PaulSJenkins's Comments

Notes from an Evil Burnee : ASA rules against faith-healing claims

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 11:03:00 +0000

From the MailOnline comments, this is either a joke or an extraordinary coincidence:

It is terrible that these people are being discriminated against on the basis of their religion. Being a frequent visitor to Bath I have seen with my own eyes how these gracious men and women have healed others. Perhaps Ms Stevens would do well to allow them to lay hands on her. It brings together the most healing, peaceful aspects of reiki and prayer. Maybe then she will open her mind more to the Lord. - Trystan Lewis Swale, Cheltenham, UK, 2/2/2012 20:20

Trystan Swale is (was?) Hayley Stevens' co-host on the Righteous Indignation podcast. My recent post Burnee links for Friday

Notes from an Evil Burnee : "The Vampire of Kabul" by Daniel Abraham

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 20:17:08 +0000

I couldn't resist reposting this, from the PodCastle discussion forum:

Great story, and an even greater narrator. If Morgan Freeman's the voice of God, I reckon Paul Jenkins a shoe-in for the other guy. The man could fascinate with a laundry list.

Thanks, Balu. My recent post Burnee links for Thursday

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/woo-or-no-rupert-sheldrake-on-bbc-radio.html

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:10:55 +0000

Thanks for those links — I'll check them out (though I'm aware that Skeptiko's Alex Tsakiris, despite the name of his podcast, is a woo). My recent post Storm in a teacup at Unbelievable?

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Storm in a teacup at Unbelievable?

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:59:56 +0000

No, it didn't. But Mark did ask Justin whether his wife, in her role as a pastor, discussed masturbation and pornography with the men in her church. Justin replied that she didn't, but there were male elders in the church who would do so — and he asked Mark if he discussed such matters with the women of his church. To which Mark responded no, but that there were women leaders who would. So as far as I can see his objections to women pastors amount to nothing more than Old Testament misogyny.

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/circular-hallucinations-are-circular.html

Fri, 6 Jan 2012 22:20:51 +0000

"You have misunderstood the counter."

Maybe I have. But this chapter is in a book titled Evidence for God — 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy, and Science. If Licona is specifically responding to such a narrow slice of the skeptical viewpoint I would have to question his editorial priorities. However, I haven't finished the book; there may be other aspects I've yet to encounter.

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/more-christian-double-speak.html

Fri, 6 Jan 2012 22:05:52 +0000

It seems you're attempting to shift the burden of proof from its default position. I'm not claiming that God is not "omnipotent, omniscient, exists self-existently, is eternal, is morally perfect, and so forth." Craig is claiming these attributes for his God. In my post I make no claims at all about God. I do make claims about Craig — that he has no epistemic basis for his claims, which — as quoted — result in an incoherent and therefore unknowable God. But whether I think his claims are correct or not isn't relevant to my point, which is that his claims in this respect are at odds with his playing the mystery card with regard to God's reasons for "permitting the suffering in the world". There is no requirement on me to explain why God couldn't have reasons for permitting suffering:

Charlie and Walter are having a conversation, when up walks George wearing his Special Constable's uniform. Without warning George punches Charlie on the nose. "What did you do that for?" Charlie gasps, reeling, blood pouring down his face. George says nothing, turns on his heels and walks off. "Hey!" cries Charlie, reaching into his pocket for a tissue. "Come back here and explain yourself!" But George has gone. Charlie turns his blood-soaked face to Walter. "What did he do that for?" "I dunno," says Walter, "but I expect he had a reason." "The hell he did!" Charlie dabs his face with the tissue. "If he did have a reason, it better be a damn good one, or there'll be hell to pay!" "No," says Walter. "Unless you can show that it's impossible or highly improbable for George to have a morally sufficient reason to punch you on the nose, you'll just have to accept it." "The hell I will! If he has a good reason then he must come and tell me what it is!" "No," Walter repeats. "It's up to you to prove he doesn't — and can't — have a good reason—" Walter ducks, narrowly evading Charlie's fist...

My recent post Circular hallucinations are circular

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/more-christian-double-speak.html

Fri, 6 Jan 2012 00:33:31 +0000

It gets worse — Craig denies animal suffering (he did so in his debate with Stephen Law, and I've heard him do it again since). PZ Myers has pointed out that Craig is simply wrong about animal suffering. My recent post Circular hallucinations are circular

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2011/12/facebook-exchange-on-hellish-religious.html

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 20:33:34 +0000

To quote Bart Ehrman: "If God wrote a book, wouldn't you want to read it?" The Christians say he did write a book (or at least divinely inspire one). If he wanted it to be a clear message to humanity, methinks he could have made it ... less ambiguous. My recent post Burnee links for Thursday

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/more-christian-double-speak.html

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 20:26:09 +0000

Indeed they are, and indeed he does. He usually has five arguments in any debate: 1. Kalām cosmological argument 2. Argument from the existence of objective moral values and duties 3. Fine-tuning argument 4. Resurrection of Jesus 5. Witness of the Holy Spirit However, in his debate with Stephen Law (which I attended) he did not use numbers 3 and 5. My recent post Burnee links for Thursday

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2011/12/facebook-exchange-on-hellish-religious.html

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:04:08 +0000

I've nothing against metaphor, but the use of metaphor in religious discourse is fraught with pot-holes. Theologians seem unwilling or unable to distinguish the different meanings of the words they use, and consequently make false equivalences. Daniel Dennett coined the term "deepities" for this type of fallacy: http://youtu.be/D_9w8JougLQ

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2011/12/circular-logic-is-circular-in-evidence.html

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 21:37:44 +0000

As I mentioned in the post, I do think it's likely that the itinerant preacher known as Jesus was probably crucified (to death), but I find his post-mortem appearances problematic. Didn't several people have trouble recognising him? That could be explained by it not actually being Jesus who appeared to the disciples. Philip Pullman has an interesting take on this idea in The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. Pullman's account fits the facts rather better than the Biblical account, but without further evidence for either account we simply can't know what happened. We can hypothesize, but any hypothesis that includes miracles will need some spectacularly good evidence to support it.

