Comments on: Putting a Fine Point On Atheist Arrogance

By: darwin1

darwin1 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:23:05 +0000

Wow Jon, you really are a deluded & clueless individual. No doubt you are a dimwitted Creationist / ID er..?
Ignorant people like yourself really do a disservice to those trying to advance our understanding in the world around us. Read some real science books Jon. Educate yourself Jon. This is the 21st Century Jon. You’re an embarrassment ….!

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:32:04 +0000

Finally! And what a wonderful building block of common ground it is.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:27:04 +0000

“Its silly to waste time with the meaningless drivel that you keep bringing up”

Ah, common ground. At last we have found something upon which we can agree.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:02:54 +0000

Paul, it should be pretty clear, I explained it my last comment. I’m not arguing that the bible is written by God because the bible says so. I’m not making any ‘argument’ that the bible was written by God. I could, if you would like, but to this point I haven’t. So, a key component of a circular argument is the argument. Which apparently you didn’t get from your reading.

Secondly, there is a major difference between followers or supposed followers of Christianity vs the primary object of Islam.

If you want to have a discussion, at least make reasonable comparisons. Its silly to waste time with the meaningless drivel that you keep bringing up, and I know that you have a lot more potential to have a reasonable discussion.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:57:55 +0000

Well, Jon, as you requested, I have done some reading about what circular arguments are, and I cannot see where you think I have been using the term incorrectly. perhaps you could elucidate.

As for Christian pedophilia, I don’t have to go all the way back to Jesus (who may or may not have actually existed). My references are all much more contemporary.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:55 +0000

Paul – I didn’t say I expected you to believe it based solely on that evidence. I’m not even saying I believe it based solely on that evidence. All I’m am doing is informing you what the bible says about itself. Perhaps you should read up on what circular arguments are because you clearly do not have a grasp on them.

Secondly, I don’t think you understand christianity, islam, and pedophilia if you think that was an example of the pot calling the kettle black. Have fun trying to find references in Christianity to where Jesus had sexual relationships with children.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:04:10 +0000

I see, Jon. You’ve gone back to your circular argument again. The Bible was written by God. How do I know? Well, The Bible tells me so.

Oh, and your comments about Islaam and pedophilia…I nearly spit coffee out of my nose. Pot? Kettle. Kettle? Pot. I’ll let you two get to know each other for a while. I’ll be black – I mean back – later.

No omelette for you.

By: MJ

MJ — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:29:36 +0000

I absolutely agree with you that reading the blog is a great way to get tuned in to other people’s beliefs. By the way, I’m not an athiest. I’m a I don’t know whether there is or not and really my interests lie more in getting to know as much about different belief systems.

In anthropology there’s a neat distinction between different ways of approaching a study of a culture that’s not your own: Etic which is looking at it from the outside and making judgments and emic which is looking at it through the eyes of a believer. Both are valid as long as you make your biases clear and that you’re aware of them. Oftentimes what seems ridiculous from the outside, is to the believers entirely reasonable.

So I was trying to get your internal viewpoint. Me on the other hand I’m kind of on the outside in that I don’t think you can “prove” or “disprove” whether there is a God or Gods – and really to me this world is full of diversity and I like diversity and variety and feel that diversity and variety deserve respect – that our Bill of Rights’ guarantees those freedoms (and am thankful that we live in a country which allows for variety and diversity).

So thanks for indulging my curiosity. Take care.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:55:29 +0000

MJ – that is an interesting observation. Are you saying that Jesus driving the money lenders out of the temple could be seen as a central idea of Christianity? Or that peace is a central idea of Christianity?

I have read the Koran, but I am certainly much more aware of the teachings of the Bible. As an atheist, you could fault me for arguing a theist perspective when I am not an expert in all theistic belief systems; however, I think its reasonable that one would have a more intimate knowledge of the belief system to which they subscribe. One reason for reading this blog and corresponding with others here is to learn more about various belief systems in general.

By: MJ

MJ — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:12:04 +0000

Thanks Jon. I will point out that I was simply illustrating what you were appearing to do in your response to me – not actually doing anything. Also there were certain things that Jesus did like preach peace and yet he violently chased the money lenders out of the Temple – that could be seen to be a central idea of Christianity – essentially any piece could be taken out of context and twisted to suit the ends of the person.

Jon, have you actually read the Koran? Have you studied it like it appears that you’ve studied the Bible? Or have you gotten your “meaning” of it through secondary sources?