about that great RRS essay , A Silence That Screams - ( No contemporary historical accounts for "jesus" ) http://www.rationalresponders.com/a_silence_that_screams_no_contemporary_historical_accounts_for_jesus

Heres another xlint related essay, DID JESUS EXIST? by Frank R. Zindler http://www.atheists.org/christianity/didjesusexist.html

I find it helpful when talking with the religious to say WE ARE GOD, ..... just as their Myth of Jesus reads, and HAVE NO GOD'S and no Idols BEFORE YOU , works pretty well .... mark

Sam Harris was at his provocative best at the Atheist Alliance convention last night, warning us all against the dangers of labels and suggesting point blank that we should all stop calling ourselves atheists. Here are some of his points:

1. By using the term atheist, we are automatically defining ourselves in terms of the thing we oppose. We put ourselves in a conceptual box created and defined by our enemies. As he put it, it's as if the theists drew a chalk outline of a dead body on the floor to represent atheists and we are willingly lying down in it. Philosophically, we're accepting their paradigm and their terms of discourse before we even begin the discussion.

YOU INSPIRED THIS EMAIL , JUST WANTED TO SHARE, THANKS AGAIN RRS

Lionel / Mark , .... about that great essay , A Silence That Screams - ( No contemporary historical accounts for "jesus" ) http://www.rationalresponders.com/a_silence_that_screams_no_contemporary_historical_accounts_for_jesus

Lionel writes: It's not surprising that there would be no contemporary writings about Jesus. Nobody knew or understood who he was until after his resurrection. Even his disciples were dejected after his crucifixion because they believed that they had placed false hope in him as being their Messiah. It wasn't until Jesus opened their eyes to the messianic verses about him (after his resurrection) that the epiphany of who Jesus was actually sunk in. It wasn't until Pentacost (the giving of the Holy Spirit) before the power of the Lord came upon the disciples, allowing them to preach the gospel and begin the rapid birth of the church.

Well, guys, I'm off to Daytona tomorrow morning, so this will be the last newsletter until Sunday, October 7. Since there will be no newsletter posts (I'm sure you can all manage, lol) I encourage you all to browse through the previous editions, as I'm sure there are many of you who haven't seen them all. While I'm gone, any questions, contributions, or comments you have will be fielded by my good friend and helper Adrian (a.k.a. Skeptictank, a.k.a. Freudian slip n' slide). Regulars to the chat room are probably familiar with him already.

Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team

Table of Contents

Click HERE to find your local affiliate!

Rational Response Squad News

RRS Affiliate News

Science News

Religion

Government

Community

Entertainment

Stickam private room for special RRS events (subscriber only)

The RRS is trying to recoup costs associated with the Atheist Alliance International Convention. We are also starring in a documentary to be shot throughout the weekend. Entrance in to this private room is the only way to see the RRS while their movie is recorded and they conduct interviews. This includes the after party and gathering at the RRS house up until Thursday October 4th.

The conservative group Concerned Women for America is complaining about the "hipocrisy" of this ad for San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair. This take on the infamous Da Vinci painting, "The Last Supper", replaces Jesus and his followers with men and women dressed in sadomasochistic gear (as well as one cross-dresser), and replaces the food with various sex toys. CWA attributes the advertisement to the gay community, saying on their website:

Language Problems in Reasoning

The previous essays in this series have been concerned primarily with constructing good arguments from the ground up. Without understanding the fundamental concepts, it is futile to try to engage in a serious discussion. Presumably, if you are reading this essay, you have familiarized yourself with the forms and structures of good arguments, and armed yourself with the proper tools for determining the validity of evidence, burden of proof, and cogency of both premises and conclusions. Now, we will venture into more dangerous territory. It is disturbingly easy to fall prey to faulty reasoning unless we are constantly aware of the interrelations between facts, language, and individual evalutations of the two. Those who would persuade us of the truth of their position are often skilled at the subtle manipulation of language, such that the good critical thinker must constantly hone her reasoning skills as well as her knowledge of language and symbols, and how they are perceived. For instance, it is virtually impossible for us to make many decisions unless we first make generalizations. However, we must be ever vigilant against unwarranted generalizations. We must be able to determine the validity of analogies, as this is one of the most commonly employed deceptions in invalid arguments. Thus, we must be able to examine proposed analogies for similarities, differences, and categorical distinctions. These are but two of the problems we will examine in this essay, all dealing with language.

Types of Syllogisms:

The categorical syllogism
A categorical syllogism, as the name implies, involves an entire category. It is an unqualified proposition, and is characterized by words like all, every, or any. It may be directly expressed or clearly implied. There are some inherent problems with categoricals. The most obvious is that for existent objects, it is quite difficult to make such statements with certainty unless one has personally observed every existent member of the category, or has deductive proof that makes the conclusion certain. In making a statement about "all people" or "every grain of sand on the planet" we must make some sweeping generalizations unless we are talking about self-evident qualities.

What can science possibly give us to compete with the profound feelings that we experience when we contemplate the mysteries of god? Science is nothing but cold, hard facts, right? When we look at the dizzying volumes of erudite scribbling that astronomers and physicists spend most of their lives contemplating, it is easy to dismiss it. Poetry, art, and philosophy, after all, are the speculations and imaginings of people who are not constrained by cold hard facts. Is there anything that can compare with the wonder experienced when we contemplate a mystery?

In the paragraphs that follow, I will be recounting a chain of events, and hopefully some of my readers will experience the same kinds of feelings that I felt when I realized the poetic profundity of one simple act of science. Before I go further, I must confess that this essay would not exist were it not for Richard Dawkins' book, "Unweaving the Rainbow." Many of my facts are shamelessly borrowed from chapter 3 of this book, and I hope that should he ever become aware of this essay, he will regard my near-plagiaristic recounting as being in the same spirit of admiration that prompted Brahms to write his Second Symphony, which to many ears, is a blatant copy of the style and spirit of Beethoven.

Part of a series of videos on the stupidity of creationists. The stupidity of some of these creationists is knee weakening.

Here Kent Hovind of Creation Science Evangelism Ministries is caught trying to use false copyright claims to remove video that reflect badly on the convicted fraudster Kent Hovind or CSE.

Part of a series of videos on the stupidity of creationists. The stupidity of some of these creationists is knee weakening.

Here Kent Hovind of Creation Science Evangelism Ministries is caught trying to use false copyright claims to remove video that reflect badly on the convicted fraudster Kent Hovind or CSE.