Practice the Virtue of Authenticity

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Peter Boghossian says we need to practice the virtue of authenticity. To be authentic people means we should never pretend to know something we don't know. If someone asks us a question and we don't know the answer, we shouldn't pretend that we do. As an atheist like myself, we think most Christians lack this virtue, because people cannot be authentic who say they are 100% confident in their faith.

Research Question On Christian Apologetics

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How would one go about finding the actual percentages of Christian thinkers who accepted different apologetical systems of thought? What percentage of them accept Presuppositionalism, Evidentialism, Classical Natural Theology, Reformed Epistemology, Fideism, or Cumulative Apologetics? Is there a poll somewhere? Should we count the number of essays, books, and schools of thought out there along with the number of students who graduated from those schools? Are there denominations largely associated with them? I'm beginning to research and write something about these schools of thought, their numbers, how they defend the faith, and what we can make of this diversity. If anyone wants to buy one or more of the first few "highest priority" books off amazon for me as I research and begin to write on this topic, I'd appreciate it. [Do a "Sort by" search for the highest priority to the lowest for these ten books].

Inquisitive Minds Starts Discussion of Dr. Avalos' Fighting Words

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Inquisitive Minds, which is produced by Dr. André Gagné, Brice C. Jones and fellow scholars of religion in Montreal, Canada, has begun a series of podcasts on my book, Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence (2005).

The topic is as timely as ever, given recent events in the Middle East and elsewhere. As usual, the thoughtful and expert hosts generate great discussions. Please check out their podcasts on other subjects, as well.

It is very encouraging to see more secularist biblical scholars and scholars of religion entering into public discussions of important social issues and world events.

Science and Morality: Michael Shermer TAM 2013

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Russell Blackford - We have the extraordinary evidence! TAM 2013

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Hector Avalos On The “True Religion” Trap

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Concerning President Barack Obama's speech delivered on Sept. 10 concerning ISIL Hector wrote a wonderful essay for the Iowa Ames Tribune, saying among other things that
President Obama will either have to admit that his own Bible does not represent a “religion,” or he will have to surrender the belief that no religion condones the killing of the innocent. LINK.

Islam's Impossible Struggle with the Obscure Concept of Cause and Effect

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Repeat: "IS is unIslamic". Failing that, you're an Islamophobe!
Repeat: "Islamic State is unIslamic". Failing that, you're an Islamophobe!
 With the Islamic atrocities committed by IS reaching fever pitch, the "Defend the Indefensible" industry is working hard to keep up. On the other hand, while such shameless "blame anything but Islam" characters such as Karen Armstrong and  Reza Aslan are given regular spots on the leftist media have their say, the few in the Muslim world who have the guts to call a spade a spade have Western audiences that possibly can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But let's not give up hope; at least do the little we can to have their voices heard. And they have a very important message for us: stop kidding yourself. If you tell yourself you are against terrorism, and yet stand for everything a terrorist does, you are not smarter than a four year old.

Bart Campolo, Deconverted Son of Christian Apologist Tony Campolo, Tells Us About Secular Relational Outreach

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Tony Campolo has been teaching, speaking and writing about apologetical issues for as long as I've been interested in them. At times he has been controversial. One of his apologetics books is A Reasonable Faith.So I was interested in knowing that his son Bart no longer believes. He now speaks to student groups helping them understand how to reach believers through community building. Bart and his father had previously co-wrote the book, Things We Wish We Had Said: Reflections of a Father and His Grown Son.Below you can watch Bart's talk with some highlighted quotes and a brief commentary.

Street Epistemology Breakdown: SE Tutorial 1

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Hat Tip: Peter Boghossian

Peter Enns On "3 Ways Jesus Read the Bible That Evangelicals Are Told Not to Do"

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The three ways Jesus read the Bible that Evangelicals are told not to do are these:
1. Jesus didn't stick to what "the Bible says," but read it with a creative flare that had little if any connection to what the biblical writer actually meant to say. 2. Jesus felt he could "pick and choose" what parts of the Old Testament were valid and which weren't. 3. Jesus read his Bible as a Jew, not an evangelical (or even a Christian).
Other evangelicals would do well to listen to Enns. He's getting some things right. The Jesus that we find in the Gospels is doing exactly what Enns says. The significant problem unaddressed by Enns is what he says at the end of this essay in the Huffington Post:

General Jack Keane on 9/11 and Radical Islam

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Be sure to listen to General Jack Keane beginning at 1:09:13:

It's Not Just Christianity or Islam! Elana Maryles Sztokman On the War Against Women in Israel.

