B. H. Manners
August 23, 2003, 08:53 PM
I wrote this article as a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing and thought about sending it to various church magazines.
I'm not saying it is anything great by a long shot, nor (I swear) will I bring it up again and again.
I just think you might get a little chuckle, since we have deconverted so many believers and lots of preachers are pissed at us.
Here it is:
HELPING ASSES CRUSHED BY A HEAVY LOAD
Christians hold dear their faith in god and desire to tell their fellow man about him. While I certainly respect attributes such as this knowing believers really mean well, I think they need a little help going about such. In the Bible the Law of Moses commanded that if a man saw an ass stumbling under a heavy load, he was to stop and help the poor beast. Christians, like the poor ass mentioned in the Bible, have a load that unfortunately for them they are no longer able to carry--the load of defending their faith against unbelief in a effective manner. I have taken pity on my theist friends and decided to provide some resources to help them understand “the opposition” better so they can debate more competently.
In the interest of intellectual fair play I have outlined the links below for my theist friends to take advantage of. The first resource I would like to present is www.infidels.org/library. Here you will be able to read where atheists have refuted or at least countered Christian arguments concerning where we came from and where we are going. It also provides refutations of Christian arguments regarding resurrection from the dead, prophecy, and miracles. The ethical standards presented in the Bible are reviewed sharply and concisely as well. If you plan to try to convert an atheist, you better read over the information presented there lest you repeat old worn out arguments that quickly bore the son of Belial into sleep.
Another great resource is www.theskepticalreview.com. This site is primarily the work of Mr. Farrell Till, ex-Church of Christ preacher turned atheist. He chomps up many apologetic theories and arguments like a paper shredder cuts up paper. You had better read over Till’s site and see what theistic argument has been written about over there. Chances are the argument you are about to use on a poor unbeliever has been reviewed by him and refuted. At Till’s old site now hosted by the aforementioned Infidels library , you will see that Till often times engaged in debate with many of the Church of Christ’s better known preachers regarding issues of archeology, science, contradictions, and just plain old bad advice found in the Bible. Ignore the works of Till at your peril.
Last, please read over www.talkorigins.org for it is one of the best science websites there are today in my opinion. The good folks over at talkorigins.org have gone far out of there way to explain why evolution is both a theory and a fact. They have also provided something that many Christians are not aware of: documented cases of evolution where one species has arisen out of another. Talkorigins also takes on arguments presented as “Creation Science” and totally refutes the false doctrine and error contained therein.
Hopefully, these links will help my Christian friends develop better arguments when they try to convert me to their faith. Perhaps after reading over all these links they will be prepared for the challenge they face. No longer being helpless like the ass crushed by its load, the Christian will learn more about the opposition and be able to engage in more stimulating conversation than before.
BARRY MANNERS
Author Information: Barry Manners does NOT do the Lord's work as moderator and poster on many atheist discussion boards
I'm not saying it is anything great by a long shot, nor (I swear) will I bring it up again and again.
I just think you might get a little chuckle, since we have deconverted so many believers and lots of preachers are pissed at us.
Here it is:
HELPING ASSES CRUSHED BY A HEAVY LOAD
Christians hold dear their faith in god and desire to tell their fellow man about him. While I certainly respect attributes such as this knowing believers really mean well, I think they need a little help going about such. In the Bible the Law of Moses commanded that if a man saw an ass stumbling under a heavy load, he was to stop and help the poor beast. Christians, like the poor ass mentioned in the Bible, have a load that unfortunately for them they are no longer able to carry--the load of defending their faith against unbelief in a effective manner. I have taken pity on my theist friends and decided to provide some resources to help them understand “the opposition” better so they can debate more competently.
In the interest of intellectual fair play I have outlined the links below for my theist friends to take advantage of. The first resource I would like to present is www.infidels.org/library. Here you will be able to read where atheists have refuted or at least countered Christian arguments concerning where we came from and where we are going. It also provides refutations of Christian arguments regarding resurrection from the dead, prophecy, and miracles. The ethical standards presented in the Bible are reviewed sharply and concisely as well. If you plan to try to convert an atheist, you better read over the information presented there lest you repeat old worn out arguments that quickly bore the son of Belial into sleep.
Another great resource is www.theskepticalreview.com. This site is primarily the work of Mr. Farrell Till, ex-Church of Christ preacher turned atheist. He chomps up many apologetic theories and arguments like a paper shredder cuts up paper. You had better read over Till’s site and see what theistic argument has been written about over there. Chances are the argument you are about to use on a poor unbeliever has been reviewed by him and refuted. At Till’s old site now hosted by the aforementioned Infidels library , you will see that Till often times engaged in debate with many of the Church of Christ’s better known preachers regarding issues of archeology, science, contradictions, and just plain old bad advice found in the Bible. Ignore the works of Till at your peril.
Last, please read over www.talkorigins.org for it is one of the best science websites there are today in my opinion. The good folks over at talkorigins.org have gone far out of there way to explain why evolution is both a theory and a fact. They have also provided something that many Christians are not aware of: documented cases of evolution where one species has arisen out of another. Talkorigins also takes on arguments presented as “Creation Science” and totally refutes the false doctrine and error contained therein.
Hopefully, these links will help my Christian friends develop better arguments when they try to convert me to their faith. Perhaps after reading over all these links they will be prepared for the challenge they face. No longer being helpless like the ass crushed by its load, the Christian will learn more about the opposition and be able to engage in more stimulating conversation than before.
BARRY MANNERS
Author Information: Barry Manners does NOT do the Lord's work as moderator and poster on many atheist discussion boards