Notes from an Evil Burnee : 17th October â Stephen Law vs William Lane Craig

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:59:04 +0000

Certainly. I wrote a whole screed on the train coming back from the debate.

Sent from my iPod

Notes from an Evil Burnee : 17th October â Stephen Law vs William Lane Craig

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:29:11 +0000

Depends what you mean by "won". Craig may be a good debater — so good that he can win "...all his debates against atheists and agnostics..." but that doesn't mean he wins the arguments. And in the case of Craig versus Law this week he clearly didn't win the argument. Law's Evil God Challenge is sound, and Craig had nothing to offer against it other than playing the mystery card. My recent post Unbelievable?: The Conference — Disc 2

Notes from an Evil Burnee : WuduMate: a symbol of what's to come?

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:01:18 +0000

Shaf, how do you suppose much of the "shit in this world" got started? It would seem illogical not to care about lesser concerns just because there are greater concerns. For example, should law enforcement ignore shoplifting because it also has to deal with murder? There's a good case to be made, I suggest, for a "zero tolerance" approach. Matters of fairness and non-discrimination may seem petty in contrast to such evils as false imprisonment and the torture of innocents, but the same moral principles should be applied across the board. Anything less is to succumb to double standards. My recent post What do we know?

Notes from an Evil Burnee : What do we know?

Sun, 9 Oct 2011 09:57:46 +0000

The presup approach is what Stephen Law refers to in his book Believing Bullshit as "going nuclear", where one side proposes the notion that no-one can know anything and the whole argumentation enterprise is doomed, and then neatly slips back into some other justification of their own point of view (conveniently ignoring that they've just trashed the entire debate). Personally I think the presuppers' hubristic declaration that they don't seek to prove the existence of God but simply take it as read, destroys their argument from the start. We assume induction works, they assume God. There's evidence for one of these assumptions, and it's evidence that doesn't have to be twisted into horrendously distorted shapes in order to fit.

Notes from an Evil Burnee : After some delay, the latest Skepticule Extra is available

Sat, 8 Oct 2011 23:03:13 +0000

Thanks Alex! My recent post What do we know?

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Conspiring to persuade

Sat, 8 Oct 2011 22:51:55 +0000

Interesting that this comment thread turned into a truther echo-chamber as soon as I posted my piece. And that I'm criticised for saying things I didn't. And that accusations of ad hominem attacks are laced with ad hominem attacks. It seems to me that this comment thread clearly demonstrates much of what French et al were saying in their talks. My recent post What do we know?

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Giles Fraser lays aside his woolly mantle to review Sam Harris

Wed, 5 Oct 2011 22:51:59 +0000

Pardon me? I thought we were talking about morality. Nevertheless, Fraser's comment about "the god Harris describes" is silly on so many levels. To take just one, he's claiming to believe things out of choice. Personally I prefer to believe something because it is true. My recent post A presuppositional impasse

Notes from an Evil Burnee : The Life of Muhammad â BBC2

Sat, 6 Aug 2011 21:52:49 +0000

This does appear to be a damning indictment of the programme, and of Islam in general. To be fair though, I noticed a good deal of "equivocation by stealth" in the programme, with many hints of "interpretation" of scripture and much use of the phrase "according to Muslim tradition". Often these phrases slip by unnoticed, but they serve the same purpose as judicious use of "allegedly" when saying something that could be judged defamatory in a court of law. My recent post A heartfelt invitation to believe

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Theology for the masses

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 23:06:41 +0000

It was an accident, honest guv! (Twice!)

PaulSJenkins's Comments

Notes from an Evil Burnee : ASA rules against faith-healing claims

Notes from an Evil Burnee : "The Vampire of Kabul" by Daniel Abraham

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/woo-or-no-rupert-sheldrake-on-bbc-radio.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Storm in a teacup at Unbelievable?

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/circular-hallucinations-are-circular.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/more-christian-double-speak.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/more-christian-double-speak.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2011/12/facebook-exchange-on-hellish-religious.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2012/01/more-christian-double-speak.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2011/12/facebook-exchange-on-hellish-religious.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : http://www.evilburnee.co.uk/2011/12/circular-logic-is-circular-in-evidence.html

Notes from an Evil Burnee : 17th October â Stephen Law vs William Lane Craig

Notes from an Evil Burnee : 17th October â Stephen Law vs William Lane Craig

Notes from an Evil Burnee : WuduMate: a symbol of what's to come?

Notes from an Evil Burnee : What do we know?

Notes from an Evil Burnee : After some delay, the latest Skepticule Extra is available

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Conspiring to persuade

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Giles Fraser lays aside his woolly mantle to review Sam Harris

Notes from an Evil Burnee : The Life of Muhammad â BBC2

Notes from an Evil Burnee : Theology for the masses

Notes from an Evil Burnee : 17th October â Stephen Law vs William Lane Craig

Notes from an Evil Burnee : 17th October â Stephen Law vs William Lane Craig

Notes from an Evil Burnee : The Life of Muhammad â BBC2