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We're familiar with the misogyny of the religion of Islam. The misogyny of Christianity is highlighted by Annie Laurie Gaylor in my book, Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails,with a chapter titled: "Woman, What Have I To Do With Thee?: Christianity’s War Against Women."

Elana Maryles Sztokman stands against the misogyny in Israel:
Last week I traveled to the United States for the publication of my book, The War on Women in Israel: A Story of Religious Radicalism and the Women Fighting for Freedom.It was a whirlwind week -- I traveled to events and book signings across five cities in four states in 10 days.

The plane took off 20 minutes late because an ultra-Orthodox man was negotiating with passengers so as not to have to sit next to a woman -- me -- on the 11-hour flight. I asked myself if this was karma or poetic justice. After all, I had just spoken to hundreds of people about exactly these issues, and the way women are made to feel like second class citizens as a result.

If there is one thing that I would like to change in the world, it is this: I would like women to respect themselves enough to say no to all this. I want women to allow themselves to feel the impact of the silencing. I want women to be honest with themselves and to look at their lives and the places where they are powerless or oppressed, and to acknowledge that. Better yet, I want women to say no, I will not be silent or servile. I will not continue to absorb the insult as if this is all OK. I want women to say that they deserve better. I want women to believe that they deserve better. LINK.
The three monotheistic religions show a hated of women. Why would any woman ever embrace the religion of their oppressors? It's akin to the Stockholm Syndrome. I call on all women everywhere to denounce these religions (as they have the freedom and security to do so).

Three things you probably don't know about Islam.

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A Riposte to William Lane Craig

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Counter Apologist has produced an awesome series detailing issues with William Lane Craig's Kalam Cosmological Argument, which is a pet obsession of mine. This must have succeeded enough, since it warranted a response from Craig himself. Here is Counter's response to Craig.

Quote of the Day, by Jean Rostand

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Abandoning My Faith: A Personal Journey

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I want to both thank and credit Ed Babinski for posting this new You Tube video on his Facebook page.

Quote of the Day, by Paul K. Moser

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Of the two passages below, philosopher and apologist Paul K. Moser says on Facebook: "the person who tries to embrace both becomes a walking volitional contradiction, i.e., a train wreck."
Our choice, Jesus or the Psalmist:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven." (Jesus, Matt. 5:43-45)

"Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. (Psalm 139:21-22)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews Cause Chaos On Flight To Israel

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Yes, there really are people who live in the ancient past because of a male-oriented women hating holy book. Sheesh. This is appalling. Get rid of the holy book and there is no reason to think women are inferior. So let's get rid of it. It deserves no place in our society
An El-Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv was turned into an “11-hour nightmare” after hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women.

According to those on board the flight descended into chaos because of their demands.

The flight was full with Israelis, secular, orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews – known as Haredim – flying home to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

Even though the passengers had been pre-assigned seats before boarding, the ultra-Orthodox Jews refused to accept the arrangements because their beliefs required that men and women were segregated.

As the aircraft prepared to take off, the haredi men, distinguishable by their black suits and in many cases wide-brimmed black hats, stood in the aisles rather than sit down, delaying the departure. LINK

Debate On Facebook Mostly On Methodological Naturalism

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Is This Representative of "Moderate" Muslims?

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A majority of Egyptian Muslims favor democracy, are against suicide bombings and Islamist extremism, but also favor segregation of men and women in the workplace, stoning adulterers, flogging and cutting hands off thieves, and executing apostates. LINK.

A "Moderate" Muslim

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Five Thoughts On the Present Atheist Wars

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I wasn't going to comment on the so-called wars taking place among atheists but I think I have something to say others have not yet said. I also want to respond to Christians who seem to be reveling in our disputes. I know that in this politically charged atmosphere there is probably little that can be written that won't draw personal attacks of its own. That's too bad. All I can do is hope for a charitable reading of what I'm going to write, which, if we at least tried doing that it could go a long way toward easing tensions. Here are three links to acquaint my readers with the atheist wars out of the many being written (sorry if anyone thinks I chose the wrong ones, since I haven't read them all). Mark Oppenheimer's essay asks, Will Misogyny Bring Down The Atheist Movement? Michael Nugent responds to blogger Adam Lee, who previously argued that "Richard Dawkins has lost it: ignorant sexism gives atheists a bad name." [Nugent links to other essays, including one from Jerry Coyne where he says, "Enough is enough" along with an earlier essay where Nugent tried to be conciliatory]. Then creationist Vincent Torley caught wind of this and wrote one titled, The New Atheists: A House Divided. Torley asked whether the atheist house is crumbling and seems to revel in our so-called demise.

