August 26, 2015 00:43:21
August 27, 2015 05:04:08
Peter Cushnie Sr. Matt, you pose the question to the theist: What are the fears and discomforts in your life for which religion provides relief? I like that. I'll bet that question would cause a few raised eyebrows and puzzled looks in believers.
August 27, 2015 11:24:37 · Reply
Peter Cushnie Sr. Except for online discussions, I almost never get involved in discussions about religion. In my normal interactions with people, the subject doesn't come up, which is good. For someone to just suddenly start talking god-talk without warning would be like suddenly talking about having a great bowel movement. I really don't need to know. Glad it works for you, but… Anyway, if it does happen, I'll pose the above question and see what happens, but folks in my part of the world don't flaunt it about.
August 27, 2015 20:38:19 · Reply
August 27, 2015 13:13:18
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September 26, 2015 15:39:52
Justin Krebs Great video Matt. I love your perspective. Looking forward to your view on Divine Hiddenness.
September 27, 2015 22:19:25 · Reply
Glenn Langford Thanks Matt, I've ended up frustrated by trying to use the evil/suffering argument in discussions with theists for exactly the reasons you cite. From debates I've seen Bart Ehrmann and Dan Barker have been similarly bogged down here. Seems the clever apologist has a ready response that is difficult to refute.
September 29, 2015 21:37:58 · Reply
Alicia Norman Much needed dose of perspective. Thank you.
October 1, 2015 02:47:24 · Reply
September 26, 2015 16:18:05
Glenn Langford Great interview, thanks Matt & Muhammad. Had to chuckle at Matt's assumption that Muhammed could read Arabic, oops :)
September 29, 2015 12:44:30 · Reply
Valentina Bettencourt Some freindly feedback.... For an interview, Matt did too much talking, especially in the beginning. This left Syed alone in front of the camera for long periods of time. And left us hearing Matt's disembodied voice for minutes at at time. Kind of awkward. Plus I would have liked to have heard more from Syed since we already know and love Matt, but Syed's is a new perspective. As a conversation, rather than an interview, it would have been better to see each participant as he was speaking. Great topic, great information! Looking forward to seeing more about ex-Muslims. Thanks for considering my suggestions/feedback.
October 1, 2015 19:59:49 · Reply
September 29, 2015 01:39:48
September 29, 2015 04:02:33
September 29, 2015 20:41:08
Peter Cushnie Sr. True believers have claimed that an unambiguous announcement by their god of its existence would, as well as doing away with the need for faith, intimidate people into acceptance and worship. After all, there's no future in fighting Big Brother. Just ask Winston and Julia. Under these conditions, it could not be said that anyone was truly acting from free will, but rather under extreme duress. Worship or go to Hell. My question is: What of those people who claim that this god has unequivocally revealed itself to them? Did they too, upon this revelation, lose their free will? And if they claim they did not, that they retained the ability to choose this god or not, why say that others could not do the same? Did Saul lose his free will?
October 1, 2015 13:26:49 · Reply
Susan Very well laid out argument! I have watched this video three times hoping to commit the arguments to memory so that I can use them later. I still like the Problem of Evil, or shall I say the Problem of Suffering, in the case of suffering caused by things that have nothing to do with the actions of humans, like volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and so on. Why would a loving deity create such things? Surely these things would not be part of the best of all possible worlds. An all powerful god could have found a way to create a world without those things knowing ahead of time, since He is also omniscient, that they would cause widespread, indiscriminate suffering to believers and unbelievers alike. And how, exactly did Adam and Eve's sinning "allow suffering/evil to enter the world"? How could the actions of humans create earthquake fault lines? Didn't Yahweh create everything -- according to Christianity? Did Adam and/or Eve have the power to create earthquakes?? How, exactly, did that happen? And why allow the suffering of animals? Animals do not sin. Why punish them? Why create such things as screwworms which eat into the host mammal's brain causing prolonged suffering with absolutely no purpose? And, finally, for those Christians who believe that there really is a Hell and a Satan who causes bad things to happen -- why would a loving god create a place of eternal torture and an angel whom He knew would fall and cause the eventual damnation of so many souls? Yahweh didn't exactly do us many favors, did He?
October 2, 2015 01:16:11 · Reply
Susan Another response to Christians who claim that we live in the best of all possible worlds dawns on me: Heaven is a better world than Earth, right? If Yahweh really created a Heaven then why create an Earth? Why make humankind suffer and die to get to Heaven? If He loves us and wants us to live with Him for all eternity, why not create us in Heaven (or at least those He knew in His All Knowingness would end up there)? And, yes, I know, He wants us to love Him out of our own Free Will, but couldn't we do that in Heaven? Isn't there Free Will in Heaven?
October 2, 2015 12:27:15 · Reply
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DavidS you appear to be shrinking physically
August 26, 2015 03:20:59 · Reply
Matt Dillahunty Just a bit. I'm down about 30 pounds in the past year...but I've got quite a ways to go. Thanks for noticing.
August 27, 2015 03:27:32 · Reply
Anders Yeah, the greatest disappointment with the Bible - Old and New Testament - is that it's so pedestrian. There's nothing that couldn't have been said by someone else at that time, and frequently it has been said better by a pagan philosopher (in the case of the NT). For instance, both "turn the other cheek" and "obey God more than man" can be found in Plato. And yet the truly groundbreaking propositions of the Greeks - Antiphon's objections to slavery, Plato's demand that women should be given equal rights as men, Democritos declaration that knowledge of nature is worth more than gold and glory... all are absent from the God-breathed scriptures. Why is that?
August 26, 2015 09:10:39 · Reply
Roger Cavanagh Matt, another interesting video. It would be great to have transcripts posted somewhere… so I could look up the difference between covenant and dispensation more easily. Roger
August 30, 2015 14:57:02 · Reply