Richard Swinburne on arguments for Atheism @BaldingEagle51

BaldingEagle51 Robert Kuhn interviews Richard Swinburne, Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at Oxford, who here has a try at the basic arguments for Atheism. This is a mirror which allows discussion. You may think my own questions are biased, but give them a read if you want - they are simply follow-up questions taking Richard's answers at face value. (And by all means ask your own questions of the professor in comments!)

I would have liked to ask:

0:11 Problem of Evil
- Would the absence of a God also allow evil, does it also let good things happen to evil people, and do you think a folded arms God like yours is identical to the absence of a God?
- Playing with the thought that there is no God, would we still be responsible for each other?
- Did God create our immune defense, and cancer, and too little Scientific knowledge to beat this unbeatable, shape-shifting disease to let enough people die until Science finds the cure, regardless of what good or evil acts they commit - including children who die of cancer?

1:05 God is hidden
- Would you say that are a believer at all, if you don't know in your heart that he's watching you?
- Would you say that once you are a believer, the threat of eternal torture gives you zero choice in choosing good over evil, unless you're a masochist?
- Would it not be a better world, if everyone was naturally good from actually *knowing* they'd be rewarded? Isn't God the tempter by making us capable of sin and then stay hidden? (Rhetorical)
- Gods of other religions are also hidden. Would you argue that they also exist, and if not, why the hell not?
- The roughly 2000 year period of zero major revelations is not proclaimed in holy scripture (and it's not due to committee summary dismissal of gospels). Would you say this is characteristic of ancient holy scriptures of various religions?

2:23 Disembodied minds and shit
- Yes, impossible thought experiments are easy to fantasize, Scifi authors have contributed their share. How long do you think this body with the empty skull would survive before receiving its half a brain?
- We have no motoric skills and certainly no personality when we are born. Who we are develop within our brains as we live our life. At exactly which moment does our soul get "lifted" from the body, and why is this also undetectable, like your God?
- As an equal thought experiment to yours, let's say a God-authorized tsunami killed the infant Hitler before he got his ideas. Surely he would be just as bad a person despite being unable to commit atrocities, because he has the same eternal soul. Would God accept his soul into heaven, and why, if it's the same eternal soul?
- Humans have brains. Dogs, primates, dolphins, and parrots can count, memorize words and concepts, and communicate with humans. You say humans have souls. If you say humans have souls and "animals" do not, why? Maybe they have semi-souls, like,um, Lucy?
- Would you say the argument "God is a spirit because we feel we have a spirit" is a strict argument or a non sequitur?

4:15 Violence in the Universe
- The Chelyabinsk meteor injured 1500 people, and you call bodies in space colliding a beautiful thing. I'm assuming then that you take it as absolute truth that there is zero conscious life outside the Earth. Because in the center of our galaxy, solar systems are getting all the life on them that has not yet been burned to a crisp shredded to pieces with their suns, as we speak. Are you incapable of understanding this, or do you consider them soul-less because God hasn't bothered to show up in one of their deserts?

5:21 Waste of space
- I understand your claim that everything outside Earth orbit is just an inanimate display of astrophysics, a passive painting made for us to just look at and enjoy, and thereby the claim there is only purpose for Earth and no purpose at all for the 100 billion galaxies, because they are not important. I would however like to ask you whether you have checked yourself for mental illness lately, or perhaps missed taking a prescripted psychofarmacological drug that you need, in saying this?
- I understand that you refer to the astrological belief when you say "The spheres that carried the planets around the Earth". I would like to ask you if you feel it's relevant to bring this falsity to the fore when asked a question about the Universe?

Cont'd...

updated 11 years ago

Richard Swinburne on arguments for Atheism

BaldingEagle51 2013-04-07 | Robert Kuhn interviews Richard Swinburne, Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at Oxford, who here has a try at the basic arguments for Atheism. This is a mirror which allows discussion. You may think my own questions are biased, but give them a read if you want - they are simply follow-up questions taking Richard's answers at face value. (And by all means ask your own questions of the professor in comments!)