Welcome Back Debunking Christianty!

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On September 5th I changed the name of this blog to "Debunking Abrahamic Religions." Since that time the number of hits to this blog has dropped an average of 1570 a day! So in the interests of reaching more people I've changed the title back to "Debunking Christianity." The numbers dictated the results. It will stay that way no matter what topic I write about. There are lots of blogs with a title where the author(s) write about a wide variety of subjects unrelated to the title. So will I. Stay tuned. I'll writes them as I sees 'em.

Sam Harris's Book "Waking Up" is a NY Times Bestseller!

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I don't have Sam's new book yet, but he is always thoughtful and interesting when he writes, and I suspect there will be a number of people who will be better off having read his new book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion.To read a generous review of his book click here.

Michael Shermer: "The Fifth Horseman: The Insights of Victor Stenger"

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Here is Michael Shermer's excellent and fitting tribute to the late Victor Stenger, LINK. Don't miss reading Stenger's latest book, God and the Multiverse: Humanity's Expanding View of the Cosmos, which is now out.Stenger also wrote a chapter for Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails,which should be out in one month!


The Outsiders Test of Faith in Less Than Five Minutes: Enjoy!

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For those of us who have bought and read John's excellent text, then you need no introduction.  For those who haven't, this short video is for you!

Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Speech at Yale: "The Clash of Civilizations: Islam and the West."

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Her speech begins at about 10:30:

Richard Dawkins: "We Are Going to Die"

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Text is below:

“Symphony of Lies”: the Hilarious Left-Right Alliance to Defend Religion

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"Breivik in Not a Christian. That's Impossible."
If there is one thing that unites both ends of the American political spectrum today, it is their capacity for hypocrisy and deceit, including self-delusions. Their tendency to defend religious faith is a close second-even though we may be talking about different faiths, depending on which end of the spectrum we are talking.
And recent events have raised this "division in oneness" to comical levels.
I recently wrote about the wrong headed left wing pundits and journalists, the allies of Islamic organizations in echoing the latter's mendacious and presumptuous claim that Islam should not be blamed for atrocities committed by ISIS. As it happens, even I had underestimated the size of these leftists' egos, and the reinforcement power of their echo chamber.

Tim Minchin Brilliantly and Accurately Expresses My Thoughts! Listen Up Young Whippersnappers!

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John Shertzer Hittell On Miracles, From "The Evidences Against Christianity"

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God may have done a plethora of miracles in the ancient past and may do so again in the future, but as Hittell argued in 1857, following David Hume, there isn't any reason for us to accept these miracle claims unless miracles are taking place today. This is the only reasonable conclusion. People who believe anyway are not being reasonable. To the question of whether miracles happen today, which ones are convincing to outsiders? Which ones have solid objective evidence for them? Which ones are not performed by tricksters and/or magicians? Which ones can be understood as self-healing via the placebo of faith? Where has an amputee's leg ever been made to grow back? Which ones are merely the result of chance? Required reading on the chance factor is David J. Hand's book, The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day.As yet, not one religious apologist worthy the name has dealt with Hand's book. They would prefer building intellectual deductive castles in the sky unrelated to the actual statistical analysis of rare events, which happen every single day.

LINK.

Does the Qur'an Promote Violence?

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Summary Answer:

The Qur'an contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called 'hypocrites' and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.

Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Qur'an are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Qur'an.

The context of violent passages is more ambiguous than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving God, however this can work both ways. Most of today's Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book's call to arms according to their own moral preconceptions about justifiable violence. Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny. Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology.

Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. Muhammad's own martial legacy - and that of his companions - along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Qur'an have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history. LINK.
For a list of the top ten hateful verses in the Qur'an see here.

Nathan Phelps "I'm Not My Father's Son"

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Can you imagine saying you are not your father's son? Nathan Phelps does. His father was founding pastor of the Westboro Baptist--"God Hates Fags--Church, who died not long ago after being excommunicated.


Would you want to know the story of how Nate (pictured on the right) and his brother escaped Westboro Baptist Church? Watch this documentary trailer, make a donation, and help them complete "Not My Father's Son." Donate if you will for a good story and cause. I did. Nate also contributed a chapter for Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails, titled "Abusive Pastors and Churches."When writing on this subject he knows what he's talking about from personal experience.