Stormbringer's Thunder

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Buon giorno.  Generally speaking, in my experience, readings and so forth... Whenever I hear about atheists in the news, they're up to mischief. Crosses on roads in Utah to honor fallen troopers are protested Fighting the "National Day of Prayer" Ray Comfort's special edition of their sacred text, Origin of the Species , enrages them Street sign "Seven in Heaven Way" honoring fallen firefighters from September 11 is protested On that note, atheists are trying to block the September 11 World Trade Center cross from being used in the memorial Attempting to block the restoration of a huge cross in Illinois A California war memorial cross is forced away Protesting a Sunday morning meeting at Answers in Genesis Signs directly attac...

"Fundamentalist Christian", indeed. Caught you liars again. The guy was a Darwinist!

It's almost morning. Lingering dream fragments are in my mind, some song is "playing" in my head, blending with my less-than-asleep state. Did I open my eyes? Dunno, maybe my closed eyelids are picking up the light of the rising sun through the blinds. I take a deep breath through my nose and roll onto my other side. Must have dozed again, I didn't want to get up early for work and face The Tyrant and The Company.  My pulse picks up a bit.  Ernie the Gambler owes me money, but I'll have to wait because he'll have to pay Lela first. Get along fine with my own crew, but going up the food chain, watch out. Got an idea for an article. Might skip checking e-mail today. Shall I turn off comments on everything, forever? Maybe. Forgot to set out today's clothes last night. Did I take my meds before bed? Yes. I take another deep breath through my nose. Coffee! Even mostly asleep, I finally realize what I'm doing: Sniffing for that "other" alarm ...

"If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God then you are a religious Christian. Myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. We do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christian.” — Anders Behring Brevik "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. No one shows greater love than when he lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." — Jesus (from the International Standard Version) You are probably saturated with news reports about Anders Behring Brevik. Brace yourselves, I think this is going to be a long ride. The road is already full of ...

This lesson will be a mess. Some of the logical fallacies are blurred, and they overlap. The good news is that the basic False Dilemma fallacy itself is relatively simple. Be very watchful, because this is common in political debates and propaganda. Also, it is a favorite tool of of atheists and evolutionists in attempting to malign Christians. I want to remind you from the outset that I have two purposes for these lessons. First, that you can spot them when someone is using them to manipulate you, whether intentionally or unintentionally. (Yes, sometimes it happens unintentionally. People get careless, or they simply are not skilled in such critical thinking .) Second, you do not want your discussion to lose credibility because you are making too many (or too important) mistakes. False Dilemma goes under several names, including Either-Or, False Choice, False Alternatives and similar. Essentially, there are only two possibilities . The bully says, "Meet me on th...

Will you kindly define "atheism" or "atheist"? I have used the most commonly accepted standard definitions of "atheist" and been hammered. In fact, when I posted the video clip of William Lane Craig quoting the same standard definition , I was told that he was wrong and playing "semantic games". Well, how is he playing semantic games, and how am I wrong, when using the standard definition ? (Well, "The denial of the existence of God" is stronger than the definition that I have used, "Someone who believes that there is no God". Pretty similar, though.) The standard definition fits word meaning and historical usage . "Nonononono! Idiot! You don't know what an atheist is! You don't know what atheism means!" Retract your claws, Claude. Enlighten me. "Atheism is the absence of belief  in gods!" Uh...I see. The definition has been rewritten. Unfortunately, the revisionist mem...