Irreverent Secular Humanism and Pop Culture
Theist debaters, in attempts to compete with their non-theist counterparts have developed arguments based on logical rules to explain why they believe (and notice we’re still using the word “believe”) that a god or gods are necessary beings that, in actuality, exist. One such argument is the Kalam Cosmological Argument, which goes like this:
There are two men standing in front of you. One is holding a basketball and the other with just open, outstretched arms. The man with the basketball shows you the ball, describes its color and its size and how its shape and hardness change if you add or remove air using a pump (which he also shows you). He dribbles the ball, takes a couple of shots, and then sits down.
The other guy stands up and tells you he also has a basketball but you can’t sense it in any way and no tests you perform will ever reveal the kind of ball that the other man is showing you. He insists, however, that he has one and that it is, in fact, a basketball. He “dribbles” the ball and makes a couple of “shots” which he insists swished – nothing but net! Then he sits down.
As a theist/creationist you are choosing to believe the guy with empty hands. Sure, he can’t prove he has a ball but he is really nice, seems really skilled with his basketball, and he said it will make you feel happy if you believe him. Further, he promises that if you continue to believe him you’ll have a basketball just like his someday – but he can’t tell you when.
Let’s think about this for a second. In what area of your life, outside of religion, would you willingly accept this kind of scenario? Under what other circumstances could a person convince you to go completely against your senses and your experience of reality like this? You’re probably finding it difficult to come up with something and I don’t blame you. It’s typical for a believer to compartmentalize and show an unusually high degree of skepticism toward everything except their beliefs. Maybe that’s something on which we should work, yes?
I don’t know about you, but I chose to play basketball with real basketballs and it’s been a more enjoyable game.
Credit for concept goes to “speedjunkie13” from Gixxer.com. Used with permission.
It’s no secret that people aren’t all that fond of Obama. Apparently the people who don’t like Obama extend that distaste to everybody involved with Obama in any way. I find that the most rabid anti-Obama people are often the least logical about their arguments. If you call them out on a point they’re attempting to make, they’ll either shift the goalposts or latch onto some other strange, tangential argument. Here’s an example of a recent Facebook status conversation I had (which is either still in progress or has died due to lack of ability to debate it further):
[My Cousin]
The best news of the day is a Federal court ordered that Obama Care is unconstitutional. Next to the Supreme Court. Apparently it is okay to not be a resident of Chicago and still run for Mayor. Big surprise there. Appellate court kicks the highly unethical potty mouth Rahm Emanuel off the ticket…Big surprise he is back on in 2 days. Great to be a Tsar of the President of the United States.
19 hours ago
I just don’t get why some people are so resistant to facts and/or logic. I mean, I’m all for people having their opinions! I just tend to think those opinions ought to be at least somewhat informed by reality instead of personal bias or prejudice.