Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Limbo · 05-02-2005, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flint

The Bible certainly contains a good deal of ostensibly historical material (much of which does seem to accord with at least some interpretations of archaeological results), but this is ancillary. The Bible is a moral text, and the history is simply included as an illustration of the power and intent of the God of Abraham, whose agency is illustrated by all of the rest of the material. In a very direct sense, ALL of the OT material, at the very least, is (in Darwin's phrase) all one long argument. The argument is that God is (a) good, (b) powerful, (c)vengeful if you screw up, (d) beneficent beyond imagination if you are righteous, and (e) omnipresent (and eternal) so you can't hide, not even your thoughts.

And none of this long argument is accessible to the scientific method. Even with a working time machine, used to demonstrate beyond doubt that none of the depicted events happened, we could not defuse the true power of the Bible. Your goal is worse than impossible -- it is irrelevant.

The bible is more than a moral text. its also a prophetic text, a science text (even if the science isnt expressed in modern terms) and of course a historical text. Take out all the moral aspects and you are still left with quite a bit. Prophesy especially should be able to be compared to history in an objective way.

And its not my goal...its just an idea.

thegdin · 05-02-2005, 07:42 PM

how about a reality tv show about atheism. people seem to be eating the reality tv garbage like it were candy.

i guess, as atheits, we have shitty PR skills.

Limbo · 05-02-2005, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegdin

how about a reality tv show about atheism. people seem to be eating the reality tv garbage like it were candy.

i guess, as atheits, we have shitty PR skills.

Lol. I can see it now. "Touched by an Atheist" wednesdays on NBC.

Styrofoam · 05-02-2005, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegdin

how about a reality tv show about atheism. people seem to be eating the reality tv garbage like it were candy.

i guess, as atheits, we have shitty PR skills.

At the risk of sounding like those fundies with persecution complexes, I don't think it's just that we have bad PR. We do, sure. I wager most atheists tend toward the scientific fields (a broad generalization, I know! Don't hurt me!

) and don't get much exposure. But lack of PR isn't our only problem; at least in America, the general public is biased against us to begin with.

espritch · 05-02-2005, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Lol. I can see it now. "Touched by an Athiest" wednesdays on NBC.

That might work, but we'll need a really pretty Athiest with big... Oh, wait. If it's prime time it probably can't be R rated. Cable maybe?

EverLastingGodStopper · 05-02-2005, 08:28 PM

The Question: "Why don't they just dis-prove the bible?"

The answer: "They" have done so.

Well, "we" have done so, anyway. Check out the Secular Web library entries on Christianity, in particular the Biblical Criticism and Biblical Errancy pages.

If you would like to participate in promoting the articles published in the Secular Web library, print and distribute this .pdf about the Internet Infidels.

You may like reading the "Good News" from the Skeptics Annotated Bible.

There is a recent thread in the Positive Atheism & Secular Activism forum about "Atheists and PR."

Limbo · 05-02-2005, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EverLastingGodStopper

Well, "we" have done so, anyway.

Thats all well and good for you, but a believer could dismiss it all as bieng biased against them, especially with words like secular. A believer has no reason to believe that anything a secular scientist says about the bible is true.

My point is it has to be done in a new way. A big, international, unbiased, open way that the public could participate in. Every belief would need to be represented in the project by people they trust.

Infinite_Rules · 05-02-2005, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Limbo

Thats all well and good for you, but a believer could dismiss it all as bieng biased against them, especially with words like secular. A believer has no reason to believe that anything a secular scientist says about the bible is true.

My point is it has to be done in a new way. A big, international, unbiased, open way that the public could participate in. Every belief would need to be represented in the project by people they trust.

Wouldn't work. Most people spend more time choosing their apples off the supermarket than they do when choosing a religion. What's the use of a body of works to "disprove" the Bible when most people can't even be bothered to learn more about their guiding principles in life?

At most they will throw out their usual "It's all about faith" argument, believers will still swallow this shit.

Tubby Lardmore · 05-02-2005, 10:09 PM

Televangelists complain bitterly about the so-called Jesus Seminar. I don't know too much about it, but I suspect any similar committee-analysis of the Bible as a whole would be scoffed at by preachers if it came to any conclusion other than the one they want.

Roland98 · 05-02-2005, 10:17 PM

Moving this to BC&H...

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05-02-2005, 07:42 PM	#12
thegdin Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 1,240	how about a reality tv show about atheism. people seem to be eating the reality tv garbage like it were candy. i guess, as atheits, we have shitty PR skills.

05-02-2005, 08:28 PM	#16
EverLastingGodStopper Banned Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 16,665	The Question: "Why don't they just dis-prove the bible?" The answer: "They" have done so. Well, "we" have done so, anyway. Check out the Secular Web library entries on Christianity, in particular the Biblical Criticism and Biblical Errancy pages. If you would like to participate in promoting the articles published in the Secular Web library, print and distribute this .pdf about the Internet Infidels. You may like reading the "Good News" from the Skeptics Annotated Bible. There is a recent thread in the Positive Atheism & Secular Activism forum about "Atheists and PR."

05-02-2005, 10:09 PM	#19
Tubby Lardmore Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: USA Posts: 5,470	Televangelists complain bitterly about the so-called Jesus Seminar. I don't know too much about it, but I suspect any similar committee-analysis of the Bible as a whole would be scoffed at by preachers if it came to any conclusion other than the one they want.

05-02-2005, 10:17 PM	#20
Roland98 Contributor Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Gilead Posts: 11,186	Moving this to BC&H...

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