Part 5 of 9 - Sam Harris vs William Lane Craig - Debate: Does Good Come From God - 7 April 2011

Part 5 - Sam Harris debated William Lane Craig at Notre Dame University on 7 April 2011 on the topic Does Good come from God?
Are the foundations for moral values natural or supernatural? - This was the way the debate was introduced by the moderator.

Introduction overview of the speakers (taken from the website):

Sam Harris, one of the "Four Horsemen of Atheism," a neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author, will seek to show that the separation between scientific facts and human values is an illusion. Harris will prove that science, not religion, should provide the basis for morality.

William Lane Craig is an American Evangelical Christian apologist, theologian, and analytic philosopher known for his work in the philosophy of religion, historical Jesus studies, and the philosophy of time. One of the foremost apologists in the field, Craig has faced some of the best and has been known to hold nothing back in his sharpshooting style of debate.

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[Jason Williams]

@13:53 Sam is just like "Did he really just say that? say whaaaaaat"

[Quantumface]

WLC: "I think that the Taliban has the wrong god."

Oh god.

[Sack Head]

Sam Harris @ 2:25: "So when He ( God ) commands the Israelites to slaughter the Amalekites that behavior becomes intrinsically good because He commanded it."

me: Why did God command the Israelites to kill the Amalekites?

[ambassadorinchainz]

Oh Sam Harris...you need to learn Christian theology before you attempt to critique it. Human sacrifice? For thousands of years the Jews sacrificed animals in order to point forward to one willing self sacrifice by Jesus (God himself) as an appeasement for man's sin (justly deserving of eternal punishment).

[LookHear2011]

Sam Harris is using "red herrings" by pointing out the cruelty of Yahweh?? WTF?! Atheism has no grounds for moral behaviour?? WTF?! Craig's rebuttal to these issues is beneath piss-poor. Craig's strategy is simply to dodge the issues Sam Harris brought up, because he knows they cannot be explained or rationalized.

And yes, Christianity is a belief system based on human sacrifice.

[johndoe77774444]

Of course we cannot observe evolution in real time, we observe it retrospectively and rationally. Do you not believe in atoms because you cannot see them?

Where did you get the wild idea that homo erectus pekinesis was fake? They've found 15 partial skulls and 11 lower jaws. You are a conspiracy theorist if you think all evolutionary scientists fabricate evidence.

[johndoe77774444]

Well you insinuated that our morality was so advanced that it could not be the product of evolution hence our existence requires a benevolent creator. Also your argument that since creation exists (we create) then creation is a viable explanation for our own existence, seems pretty weak to me. You see we are more complex then anything that we design, an entity that designed us must be more complex than us, which in turn would need an even more complex creator.

[johndoe77774444]

What about it is random besides the mutations? Yes, outside influences applied to organisms trigger mutations,don't see whats random about that.Generally speaking, the mutations that provide a reproductive advantage will be passed down to future generations. My official stance is that I highly doubt that we were created by an intelligent being, whether or not my views are aligned with every atheist thats ever spoken publiciy is irrelevent, although I'm pretty sure you are misinterpreting Dawkins

[Gigaloader]

"You are the one saying humans are so complex the we must be designed".

I never made that statement! I only said there is 100 % evidence of "Creation" in us (we create)!

Where as Evolution has only secondary evidence, means we can't actually see it happening. And many fossils like the famous homo erectus pekinesis for example is absolutely fake. Newer findings are better fakes but the older ones are totally laughable. That's why they are always lost. Just look for yourself! Truth hurts.