tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1488615383401035172.post3289376071021114769..comments2014-06-02T13:07:34.352-04:00Comments on Bill Martin's Personal Ramblings: The God DelusionBill Martin's Personal Ramblingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03123779843237888477noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1488615383401035172.post-823029139168372692009-05-02T14:28:00.000-04:002009-05-02T14:28:00.000-04:00This may be outdated but I'll comment anyways, ha....This may be outdated but I'll comment anyways, ha....<br />I've never thought of Dawkins as a "hostile voice." It's just our perspective which we need to lose. For example, to us, some of the things religious leaders say about atheists can be easily interpreted as condescending when really I guess they're just trying to protect their beliefs.<br />One more tid bit about Richard - he's an INTJ (like me). So I've been told that we have a way of coming across arrogant when it's only confidence. Mixed with a common love among INTJs for satire that may be where the elitist vibe is coming from. Where as I just interpret his wit and quasi-religious statements as good humor, not anything hostile. But if you're looking for a less aggressive atheistic position try Erich Fromm.<br />The most important thing I think we can do from either side is stop making generalizations about theists and atheists. Critique the beliefs but not the people, you know? Dawkins seems to attack the reasoning behind theist behavior while Christopher Hitchens is just anti-theistic.Jake Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1488615383401035172.post-13351638073361304472008-08-19T10:15:00.000-04:002008-08-19T10:15:00.000-04:00sometimes I wonder why we get caught in these type...sometimes I wonder why we get caught in these types of talks or writtings. not that I havn't thought of some of the same but the people in the world don't intellectualize the absence or presence of God they persue him (knowingly or not) by what they see or feel. I think that the devil is in the details so to speak and the big picture is what speaks loudest. For example, when the movie "the Passion" came out I was so engulfed on the picture I didn't care so much if the nails were in the hands or wrist. or if he was naked or partially clothed ect. I do enjoy the books and conversation just to not get too caught up in it. I am not a writter (as you can tell) i usually don't worry about caps or spelling sorryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1488615383401035172.post-51957367770136772412008-08-16T12:13:00.000-04:002008-08-16T12:13:00.000-04:00Thanks Jeff, for your very thoughtful and encourag...Thanks Jeff, for your very thoughtful and encouraging response! <BR/><BR/>Anyone else? Comments can be brief remarks, questions, challenges, etc.Bill Martin's Personal Ramblingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03123779843237888477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1488615383401035172.post-16899979236930609722008-08-15T00:41:00.000-04:002008-08-15T00:41:00.000-04:00Bill,Excellent article. Though that book is probab...Bill,<BR/><BR/>Excellent article. Though that book is probably the most extreme example, I think Christians (as long as their faith is sufficiently mature enough) would benefit from being exposed to Atheistic and non-Christian arguments. The mindset of "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me," lends nothing toward apologetics. Too many American Christians are largely naive.<BR/><BR/>At a secular university, I was required to read a book by Freud that "proved" that God did not exist. The argument was so convincing that, for the first and only time in my life, I seriously considered the idea that maybe we have all been deceived, and that there really is no God at all. Well, that doubt lasted no more than 5 minutes, after I thought upon the many times that God had worked powerfully and incredibly and miraculously in my life, as well as in the lives of others that I knew. The trump card was when I remembered how Jesus Christ had changed my life, and had changed the life of one of my brothers even more drastically. Plus, there had been numerous times that incredible, amazing things had happened in my life---and the sheer number of such amazing events was far more than could be rationalized by declaring them to be mere coincidence.<BR/><BR/>Also, I have debated online with Evolutionists (most of whom were Atheists) for years. When I first started, since Science was never my best subject, I felt very inept, and I felt like I was in over my head. The many large words and unfamiliar theories and discoveries that the Evolutionists were using as ammunition, along with their complicated and convincing arguments, made me feel like a minnow fighting a shark. For example, the first time an Evolutionist threw the phrase "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" at me, I was overwhelmed and felt powerless. However, after I found out that theory had been disproved 100 years ago, I was ecstatic. <BR/><BR/>Over the years, I have studied more and more, and have read quotes and testimonies of former Evolutionists (and also many quotes of current Evolutionists admitting surprising things), and my confidence in this area has grown tremendously. I don't mean my confidence in Creation, for that was not a problem (I grew up believing in Creation; then, school taught me to believe in Evolution, though I saw a clear conflict; when I got saved, I reverted back to believing in Creation, especially after I started reading things from the Institute for Creation Research). But now, I am no longer fearful when I talk to Evolutionists, because I can see through their clever arguments far more easily than I used to be able to, and I can see the absurdity in their arguments, as well as in Darwinian (i.e., macro) Evolution.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146601338956701881noreply@blogger.com