Evangelical Realism

Our old friend Anthony Horvath has figured out that if he does not link to this blog, it won’t generate a pingback that might tip me off that he’s talking about me again. That’s not too surprising, since he’s once again distorting the facts in order to contrive some kind of pretext for accusing me.

Now compare that with an exchange I had recently with an atheist who, because I granted him superhero status and the title “Hyperbole Boy” has concluded that there is no better example of a Christian being unloving, for, after all (and he cites passages), Jesus was so nice. This sort of disproportionate response to what I said is exactly why I gave him the name “Hyperbole Boy.”

This post makes it back on the front page of his blog, which might prove confusing for some of his readers, since there’s no obvious link from the front page to the post where he called me “Hyperbole Boy.” Nor is there any link to the article where I listed some appropriate Bible verses–not surprisingly, since in that post I never came anywhere near claiming that there was “no better example [than Mr. Horvath] of a Christian being unloving.” (Speaking of “Hyperbole Boy”!) I merely highlighted the contrast between the supernaturally-enabled loving and inspired response recommended by the New Testament, and the rather lame attempt at name-calling which was the sole substance of Mr. Horvath’s reply. Nor did I mention anything at all about Jesus being nice. Mr. Horvath just put that there to provide a segue into the argument that Jesus could be just as abusive at times, and even more so.

Read the rest of this entry »

Anthony Horvath is back for more. Apparently he has now decided that he never even intended to talk about there being anything wrong with what Watson said, and thus I was just making a big issue out of a misinterpretation of his point.

You can find the original article here.

I think that you will see that I was really working on a whole different set of points. Namely, I was arguing in relation to the Maine birth control incident that we have got to be careful in our deference to scientists and ‘experts.’

Which of course is why he spent the first four paragraphs talking about Watson putting his foot in it and this just goes to show that you shouldn’t give scientists “undue regard.” He was talking about the school board in Maine. Of course, how silly of me.

While Horvath is trying to figure out what Watson’s allegedly innocent remarks have to do with scientists getting undue regard, I’d like to turn to the more interesting topic that came up during our conversation: why all morality has an atheistic foundation, and why Christian morality can’t work without turning to atheistic principles.

Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently Anthony Horvath is having fun with our little discussion, even if there’s a certain element of fantasy involved.

Judging from his last entry, it looks like I’ve stumped him. Always fun to stump an evolutionist and skeptic when you get a chance. I almost don’t want to clear things up because I like the idea that he’s been stewing in my arguments.

I guess if you’re a Christian apologist, it’s quite a kick to give an unclear presentation of your views and then have a skeptic reserve judgment and ask for a clarification so as not to draw unfair conclusions. That doesn’t really sound like “stumping the skeptic” to me, but I guess when Christianity is all you have to work with you have to settle for what you can get. Even if you have to fantasize about the other guy “stewing.”

He does, at least, kinda sorta deny the idea that racism is justified by evolution.

Read the rest of this entry »

Anthony Horvath cheerfully continues the discussion regarding Watson, Darwin, and racism.

I really must deal with this “Horvath is a racist insinuation” that came out of his first reply. In the article that I cited, Watson does not argue from Darwinism to racism, rather he argues that there genetics may have an effect on intelligence. Herr Professor like a lot of other skittish skeptics and scientists knee-jerked there [sic] way into describing this as ‘racist.’

Now remember, Watson’s original comment, which Horvath quoted and which he apparently finds to be entirely lacking in racism, is this:

Dr Watson said he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”.

The article Horvath linked to goes on to report that Watson

… was quoted as saying his hope is that everyone is equal but that “people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true”.

Sure, nothing racist about that, right? Not according to Horvath.

Watson was denying that he meant anything racist by what he said, and at least in the quotations in that article, there wasn’t anything particularly ‘racist.’

Hmmm, ok, let’s move on.

Read the rest of this entry »

A few posts back, I jotted down a quick proverb, “He who praises his God, praises himself.” It’s a shorthand way of expressing the fact that God does not show up in real life, and therefore His authority has to be exercised by believers, in His absence, more or less by default. Because of this, any time believers brag about God’s authority, they’re really boasting their own, while maintaining a pose of being humble and submissive. This kind of duplicity is not merely dishonest, but can actually be harmful to the believer’s own moral and ethical sense.

Writing for Baylor University’s Lariat Online, Dr. Roger Olson provides us with a striking example of the damage one’s natural moral sense can suffer when exposed to too much Christian dogma. While he’s at it, he demonstrates a certain impairment in intellectual integrity as well.

We have to recognize atheists’ full freedom to believe God does not exist, but we don’t have to embrace atheism as a social good. In fact, I would argue that atheism has no redeeming social value.

Atheism undermines values. How? Let’s look at care for others. Yes, an individual atheist might care for other people. But when have you heard of an entire atheist organization serving the poor, the sick or the hungry?

So far, at least, atheists haven’t demonstrated their concern for others in any organized way. Read the rest of this entry »