Christianity
1. Abandon the mythology of Genesis. God did not make the world in 6, 8 or 1000 days or 1000 days of years. Stop squabbling over Hebrew syntax and what you think the Biblical writers meant. They meant what they wrote and they were wrong. We know far too much about how things really came about to believe any of the nonsense written by a Hebrew-speaking priest of the sixth century BCE who thought things came about by a direct act of his hereditary deity.
[..]
Muslims
1. Give up the idea that the Quran is the most beautiful poetry ever written, the most perfect Arabic ever set to ink, the closest we can approach God in the scheme of time. Are you inhaling this stuff or just smoking? You have two hundred poets whose Arabic is better, any one of which could have won in a slam-down with Gabriel.
[..]
Judaism
1. There are no chosen people. There are just people. It is depressing, isn’t it? We all want to be special.
(via friendlyatheist.com)
Like Hemant says on Friendly Atheist, #4 under Judaism might require a bit of an exception, but otherwise this is a pretty dead-on accurate list.
I’d like to see a magazine cover like this : Pharyngula
Wow, The Onion’s on a roll today.
The part dealing with Charles Darwin’s biography is actually rather good – almost as if he’d plagiarised the work of someone else? Sure enough, Googling several key phrases from Comfort’s introduction proves beyond reasonable doubt that he had. Whole passages were lifted without attribution from Dr Stan Guffey’s work, A Brief History of Charles Darwin. For example:
Ray: During his great adventure as the Beagle’s naturalist, Darwin had studied certain aspects of the morphology and biogeography of the many species of plants and animals that he had observed. He eventually concluded that species exhibited varying degrees of similarity because they were to varying degrees related.
Stan: On his great adventure as the Beagle’s naturalist Darwin had noted and begun to ponder certain aspects of the morphology and biogeography of the many species of plants and animals that he had observed. In particular, he had begun to explore the possibility, and eventually concluded, that species exhibited varying degrees of similarity because they are to varying degrees related.
(via The Freethinker)
Dr. Stovold kindly rips apart Comfort with a short analysis and a very apt analogy. Good morning fun. Hit the link for more.
Hemant: The arguments you make in the introduction to the Darwin book have been stated before — and refuted repeatedly by scientists. So why repeat them? Are you interested in hearing atheists’ responses to your questions?
Ray: I don’t deny that the arguments I have used have been addressed many times. However, it’s only atheists that believe that they have been “refuted.” I don’t. I listen to arguments and if they don’t hold up, I don’t accept them.
Hemant: In your own words, how would you describe how evolution and natural selection are supposed to work according to the theory that is broadly accepted in the life sciences? (In other words, can you explain what evolution is before trying to debunk it?)
Ray: Someone who believes in the theory of evolution believes that life started simply and over millions of years evolved to the complex state we now see. The process of change is supposedly brought about by something Darwin called “natural selection.” Evolution has no explanation for the genesis of life, and it has never been “observed” to take place. Nor has it been scientifically proven — because it’s never been “tested” in a laboratory. Evolution, as you have conceded in your question, is simply a theory. Darwinian evolution is often confused by believers with a species adapting within its own kind. Transitions within a species (a kind) is not Darwinian evolution.
Hemant: What is the strongest evidence you can think of in support of evolution by natural selection?
Ray: There is no indisputable evidence for species to species evolution. All “evidence” comes down to faith — does the believer believe the dating process or the information given by other believers in evolution. The mantra is that there are millions of fossils that scientifically prove evolution. I am often sent long lists of missing links. But as I investigate each one, they are not true missing links between kinds. There are millions of fossils that reveal adaptation within kinds, but there are no undisputed fossils that show one species (kind) evolving into another species (kind). The links between kinds were missing in Darwin’s day, and 150 years later they are still missing. To date I have seen no evidence for the theory of evolution.
Continue Reading at FriendlyAtheist.com
There is FAR more to this interview, and it gives us a glimpse into Mr. Comfort’s delusions. Hemant has outdone himself in providing this interview, and as I often say, it’s well worth your time to read.
On November 24, 1859, the first edition of a book that would shake the most deeply established beliefs about life was published in London. What would eventually be known as “The Origin of Species” was the opening shot in a debate that hasn’t ended, even 150 years later.
In a series of books starting in 1976 and in his 2002 TED Talk, biologist Richard Dawkins has explored the implications of Darwin’s work. In “The Selfish Gene,” Dawkins wrote, “Living organisms had existed on earth, without ever knowing why, for over 300,000 million years before the truth finally dawned on one of them. His name was Charles Darwin.”
Dawkins argues that there is no doubt that Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is true and, unlike some other scholars of the subject, says belief in evolution is not compatible with faith in religion. In fact, he argues, science and religion undermine each other.
[…]
CNN: What’s your sense of Darwin’s influence around the world?
Dawkins: Evolution is almost universally accepted among those who understand it, almost universally rejected by those who don’t.
The e-mail between CNN and Dawkins is actually quite a bit less biased than I had expected.
The article’s a good read, but make sure to check the comments for the real lunacy, containing gems like, “if science is based upon evidence why 150 yrs later is Darwin’s theory still only a THEORY? Because noone can prove it.”
Sigh. Baby steps.
CH4 are running an interesting series on Christianity – now available on 40d. It features a few characters I know some fans here will like.
Watch the full series over at Ch4
(via Derren Brown Blog)
The initial video posted on Derren Brown’s Blog is fantastic, and we even get a taste of Dawkins discussing evolution. It looks as if there’s a lot more too this as well. So much interesting material comes out of the UK, sometimes I wish I lived there.
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