1. A new website addition: Debate Points

Comment #81293 by johntfiorito on October 24, 2007 at 2:42 pm

In the D'Sousa debate, said debator claims that both he and scientists make faith claims...which is a true statement in some regards. The concept in the book "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist" by Norm Giesler and Turuk takes this position for an entire 300 page book.

BUT

The key difference is that a religious person who takes a faith position is not allowed to change the position while the scientist, if his faith in a, say "a singularity" before the big bang, turns out to be wrong via evidence, he can change his position with no burning at the stake. Key difference I think.

2. All the mistakes of the godly are merely metaphor

Comment #57575 by johntfiorito on July 20, 2007 at 1:22 am

As a side note, would people mutilate their own bodies without a belief in a non-metaphorical god? What I'm referring to is male circumcision...which makes me wonder...how is it that two people who met in the desert would prove to each other that they are part of the covenant of YAHWEE, would they not have to drop pants to prove it to each other...is that where this animosity towards homosexuality (which I would argue is only a sin when it is between two men...read Leviticus for yourself on this if you don't believe me) comes from...is it possible that they had to write in the Torah the sinfulness of homosexuality to show the outside world the fact that as part of their religion the men had to show each other their private parts is not an indication that they were a homesexual cult....just a thought

3. God: The Failed Hypothesis and The Comprehensible Cosmos (book reviews)

Comment #40334 by johntfiorito on May 14, 2007 at 6:27 am

Neil deGrasse Tyson, in his book, Death by Black Holes makes a similar comment that the advances in science over the last century require such great training and are well beyond the ability of our 5 senses to interpret that only the most educated and trained students and scientists can grasp the concepts...and even the most educated need a great amount of time to work with them....it doesn't bode well for this generation of school age children forced into wrote memory by standardized tests...(you can tell...I'm writing about America)

4. For God's Sake

Comment #31567 by johntfiorito on April 13, 2007 at 9:45 am

more fun from the Texas Republican Website...check it out...it is incredible...

"Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country's founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable "alternative" lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should "family" be redefined to include homosexual "couples." We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, recognition, or privileges including, but not limited to, marriage between persons of the same sex, custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values."

Texas Sodomy Statutes - We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy

the docs where this came from can be seen in their entirety on this web site....

http://www.texasgop.org/site/PageServer?pagename=library_home

5. Creationism debate continues to evolve

Comment #29648 by johntfiorito on April 3, 2007 at 7:39 pm

the creationists should hold their breath...see the following from scientific american regarding the primordial soup....

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa004&articleID=9952573C-E7F2-99DF-32F2928046329479

6. The God Debate

Comment #29104 by johntfiorito on April 1, 2007 at 4:08 pm

I agree that based upon the excerpts provided in newsweek that Harris owned Warren and that ending a debate on well...we'll see who was right when we die is the last ditch effort by a man desparate to prove his point...similar to William Lane Craig's comment on the resurection...well...if I can't prove it to you...it is the messenger and my inability to convince you with my words...it doesn't take away from the fact that I am right.,.....weak indeed.

I have one observation....if this conversation took place over 4 hours...they hardly published any of the transcript...the editing job on what to publish clearly indicates that Harris owned Warren...which I have no doubt that he did even if we had the full transcript to read...my only beef is that some people apologetic to Christianity might say that newsweek didn't publish all of Warren's rebuttles to Harris' comments and thus didn't give his view a fair shake....I don't think Warren has much to stand on that any of us here would agree with..but I guess I would have expected more than the simpleton, trite responses he is quoted above as using...though, if any of you read a Purpose Driven Life...that is the way he writes...maybe he speaks the same way...

He seems to be a smug man in this interview, perturbed that he's there defending what he knows is right to someone he has contempt for....

7. Hell is real and eternal: Pope

Comment #28057 by johntfiorito on March 27, 2007 at 6:25 pm

i didn't read the whole thing, but the fact that the Pope is referring to the "woman taken in adultery" makes me more disturbed....

According to Bart Ehrman, a biblical scholar, this story is not in the oldest and most reliable manuscripts of Luke...which tells me this story isn't original to that gospel anyway...funny the Pope would hang his hat..or whatever he wears, on that....this is a famous story that everyone like to cite, but it just isn't original.....see the following cite and read any of Ehrman's books..they are interesting reading that make you even more prone to think that followers have dependency issues...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/04/AR2006030401369.html