http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341574,00.html

Yet in another set back for common sense, a 11 year old girl died because her parents believed in the power of prayer to cure her over the abilities and knowledge of a medical staff to diagnose and cure her. She basically died of diabetes, which if her parents had taken her to the doctor, he could have basically saved her. But no, they believe in god so strongly that they deluded themselves (this is my opinion at this point) into thinking that this imaginary deity would cure their daughter of her ailments and the mother still believes that her daughter could be resurrected if she prays and has enough faith....yes people if she has enough faith in an deity that has shown itself not to exist. Mark another one for the delusion of god. I say charge them with child abuse, endangerment and murder, because this idiotic belief in a god should not be a valid excuse for not having common sense.

 nigelTheBold and I have been discussing revelation with phillipnicew in one of the friendlier discussions I've had on this site. It was unfortunately bogged down by the fact that it followed the Dellinger posts. Hopefully, phillipnicew will be able to let us know more about the mechanism of revelation.

To sum up, I told phillip that he was pretending to know something that he could not possibly know, and he countered that he was not "pretending", but only relaying a truth that had been revealed to him. It's a fairly common argument, but phillip seperates himself from the usual assertions of this kind by his very even temperament. It's my personal hope with this conversation to gain more insight into the mechanism of personal revelation.

Naturally, this is an open conversation, so anything that would help shed light on the mechanics of revelation would be appreciated.

Can someone tell me why you guys are scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to attacking Christianity and defense of the faith?  Can you actually engage some well known people as opposed to all the whack jobs out there who claim to have a Christian ministry?  It doesn't bode well for the intellectual acumen.  Where is your discussions with Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, Ravi Zacharias, Doug Grouthuis, Tim Keller etc.?  Can't you get a seat at the table with this level of scholarship?

Behold, my latest work. I've tried to answer 15 common christian questions in a short and easy to read format. Thought it might be a good resource to point new xtian posters to when they come with Pascal's Wager. As always, critisism is welcome, and nominations for other questions to answer.

Common christian arguments

(In no particular order)

1.     Pascal’s Wager

Can someone please give me a list of every single reason that they don't believe in a god/ gods. I want to understand atheist arguments against theism and having them all on one page would be great. I know this could be a rather long list, so please condense each of your points into a sentence or two. Multiple users are welcome to post.

    http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013007F.shtml
 

    Christianists on the March
    By Chris Hedges
    Truthdig

    Sunday 28 January 2007

    Dr. James Luther Adams, my ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School, told his students that when we were his age - he was then close to 80 - we would all be fighting the "Christian fascists."

Any recommend some good Atheist vs Theist debate videos?  I saw the one with Kelly and Brian vs. Kirk Cameron and friend, but the rationalresponders just tore them up.  Kirk Cameron isn't a very good debater at all.  It would of been much more interesting to see the rational responders go up against some stronger theist debaters such as ann coulter or michael savage.

First of all, I would like to clarify exactly what I object to. I object to the adamant belief in supernatural gods and the rejection of evidence which inevitably ensues. I object to the strife caused by contradicting beliefs, and the wars that follow. I do not, object to the use of the term “god” as a metaphor to nature. This metaphor does not attempt to explain natural phenomena through supernatural explanations, nor does it attempt to justify or condemn people’s actions through ecclesiastical authorities.

Furthermore, I would like to clarify that though much of the following will use Christianity as an example, the following is not solely directed at Christians. It is directed at all religions which match the criteria given above. I use Christianity as an example because as an American I have been exposed to Christianity more than any other religion, and therefore I am more knowledgeable on Christianity than any other religion. I would also like to state that I do not claim to be an expert on any religion or the doctrine they follow; my assertions below are based principally on the observations I have made.

It's my favorite time of year, and I just thought I'd share a little conversation fodder!

http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm

Turns out that Easter was stolen wholly from the pagans, just like Christmas, except that even the word "Easter" isn't even Christian.

I can't wait to learn more about it!