It is really and truly difficult to imagine that Richard Dawkins could actually be a stupid man, and yet there is some evidence to suggest it. On video, no less. I just finished watching a clip named "7 Clever Atheist Flawless Victories", but saying the video failed to deliver would be a major understatement. Why did I even bother to watch it in the first place? My best, most honest answer would be morbid curiosity. Knowing your enemy seems to be a very sound battle strategy and between theism and atheism there is an ongoing war of ideas. Yet despite the video's provocative title, my expectations going in were low and still went unmet. Frankly, there are no new arguments for atheism, and all the old arguments are incredibly weak. Personally, I don't view individual atheists as my enemy. Atheism is my enemy. I don't hate atheists, but I'm not a fan of atheism. Why? Atheism is the enemy of logic and scientific evidence. My book proves that with a comprehensive argument that is utterly devastating to atheism. That's why I like to offer the atheist visitors to my Facebook page a free ebook copy so they can see for themselves and check all my references. Sadly, far too few accept my generous offer, even if they live in a country where I can upgrade the gift to an audiobook. They would prefer to remain willfully ignorant rather than tackle an argument that could (and would) rock their worldview if they took the argument seriously. This particular video promised not only one, but seven different arguments for atheism that were (allegedly) perfect in their … [Read more...]
A lesson on morality from Guardians of the Galaxy
Morality, of course, is a general sense of right versus wrong. By human nature, our personal sense of morality is relative, because otherwise there would be no criminal behavior, and no one would ever get upset or offended by the actions of another person. But what about objective morality? Does it even exist? An objective moral truth is always true. Even though do people commit murders, the act of deliberately murdering another human being is universally understood to be wrong, by virtually everyone on earth, which even includes the perpetrator. Many of the most important objective moral truths were codified into law from the earliest days of civilization: stealing, murder, and giving false testimony are only a few examples. The thief and the murderer may try to rationalize that under certain circumstances, their criminal behavior may be the only appropriate solution to their perceived problem, but the independent observer with absolute knowledge of right versus wrong and good versus evil, but the arbiter of objective moral values has decreed that the end result never justifies the means. So, whoever would have guessed that that a simple but extraordinary lesson on morality could be learned by watching Guardians of the Galaxy? Certainly not me. In fact, I've watched the movie several times without the thought ever occurring to me, that the scriptwriters had managed to work a very clever moral lesson into their plot. In this scene, Rocket the Raccoon and Drax the Destroyer perfectly represent humankind's "natural" approach to the problem of morality. Peter … [Read more...]
