Darth Id said:
Post Praetorian said:
1) God created the dinosaurs with their vicious teeth and claws and was content to watch them maim and gore one another for millions of years before finally getting around to bringing about Adam & Eve.
This was my favorite part of your overall very entertaining dissection of that hack CS Lewis' apologia.
I ruminate on this frequently--not with respect to a "god's" unlikely role, but just about the dinosaurs. How absolutely absurd is it that so many millions of years passed with nothing on Earth but witless giant monsters savaging each other? It trips me out to no end.
You know, I am not an unintelligent person. I have some education (no graduate degree I admit, but I have three undergrad degrees), I read a great deal on a variety of topics, I debate, I philosophize. I daresay I am smarter than many atheists. But I also try to maintain a sense of humility and openness that I may learn from others, and I have had great conversations with many who do not believe in God. However, Darth Id is one of the primary examples of the kind of atheists that I could never enjoy talking to. There seems to be this arrogance that fills the hearts of so many of them, whether they truly are intelligent or not, that somehow they are smarter than their foolish theistic peers. Can they argue, can they entertain differing viewpoints simultaneously, can they say they've even engaged in debate from a standpoint that is not their own in order to better understand the opposition? No. Instead they come to their conclusions, often in the beginning just as a form of rebellion against their parents' generation, learn a few things from a single narrow view, and simply take sarcastic remarks belittling the intelligence of others as a mark of their own wits. Yes, we live in a world of a bunch of John Stewart wannabes, where poorly devised humor replaces actual intelligent response. Well done, Id. You are now in the presence of intellectual giants like imperialscum and millions of other college-age nobodies who've never devoted more than two brain cells to come to the conclusions of their lack of belief. We're glad you stopped by.