah Hill Cone was on the National Radio afternoon show and brough it up because didn't see why it should be "controversial".
It's not like it's even a matter of opinion - the math is wrong. If that is the basis of the article then the article should be retracted. And if it's not the basis of the argument then Ms Cone is presenting false evidence to support racists claims.
It's all very Bell Curve.
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I mentioned earlier that there was a Ted Haggard and Richard Dawkins interview. You can see it here:
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w00t! That was very cool.
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Dawkins tries to present science and rationality as the ultimate solution to life, the universe and everything
...and if we happen to agree?
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anti-theist
Perhaps just a motivated Atheist? :P
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To be fair to Christians, most do not believe in Intelligent Design.
Bah, you moderate (haha!)..
Yeah, I'm not so fair. ID is no more, or less, logical [to me] than any other religious doctrine.
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Just wanted to say the Richard Dawkins is a freakin' hero.
The Richard Dawkins and Teg Haggart interview is particularly interesting in light of later events. You can find it on YouTube (can't get to YouTube from here, but just search for DAWKINS and you'll find it) in the 'Root of All Evil' series.