Posts by Doltologist

80

Is RIDICULE acceptable in online debating?

by nicolaou in

this topic was inspired by one of fhn's comments on the 'warzone' thread, so i'll just restate my post there .

.. "i've been wondering for a while now if ridicule really is an unacceptable feature in debate - it certainly isn't a valid form of argumentation.

the thing is, some individuals really do come out with the most laughable nonsense and parade it as a serious proposition that merits attention.

Doltologist

Marvin

Whether an individual deserves ridicule as a human being is a moral question. In contemporary society a person's behavior can be so contemptuous that most would think the individual deserving of ridicule. Regardless, an assertion that a particular conclusion is false because of the character of the person offering the conclusion is fallacious reasoning.

The issue is though that humans are very emotional creatures. As a result, to some, a person's character and their views are indistinguishable.

182

The Case for Theism

by FusionTheism in

"theism" here means "belief in a god" or "the worldview that an intelligent designer created the universe and life.

" ("god" here means a being with a mind who initiated and/or wound-up the universe, and designed life on earth)the most common claim that i see atheists making on twitter, is that "no evidence" exists in support of belief in a god.this post will remove any excuse atheists have for claiming "no evidence exists" in support of an initiator.

atheists can still reject this evidence as "weak," but they cannot truthfully say it does not exist.now, it is true that we do not have "observable, repeatable, falsifiable, empirical, scientific" evidence conclusively proving that an initiator exists, but we do have many lines of philisophical, experiential, and logical evidence.and... here... we... go:1:) many leading scientists, including stephen hawking, say that the space-time-matter universe had a beginning at the singularity/big bang.

Doltologist

Prologos

A well staged accident,

It wasn't staged for that would infer a creator would it not?

appearing as chaotic,,

It doesn't appear to be chaotic, it actually is.

but creating order out of "nothing"

Don't know about order but out of nothing is quite correct

with no trace left on the scene of the perpetrator?

Again, a perpetrator implies some kind of intelligence and I don't see a whole heap of that.

59

New David Splane Video: No 1900 Year Faithful Slave

by FusionTheism in

governing body member david splane has a new video on tv.jw.org where he talks about all the horrible things committed by martin luther and the protestant reformers.. his conclusion is that there has been no faithful and discreet slave on the earth during the past 1900 years (before 1919 i guess.).

he also says that maybe there were a few anointed on earth, maybe not.. he did add an interesting statement that he doesn't condemn the other churches just for misunderstanding the bible because the society has done that.. another odd point, was that he actually mentioned catholic missionary work in a somewhat positive light, while totally condemning the reformation views on predestination..

Doltologist

Two legs good, four legs bad?

6

Pope wants to prosecute bishops covering up abuse.

by Driving Force in

just saw something in a german online news channel.. here is the translation:.

pope wants to prosecute bishops covering up abuse.

during his tenure the former pope benedict dismissed hundreds of pedophile priests for child abuse.

Doltologist

The head of the Catholic Church wants to set up a court to fight against abuse cover up.
The court is to prosecute bishops who covered up cases of sexual abuse by clergy in their dioceses.

No. This is the job of the judiciary - NOT the clergy. It reminds me of the Star Chamber where Barons would be tried by other Barons - who would understand (a la 1066 and all that).

60

Why don’t we have a better story?

by iconoclastic in

1. some say we are all gods, and god is omnipresent..

2. some say: god created his children who later challenged his sovereignty, who in turn asked his eldest son: go down to the world, do not resist the wicked, but be murdered by them, the value of which will be used to atone the sins of the world..

3. universe arose out of a big bang.

Doltologist

Iconoclastic

3. Universe arose out of a big bang. Later life arose. When the species felt hungry, food-provision arose (or, food-provision arose first which made the hunger possible whatever). When they took food, they felt the need of a digestive system within their bodies—thus digestive system appeared. When they felt the need to copy themselves, genital organs arose. When they implanted seed into their bodies, a womb appeared within the body.

Look, I'm trying to become a born-again atheist and all round good guy so please give me a hand here. Your above quote would need to seriously improve before it could be referred to as bad. Have a heart and improve it, there's a good fellow-me-lad. Then we can all agree that it's bad.

