BrotherJosh Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Mods - this can be moved if you deem this not the right forum... So my family is still firmly convinced they can win me back to the fold (despite years outside of it) and so I have been given a DVD labelled, "Evidence for the Existence of God" by Charlie H. Campbell of http://www.alwaysbeready.com/ First off - the entire movie is a complete mis-representation of every "atheist" argument out there. He completely mis-represents scientific ideas, philosophical thought and frames all Atheists and non-believers as being ignorant. Has anyone else seen this movie or others like it? The logical fallacies, cherry picked quotes and outright mental gymnastics is astounding. I hate to stereotype here, but why do most apologists I have ever seen/encountered/debated/watched/or read always have this air of superiority that culminates in a sneering condescending attitude? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Ad hominem attack pure and simple. They have no defendable arguments and no (dis) provable theories so they attack the messenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litassio Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 I hate to stereotype here, but why do most apologists I have ever seen/encountered/debated/watched/or read always have this air of superiority that culminates in a sneering condescending attitude? I noticed this same attitude on most christian forums. Perhaps it has to do with the shortcomings of the christian ideology and life style? What makes me wonder is why these people don't realize for themselves that this weakens their case entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Did you tell your family about why the arguments in the DVD sucked, and how it misrepresented atheism? What were the arguments anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherJosh Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 I noticed this same attitude on most christian forums. Perhaps it has to do with the shortcomings of the christian ideology and life style? What makes me wonder is why these people don't realize for themselves that this weakens their case entirely. I agree. The overarching lifestyle and world-view at this point demands that anyone of them must continually deny an ever shrinking God (at they conceptualize it). I think it makes many of them angry because they feel beset on all sides. Did you tell your family about why the arguments in the DVD sucked, and how it misrepresented atheism? What were the arguments anyway? I did in a roundabout and nonjudgmental way. It wasn't that it misrepresented atheism, I don't care if someone is an atheist or not, but I do care if scientific or philosophical arguments, theories, or facts are completely misrepresented. He (the speaker) offered five "proofs" for God. The Cosmos - he offers up the usual fine-tuning arguments, along with misrepresenting most theories on how the universe began. Second is The Conditions for Life - forces of gravity, energy levels in carbon atoms and the odds of life forming. At this point he says that atheists came up with the Multiverse theory as a desperate attempt to explain away God. While I myself am not sold on the Multiverse, to chalk the many many theories within that concept to desperate atheists is incredibly wrong. The Third is the Complexity of Life and how a design begs for a designer. At this point he misquotes and misrepresents various scientists and biological concepts. He never actually explains what Evolution says, but rather argues against common misconceptions of Evolution. The Fourth is the Canon of Scripture - wherein he explains that he goes over this concept in his other DVD...right... And the Fifth is...Jeebus. Yes, the love of Jesus is all encompassing. He loves you so much, but if you don't love him back you can burn in hell for eternity, so make sure you satisfy his demands! Remember, if someone asks where you got those bruises, you fell down the stairs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I love that using Jesus as the fifth argument. That's not even an argument! More like desperation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom from Guilt Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I remember when I was still a Christian and trying to understand "creation vs. evolution", I was soooooo excited when I found Answers in Genesis because I thought they were going to give me some valid answers. All my friends were creationists and thought every Christian HAD to believe so I just KNEW that I was going to find some GREAT answers. After one visit to the site, I was completely disgusted. It all basically boiled down to "the bible is God's word and because the bible is God's word the creation story is true." Everything else was smoke and mirrors and trying to stuff whatever scientific information they could into their world view. I would have thought the same thing about this DVD. I read Strobel as a Christian and it did nothing to convince me one way or the other. I believed because I believed and found his "evidence" not convincing and sometimes silly. Although I did appreciate his efforts to rid Hell of Fire and torment. I spent 20 years in fundamentalist Christianity but never could fully believe in god's word as literally true. One Biblical Lit class in college washed the "literal" right out of me. I think I would have been a good "liberal" Christian but was too brainwashed to move into that camp. freedom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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