bcgonynor's channel

The question, "Did Jesus rise from the dead?" isn't truly a dispute between theists and atheists, unless you consider Jews and Muslims to be atheists. Nor is the question "Do supernatural events occur?" One can easily picture a universe with no "gods" where some people have magic powers, or a uni...

@WalterTexieraLuis Responsibility is contingent upon ability to act. If I see someone drowning, and I'm an EMT who can swim, but I do nothing, I'm somewhat responsible for his death. But if someone drowns in Peru, I am in no way responsible. An all-powerful god could always help us but clearly of...

@AaronsEve Matthew 10:33-36. Matthew 12:30-34. Mark 7:27. Luke 11:23. Jesus put people down all the time. He repeatedly ignores his own point that even the wicked are friends to those that do them good. His friendship is even more exclusive than that, since he demands obedience and fealty. I thin...

@djs259 Sam Harris has been highly critical of the idea that the state of Israel has a divine mandate, and of the Old Testament writings generally, in all of his books. If he were forced to adopt a religion, I imagine it would be Buddhism, to which he offers qualified praise and which he practice...

@onefodderunit The first organic matter was inanimate. It was, probably, RNA. The first life forms came into existence spontaneously and eventually developed DNA. This is based on the work of Thomas Cech at the University of Colorado. There are other models out there.

@OrthodoxDarwinist He's had several debates with rabbis, some of which are on Youtube. He openly mocks the idea of God promising land to the Israelites in several speeches. "This is in His role as divine real-estate broker." Not a zionist.

@heathi51 Definition of APPROXIMATE from Webster's:

Transitive Verb 1) a : to bring near or close b : to bring (cut edges of tissue) together;

2 ): to come near to or be close to in position, value, or characteristics "A child tries to approximate his parents' speech."

The 'e' in 'well' is mispro...

@2222pauline Truth is always interesting, and seldom absolute, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you're just going to tell me myths I've already heard that you take way too seriously. As for salvation, I'm not aware of being in any sort of danger at the moment. So I'll have to decline your gen...

@civilianpuke No, what Hitch said is that Christianity is fairly judged by different standards because it makes different claims. If Socrates never existed, and was simply a rhetorical invention by Plato, one can still draw inspiration from the dialogues regardless. On the other hand, if Jesus ne...

@BlueTusk1 Are you really describing Peter Singer as someone who is too arrogant, ignorant, and angry to think clearly? There may be some atheists who are that way, but I don't think Singer could ever be counted among them. As for being narrow minded, Singer has never been afraid to critique prac...

@suddenlyitsobvious "Of course, to the public swallowing the propaganda it all makes perfect sense" 'Out' atheists are a small minority in our society and we face an appalling degree of social discrimination even where we do not face official discrimination. The majority of us were raised in reli...

@Onetruthrgv The counterargument is that neither can theists. Given that the sorts of evidence provided in favor of any given religion are similar - allegedly fulfilled prophecy, naive infatuation with the holy book one was raised with, ecstatic hallucinations, dreams, positive feelings - there i...

@loveuforeverapril20 Not in this asshole's book. Many modern Christians ignore it, but most of the epistles contain admonitions to avoid non-Christians in social settings. As they became the majority and then the totality of society, these cultist behaviors began to fade. But now that radical Chr...

@mystical234 True, including Akon. "Look, even though the record label and the girl's father and the club's management and Gwen Stefani deserve to take the blame for this, I guess I'll do it myself since it's already been a while. Aren't I the best person who ever lived? Look at my one tear..." W...

@Scytherene122190 Yeah, that's what I was saying. It's something you see a lot these days among the pseudo-libertarian crowd: the idea that the two ideologies are similar, or that both of them are interchangeable. If someone thinks that, or that one person can be simultaneously a fascist and a co...

@vjohn16 I think you've misunderstood me. I'm an atheist and I was ridiculing the canard that people like me know the Bible is true in our "hearts", but we oppose it anyway because we want an excuse to continue being sinful, or because we're not actually atheists but devil worshippers, or somethi...

@177xxxx (2/2) white person in Alabama in 1950, "Do you think people have the right to elect representatives by voting?" they would have said yes. If you asked them "Are blacks people?" they would have said yes. Therefore one could point out that they were violating their own precepts and were be...

@cmpresents Get my ass out of my ass? Huh? "If love is a feeling, then you love no one?" What? I guess I could be persuaded that love is a pattern of behavior from a functionalist standpoint, but I think most people would classify love as a feeling. The difference between us is that I've actualll...

@ZeonGenesis Well, I think she was excluded from the discussion because the other participants realized pretty quickly that she was incapable of answering a question, or staying on one subject. So yeah, the moderator was just being polite. Like I said, I wouldn't give the incoherent fluff she spo...

@BachScholar You don't see any difference between dying at 5 and dying at 95? I think almost everyone else does. Now, I could picture a possible God that could engineer as system like this and would still be 'good.' However, the Christian God does not fit the bill, because of the possibility of a...

@Hussain601 What does this have to do with what I was talking about? If a homeless witch doctor named Yeshua ben Joseph did live in first-century Palestine, I imagine he was an olive-skinned, dark-haired Sephardic Jew. But I couldn't really care less. Doesn't affect me at all. Yes, Christian art ...

@tigerlilly66 Atheists have proverbs, too. Here's two: "And do you think that unto such as you; A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew; God gave the secret, and denied it me? Well, well, what matters it?Believe that, too." - Omar Khayyam "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the ...