inkling

Joined

• started 144 topics
• posted 1,389 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by inkling

• 
  150

  Article: The Atheist's Dilemma

  by BurnTheShips in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  campos: the atheist's dilemmaby paul camposwhy is stanley fish so much smarter than richard dawkins?

  that question occurred to me last week, while attending a lecture at which fish, the well-known literary and legal theorist, did the thing he always does, which is to make the following point over and over again:.

  "no believer will find his faith shaken by evidence that is evidence only in the light of assumptions he does not share and considers flatly wrong.".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  It is alleged that selection from a range of such mutations gives rise to complexity, but to state categorically that selection of mutations over a long time period is the origin of complexity is pushing it too far, since this is very difficult to demonstrate scientifically. For example, much is made of the ability of bacteria and viruses to 'adapt' to pathogens, but in every case this is a result of reduction in the organism's complexity, as pointed out by Michael Behe in 'The Edge of Evolution'.

  Uh... fail?
  
  Bacteria, in some case, GAIN abilities, such as the biological
  tools required to process nylon.
  
  Digesting nylon required a specific enzyme that these bacteria
  did not have before the invention of nylon in 1935.
  
  Now they do.

  What would you call that, if not an "increase in complexity"?

  [inkling]
• 
  47

  How do you answer "you research just to criticize"?

  by undercover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  minimus' thread about research got me to thinking about a friend who recently accused me of researching just to purposely find something wrong so i could justify my actions (of becoming inactive).. how would you answer this?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  accused me of researching just to purposely find something wrong

  This strikes me as being quite ironic, considering that the reaction to OTHER peoples
  beliefs (when met in the field ministry) is to research, not with an attempt to understand
  the persons religious belief at any real depth or nuance, but rather to find it's weakest
  points so that it might be proven wrong, and the witness belief offered as the obvious
  correct alternative to the error of their ways.

  sigh...

  [inkling]
• 
  29

  Doing the best I can on the Global Warming...

  by Gregor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this winter is not over but it has, so far, been brutal.

  in our part of the world we have seen weeks of sub-freezing temps and blizzards that have left us virtually isolated.

  we live very modestly, no 10,000 sq ft mansions, no private jets or limosines, but, none the less, we do what we can to speed up global warming.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  Inkling, chill out. My opening statement was obviously satire. I love Polar bears

  And I would think my comment would have been taken as much the same, seeing
  as I added the little "" face.
• 
  14

  Octomom offered $1 million, family health/dental care to star in porn series.

  by Dune in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in an offer letter obtained by tmz.com, the president of the pornography studio and distributor steven hirsch says the company would release the film under their "vivid-celeb imprint, which has released titles starring such personalities as pamela anderson, kim kardashian, and most recently, former miss usa kelli mcarty.".

  the site also reports that the company is offering her family dental and health care if she agrees to star in a series of films.. suleman, 33, known as "octomom" after giving birth to octuplets earlier this year, has reportedly not replied to the request.. i can't make this up.... link.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  What are they going to call the movie, octopusy?'

  LOL!

  Excellent.

  She is sort of a poor man's Angelina Jolie....
  And, if she DID do the porno, then she would have the money to actually RAISE her 14 kids

  I say she should do it. Hell, she can't possible make her public image worse than it is now, right?

  [inkling]
• 
  32

  ExJWs either BAs or atheists -- do you agree?

  by parakeet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a week or two ago, a poster (i forget who; sorry) noted that exjws tend to fall into two camps -- born-again christians or atheists/agnostics.

  there doesn't appear to be much of a middle ground, e.g.

  joining a traditional, mainstream religion.. the observation has some merit to it.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  I think there are a number of ExJWs who consider themselves independent Xians without being part of any Xian church or movement...

  Ranging from "Snowbird" almost-born again-type, to... hm, i'm trying to think of a independent liberal Christian poster...

  I can't think or her name at the moment.

  Anyone?
• 
  32

  ExJWs either BAs or atheists -- do you agree?

  by parakeet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a week or two ago, a poster (i forget who; sorry) noted that exjws tend to fall into two camps -- born-again christians or atheists/agnostics.

  there doesn't appear to be much of a middle ground, e.g.

  joining a traditional, mainstream religion.. the observation has some merit to it.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  Just wait until the exJW catholics wake up and you'll get overwhelmed with evidence of apostolic succession and papal infallibility.

  Yeah, you can't get much more "mainstream" than Catholic.

  Of course, I'm not sure how many of the "BurnTheShips" model of XJWS have been made...

  They might have broken the mold after making him.

  [inkling]
• 
  32

  The one thing keeping me from total atheism/theism

  by easyreader1970 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hate riding the fence.

  if someone asked me right now if i believed in a creator (or creators), i would still say i don't know, in spite of everything i know about current science.. what's my hangup?

  believe it or not, it's one thing.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  the universe is just too amazing for me to believe it was all chance

  Amazing, yes. And vicious, and brutal, and cruel, and trying to kill all of us all the time.

  Hey, maybe that IS a good argument for the God of the Bible....

  [inkling]
• 
  32

  The one thing keeping me from total atheism/theism

  by easyreader1970 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hate riding the fence.

  if someone asked me right now if i believed in a creator (or creators), i would still say i don't know, in spite of everything i know about current science.. what's my hangup?

  believe it or not, it's one thing.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  Atheism is simply the logical default position even if there is no evidence either way.
  (which for the record, I think there IS evidence against, at very least, a loving and interested god)

  I should also add that I understand that some people DO see enough evidence to convince them
  away from the default position, and those people are theists of various sorts. This is fine. I see
  things they point to and remain unconvinced, but I can understand if they feel convinced.
  
  However, these are often the same people that argue against Atheism by saying "you can't
  prove it one way or the other".
  
  This may be true, but the fact is that in the absence of proof, it is our intellectual
  responsibility to side with the most compelling evidence, whatever we see that as being.
  
  What I am saying is that "you can't prove either way" is a really lame argument, because
  it is only true in two cases- one, there is no evidence whatsoever, or two, the evidence
  is exactly evenly stacked on both sides.
  
  In either case, I would suggest that Atheism is the reasonable default position.
  
  The only reasonable argument against Atheism must be in the form of "this is the evidence
  FOR the existence of a god."
  
  Anything else is just helping the case for Atheism.
• 
  129

  Why I am an atheist

  by Awakened at Gilead in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

  1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

  once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  Everywhere I look, I see God's masterful handiwork.

  [inkling]
• 
  32

  The one thing keeping me from total atheism/theism

  by easyreader1970 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hate riding the fence.

  if someone asked me right now if i believed in a creator (or creators), i would still say i don't know, in spite of everything i know about current science.. what's my hangup?

  believe it or not, it's one thing.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  inkling

  If I "believe there is no God," it implies that I have faith in a concept...

  Exactly. That's why it's silly to claim that Atheists claim to "know" or "believe" that there is no god.
  They simply are unconvinced that there IS a god. They do not see reason enough to believe in god, or fairies.
  
  Atheism is simply the logical default position even if there is no evidence either way.
  (which for the record, I think there IS evidence against, at very least, a loving and interested god)

  [inkling]