Jerry Bergman v PZ Myers Debate

by cofty 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  cofty

  In part 1 Bergman speaks about his past as a JW and how it influenced his thinking. He actually claims that the Watchtower were the only religious organisation to oppose the Nazis

  I swear I am losing IQ points by the minute listening to him. According to PZ Myers blog Pharyngula his arguments get even more weird as he goes along.

  "it was like having an argument with a rabid squirrel — he makes no sense, he splutters out nutty fragments of angry rhetoric, and he's ultimately of no consequence whatsoever".

  By the way the topic is whether ID should be taught in schools, its in 5 parts of 27 minutes each. So far Bergman has not got anywhere near the topic.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_XSjILsp0I
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  JonathanH

  I was just watching this. Wow, his mom was a Jehovah's witness....and he seems very pro-witness, go figure. Even this nutter managed to finally find out how ridiculous the JWs were though.
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  bohm

  it so cringeworthy it is worthy?
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  JonathanH

  Jeese, I just skipped ahead ten minutes to get through his life story of being a witness and then atheist, and now he's just babbling about how hard creationists have it. What is he debating exactly? He doesn't seem to be debating any point in particular.
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  JonathanH

  lol, now he claimed that atoms are irreducibly complex, only the fundemental particles are not irreducibly complex. What the hell is he even getting at? Bergman is just sitting down, I can't wait to see the look of confusion on PZs face. I mean how do you argue with that kind of insanity?
• 

  cofty

  PZ makes a good point in part 2. If we allowed ID to be taught in schools what exactly would we teach?

  Criticising neo-Darwinian evolution is not the same as teaching ID. What positive things are you going to say?
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  JonathanH

  I'm on the third video and this is insanity. The guy is saying that a teacher was fired for teaching chemistry, because the periodic table is irreducibly complex. Can you get a TV without chemistry? Only particles and leptons are not irreducibly complex. Show me a radio that works on only a single lepton. Or a woman made of a single quark. WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN?
• 

  cofty

  Bergman would even be an embarassment to Ken Ham, Banana Man and Dr Dino
• 

  sizemik

  PZ makes a good point in part 2.

  I posted part 2 in the DESIGN thread before noticing this (at JonathanH's prompting) . . . apologies cofty

  It's probably more relevant over there . . . and definitely a more coherent and logical argument.

  JB comes across as no less crazy however . . . he aligns himself with that batshit crazy Behe no less
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I heard Jerry Bergman speak at BRCI (see http://brci.org/index.php) in 2009. He was very narrow in his examination of evidence concerning evolution vs. creation. He is not JW anymore, but is very fundamentalist Christian in his beliefs and teachings. I remember him saying toward the end of the conference that NOBODY has every contested his talks at the places he has been invited to give them.

  I wanted to raise my hand and say, "Meet the first." I was ready to point out some logic fallacies that even a high-school dropout like me could point out. The thing is, BRCI and the other places he has spoken are very "Christian" groups. It is not the place to ruin the ex-JW support they provide by trying to attack a supporter of their "replacement" beliefs for WTS. I let it go.

  Still, I would walk out if I went to another BRCI conference and Dr. Bergman were to speak. I might view the video link in this thread for laughs, but I might not. He's not quite Banana Man, but who is?