Obviously, Professor A. C. Grayling must be a very busy man. I don't doubt that teaching, writing, and interviews keeps him quite busy. However, I confess that I am finding it very difficult to believe that his schedule has been completely booked for the rest of his life. I simply can't understand why he can't carve out a few hours of spare time to burst my bubble of egotistical pride, by demonstrating the intellectual superiority of his atheistic humanism once and for all. After reading his book and blogging about it twice because I appreciated the skill of its authorship, I grew bold and wrote the good professor to propose a written debate that would pit his GOD Argument versus my Counterargument for God. You see, I paid attention when I read his book. I believe that already know much of what the professor might say, and it gave me the confidence to approach him. I am quite convinced that my counterargument can defeat his argument, even though my book was originally intended to rebut The God Delusion of Richard Dawkins. So when Grayling's first assistant asked me to define the parameters for the debate I proposed admittedly, my hopes rose. My reply suggested that Professor Grayling could set the debate parameters for debate himself. My offer said that we could schedule our discussion for any future exchange at his convenience. So you might imagine my surprise when his second assistant replied and said that it would never be convenient. Not even sometime in late 2016? I asked. Nope. Never, as in never, ever. Please forgive me for stating … [Read more...]
Willful ignorance
A couple of years ago, I faced the rather formidable challenge of engaging in public debate against Ed Buckner, former president of American Atheists. Ed was very experienced in that sort of thing; it was my first and remains as of today, the only formal debate I've ever had in my life. Therefore, my work was certainly cut out for me. Fortunately for me, video existed on You Tube showing Ed present his best arguments while debating a Muslim scholar in the U.K. named Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. So I took copious notes, seizing upon the opportunity to anticipate Ed's best shots. In fairness, Ed also should have been able to anticipate my best shots coming, if he'd bothered to read some of my work as the Atlanta Creationism Examiner. In my opening remarks, I enumerated the seven points that Ed made that were the foundation his best arguments for atheism and then eviscerated them, point-by-point. I sort of expected that once the logical flaws in Ed's argument were systematically exposed and shredded before he'd ever opened his mouth, we would then be able to spend the remainder of our time arguing about points about the science that has now officially become the crux of my Counterargument for God. Because I knew Ed to be quite an intelligent man, I will now confess that I was expecting the alleged "freethinker" would be a little bit more open-minded. I foolishly assumed that Ed would be able to defend his own beliefs, rather than simply attacking what he supposed to be mine with every opportunity.Sadly, Ed disappointed me. Also in my opening … [Read more...]
Runaway Rusty
We decided to add just a couple of stories to my book Always a Next One. We replaced the preview chapter of Coastal Empire at the back of the book with a little more content while we were adding pictures of the dogs to the e-book version. These two additional stories are dedicated to Jennie Attaway, for inspiring me to write them. This one is called Runaway Rusty... Usually, we humans decide to adopt a dog. But sometimes, it works the other way around. Rusty had experienced a rough life before he came to our house for rescue and rehabilitation. After spending several weeks camped at my wife’s feet, he picked up on what life was like for the rest of our pack. When it came time for his adoption, Rusty had obviously developed his own ideas about where his perfect forever home might be. “Rusty was returned again,” Lisa said. “What did he do this time?” I asked, not terribly surprised. “The woman who adopted him complained that he kept running away,” Lisa said. “She said every time she walked out the front door, he’d make a run for it. She’s tired of chasing him all over her neighborhood.” “Rusty?” I asked incredulously. That didn’t sound like him at all. “When will you bring him back here?” “When I go to the shelter on Thursday.” And so it was settled. It wasn’t Rusty’s first time through our revolving door. The older but beautiful black-and-tan collie had fostered with us more than once since his original owner surrendered him back the shelter. The woman who had adopted Rusty from the shelter as a puppy returned him after six years with … [Read more...]
Digital publishing and Amazon
How do I love Amazon? Let me count the ways... If it weren't for Amazon, I don't believe that I would have a published book for sale today. Because of this internet conglomerate, I have two detective novels and two nonfiction books available for purchase, as you read these words. Yes, Smashwords.com and David Gaughran's book Let's Get Digital were also instrumental in getting my books published without an agent or contract with a major publisher, but without the market spawned by Amazon with the introduction of the Kindle, the demand for e-books would never have been created in the first place. Therefore, in my mind, Amazon ultimately deserves a share of credit for any success I will enjoy as an author. Amazon created the Kindle Select program, where a book may be enrolled for special treatment over a period of three months. My short story collection Always a Next One was put into Kindle Select. During the time in that program, I've found my book marketed ubiquitously online, everywhere from American Thinker to an Australian television station website. It's extremely gratifying to find a well-placed, attractive ad for your product, especially an advertisement that you didn't have to buy. At this point in my writing career, exposure to my work is most important. "Free" advertising is invaluable. The Kindle Select program has been a great way to get my book cover visible all over the internet, where many eyes have found an adorable puppy looking back at them. But that's not all Amazon has done besides creating a market and offering a subscription … [Read more...]
Charles Darwin and Creation, the movie
After reading an article in the UK Telegraph claiming that a film about Charles Darwin titled Creation had been deemed too controversial by distributors in America because it advocated evolution theory, I got suckered into watching it. Hey, at least it was free on HBO. In the Telegraph article by Showbiz editor Anita Singh, the film's producer Jeremy Thomas was quoted as saying: The film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it's because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up. It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There's still a great belief that He made the world in six days. It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules. Charles Darwin is, I suppose, the hero of the film. But we tried to make the film in a very even-handed way. Darwin wasn't saying 'kill all religion', he never said such a thing, but he is a totem for people. Sounds like a tired cliche--Darwin good, religion bad. Was the moviemaker correct in his assessment? Why weren’t distributors fighting over the rights to the film in America? I think I know the answer. The movie wasn’t controversial. It was boring. That’s only when it wasn’t depressing as hell. Morose would be far too cheerful a word to describe this film. Besides, the premise for his complaint was completely … [Read more...]