I would have liked to ask:

0:11 Problem of Evil
- Would the absence of a God also allow evil, does it also let good things happen to evil people, and do you think a folded arms God like yours is identical to the absence of a God?
- Playing with the thought that there is no God, would we still be responsible for each other?
- Did God create our immune defense, and cancer, and too little Scientific knowledge to beat this unbeatable, shape-shifting disease to let enough people die until Science finds the cure, regardless of what good or evil acts they commit - including children who die of cancer?

1:05 God is hidden
- Would you say that are a believer at all, if you don't know in your heart that he's watching you?
- Would you say that once you are a believer, the threat of eternal torture gives you zero choice in choosing good over evil, unless you're a masochist?
- Would it not be a better world, if everyone was naturally good from actually *knowing* they'd be rewarded? Isn't God the tempter by making us capable of sin and then stay hidden? (Rhetorical)
- Gods of other religions are also hidden. Would you argue that they also exist, and if not, why the hell not?
- The roughly 2000 year period of zero major revelations is not proclaimed in holy scripture (and it's not due to committee summary dismissal of gospels). Would you say this is characteristic of ancient holy scriptures of various religions?

2:23 Disembodied minds and shit
- Yes, impossible thought experiments are easy to fantasize, Scifi authors have contributed their share. How long do you think this body with the empty skull would survive before receiving its half a brain?
- We have no motoric skills and certainly no personality when we are born. Who we are develop within our brains as we live our life. At exactly which moment does our soul get "lifted" from the body, and why is this also undetectable, like your God?
- As an equal thought experiment to yours, let's say a God-authorized tsunami killed the infant Hitler before he got his ideas. Surely he would be just as bad a person despite being unable to commit atrocities, because he has the same eternal soul. Would God accept his soul into heaven, and why, if it's the same eternal soul?
- Humans have brains. Dogs, primates, dolphins, and parrots can count, memorize words and concepts, and communicate with humans. You say humans have souls. If you say humans have souls and "animals" do not, why? Maybe they have semi-souls, like,um, Lucy?
- Would you say the argument "God is a spirit because we feel we have a spirit" is a strict argument or a non sequitur?

4:15 Violence in the Universe
- The Chelyabinsk meteor injured 1500 people, and you call bodies in space colliding a beautiful thing. I'm assuming then that you take it as absolute truth that there is zero conscious life outside the Earth. Because in the center of our galaxy, solar systems are getting all the life on them that has not yet been burned to a crisp shredded to pieces with their suns, as we speak. Are you incapable of understanding this, or do you consider them soul-less because God hasn't bothered to show up in one of their deserts?

5:21 Waste of space
- I understand your claim that everything outside Earth orbit is just an inanimate display of astrophysics, a passive painting made for us to just look at and enjoy, and thereby the claim there is only purpose for Earth and no purpose at all for the 100 billion galaxies, because they are not important. I would however like to ask you whether you have checked yourself for mental illness lately, or perhaps missed taking a prescripted psychofarmacological drug that you need, in saying this?
- I understand that you refer to the astrological belief when you say "The spheres that carried the planets around the Earth". I would like to ask you if you feel it's relevant to bring this falsity to the fore when asked a question about the Universe?

Cont'd...

Life of Brian - Choosing the correct stones for some righteous punishment

BaldingEagle51 2012-07-31 | I thought this was standard Monty Python hilarity and didn't think for one minute that there were holy texts describing the types of stones suited for carrying out the stoning punishment in religious law! :) (Read on for video of modern proponent of such!)

In the video that this is a response to, you will find a spoken description of the type of stones to be used to carry out the capital punishment for adultery.

The only thing missing from the Life of Brian clip is that you should dig pits to place the offenders in for optimal efficiency. If you doubt me, check this video at 13:53 to 16:14, highlighting 15:42.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VoZW96igTA

or search for "The Divine Punishment For Adultery And Fornication By Sheikh Imran Hosein"

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