Sin isn’t Newtonian

April 4, 2012 By 21 Comments
reason rally

(Part two of two on the apologetics offered by missionaries outside the Reason Rally) In my second discussion outside the Reason Rally,  a pair of tag-teaming Christians were trying to bootstrap from my belief in immaterial laws of logic or morality to evidence for an immaterial God.  They must have thought they were handed a trump card when I admitted I find the doctrine of Original Sin to have an intuitive resonance. Humans have a tendency toward disorder, and the cruelties we commit … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Apologetics, Debate Tactics, Epistemology/Philosophy Tagged With: , , , 21 Comments

Evangelicals Pitching Skepticism?

April 4, 2012 By 17 Comments

(Part one of two on the apologetics offered by missionaries outside the Reason Rally) I was about an hour late to the Reason Rally because I couldn't resist stopping to talk to the Christian evangelists who were ringing the rally. The conversations probably went on longer than was productive (I'm bad at taking my own advice about walking away from arguments), but I thought there were some interesting tactics on display. The biggest surprise? I heard more pitches for radical skepticism from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Apologetics, Debate Tactics, Epistemology/Philosophy Tagged With: , , , 17 Comments

Though this be Contempt, Yet there is Method in it

March 27, 2012 By 17 Comments
Image via Daylight Atheism

The Reason Rally didn't have a clear 'ask.' We weren't calling on Congress to pass a particular piece of legislation or demanding a timeline for reform. As a result, news media has a lot of latitude to frame the message of the rally. And most of them took their cue from one of the best known speakers: Richard Dawkins. USA Today's headline was Richard Dawkins to atheist rally: 'Show contempt' for faith.  They didn't include a block quote from him, but offered this summary of his … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Atheism, Debate Tactics Tagged With: , , 17 Comments