59

New David Splane Video: No 1900 Year Faithful Slave

by FusionTheism in

governing body member david splane has a new video on tv.jw.org where he talks about all the horrible things committed by martin luther and the protestant reformers.. his conclusion is that there has been no faithful and discreet slave on the earth during the past 1900 years (before 1919 i guess.).

he also says that maybe there were a few anointed on earth, maybe not.. he did add an interesting statement that he doesn't condemn the other churches just for misunderstanding the bible because the society has done that.. another odd point, was that he actually mentioned catholic missionary work in a somewhat positive light, while totally condemning the reformation views on predestination..

Doltologist

Does anyone actually listen to this?

80

Is RIDICULE acceptable in online debating?

by nicolaou in

this topic was inspired by one of fhn's comments on the 'warzone' thread, so i'll just restate my post there .

.. "i've been wondering for a while now if ridicule really is an unacceptable feature in debate - it certainly isn't a valid form of argumentation.

the thing is, some individuals really do come out with the most laughable nonsense and parade it as a serious proposition that merits attention.

Doltologist

Millie210

You have given me much to read and think about. I will now read and think.

Thank you and have a nice day. I shall.

59

New David Splane Video: No 1900 Year Faithful Slave

by FusionTheism in

governing body member david splane has a new video on tv.jw.org where he talks about all the horrible things committed by martin luther and the protestant reformers.. his conclusion is that there has been no faithful and discreet slave on the earth during the past 1900 years (before 1919 i guess.).

he also says that maybe there were a few anointed on earth, maybe not.. he did add an interesting statement that he doesn't condemn the other churches just for misunderstanding the bible because the society has done that.. another odd point, was that he actually mentioned catholic missionary work in a somewhat positive light, while totally condemning the reformation views on predestination..

Doltologist

He did add an interesting statement that he doesn't condemn the other churches just for misunderstanding the Bible because the Society has done that.

That's real big of him, he said rather sarcastically.

182

The Case for Theism

by FusionTheism in

"theism" here means "belief in a god" or "the worldview that an intelligent designer created the universe and life.

" ("god" here means a being with a mind who initiated and/or wound-up the universe, and designed life on earth)the most common claim that i see atheists making on twitter, is that "no evidence" exists in support of belief in a god.this post will remove any excuse atheists have for claiming "no evidence exists" in support of an initiator.

atheists can still reject this evidence as "weak," but they cannot truthfully say it does not exist.now, it is true that we do not have "observable, repeatable, falsifiable, empirical, scientific" evidence conclusively proving that an initiator exists, but we do have many lines of philisophical, experiential, and logical evidence.and... here... we... go:1:) many leading scientists, including stephen hawking, say that the space-time-matter universe had a beginning at the singularity/big bang.

Doltologist

Prologos

Not only that, but all these advanced experiments require extraordinary knowledge, skills and effort. and these are only experiments. Who dare say that the original we are probing required less? Do you see the people at MIT CERN as accident investigators?

I had to chuckle at the last sentence.

I don't think that the universe came about by accident. I think that it was inevitable. The timing was probably completely random although to talk in terms of time, pre-universe, isn't quite right but you get my drift, no? The precise nature of the Universe was probably random though and probably the result of chaos theory. Do I believe that the universe was created by some sky wizard? Nope.

182

The Case for Theism

by FusionTheism in

"theism" here means "belief in a god" or "the worldview that an intelligent designer created the universe and life.

" ("god" here means a being with a mind who initiated and/or wound-up the universe, and designed life on earth)the most common claim that i see atheists making on twitter, is that "no evidence" exists in support of belief in a god.this post will remove any excuse atheists have for claiming "no evidence exists" in support of an initiator.

atheists can still reject this evidence as "weak," but they cannot truthfully say it does not exist.now, it is true that we do not have "observable, repeatable, falsifiable, empirical, scientific" evidence conclusively proving that an initiator exists, but we do have many lines of philisophical, experiential, and logical evidence.and... here... we... go:1:) many leading scientists, including stephen hawking, say that the space-time-matter universe had a beginning at the singularity/big bang.

Doltologist

OGTG

Cofty/Outlaw

If anyone I debate this topic with has yet to learn that:

1. agnosticism is about knowledge

2. atheism is about belief

3. knowledge is a subset of belief

then I find all conversations about the topic are futile

Cofty, it seems Outlaw is rather jealous of your former elder status.

I really have to take exception to item 2 above. Atheism isn't about belief, ffs. It is merely a response to an unproven assertion that god exists.