Posted on 07/12/2010 10:20:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
1. Discuss the Fermi Paradox. Atheists love aliens because they always assume that, a) brainy creatures gushing out of every galactic cranny shows that Earth is low-rent cosmic real estate, and b) the smartest aliens will be atheists. Against this giddy optimism, the famous physicist Enrico Fermi asked a quite innocent question: If Earth is a typical planet, and there are lots of planets in the universe, then why haven’t any extraterrestrial critters dropped by, or even sent us a text message (“ur nt solo, n btw ur nt vry smrt”)?
2. Join Mensa. Atheists are obsessed with their IQs and they love to flaunt their membership in an organization of people dedicated to self-congratulation. The atheist assumption is that religion is a sure sign of evolutionary atavism. A devout believer whipping out his Mensa card is entirely incomprehensible and ultimately indigestible.
3. Bait and Switch # 1. Atheists love to talk about the Spanish Inquisition. Get them, ever so casually, to talk about persecution by zealous believers in general, and then the persecution by zealous Marxists in particular. Finally, since atheists like math, have them compare the number killed by the Inquisition over several centuries (2,000-6,000) with the number killed by devout Marxists in one century (100,000,000).
4. Bait and Switch # 2. Despite their pretence to moral relativity, atheists will still grant that Adolf Hitler was epically evil. Having gotten them to admit this point, offer to read aloud some of the most offending passages from Mein Kamp (a special copy of which you just happened to be carrying). After about a half-hour, suddenly strike a quizzical look and say, “Wait a minute,” removing the dust jacket, “How did that happen? This is my copy of Margaret Sanger’s The Pivot of Civilization! Say, wasn’t she the founder of Planned Parenthood?”
5. Learn to talk like William F. Buckley. A comfortable prejudice for American atheists is that religious believers all speak with a heavy Southern accent and use small words.
6. Have Lots of Children. Atheists love humanity as long as there is less of it. They are especially grieved by biologically prodigious believers who seem to be taking Darwin at his word, but for all the wrong reasons. Nothing is more irksome than to behold their own future self-imposed extinction amidst the swelling tide of the God-fearing.
7. Host a Darwin Read-a-loud. Invite some atheist friends to read and discuss Darwin, and then read some purple passages from his Descent of Man where he waxes eloquently on the importance of eugenics, the biologically based moral and intellectual inferiority of “lesser races,” and the inevitable evolutionary extermination of the “negro” and the “Australian.”
8. Talk about the Impending Crash of the World Economy. Ideas have consequences, and some of the worst economic ideas were hatched by John Maynard Keynes. Make clear to your atheist interlocutor that the wide-scale adoption of Keynes’ conception of government as the grand fiddler micromanaging the economy through narcotic stimulation with freshly printed money is the single most important cause of the current American and European financial implosion. Then mention ever-so-casually, “Wasn’t Keynes an atheist?”
9. Stage a Nietzsche Practicum. Atheists love the nihilistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who famously declared “God is dead.” More exactly, they love it in theory, but invariably cringe at the practical implications Nietzsche quite logically drew out: without God, there is no moral order and the strong should devour the weak, for “life itself is will to power.” Invite your favorite atheist to meet you for lunch to discuss Nietzsche. Order the most expensive meal on the menu, steal his iPhone while he’s in the bathroom, and then at the end, stick him with the check. Then on the way out snatch the keys to his Saab and speed away in it singing at full lung, “I love Nietzsche! He’s really rather peachy. A world devoid of moral qualms is far more fuuunnnn…than one that’s preachy teachy!”
10. Assault Them with Charity (cont’d. from No. 9). Drive around the block to the restaurant again, and pull up to your fuming atheist friend. After returning the keys to his Saab and his iPhone, and shelling out your share of the tab, say “I just can’t bring myself to act as if God doesn’t exist.” Then, forever after treat him with unfailing kindness, as if he were Indian Untouchable and you were Mother Teresa.
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Benjamin Wiker is the author of 10 Books Every Conservative Must Read: Plus Four Not to Miss and One Impostor (one of the books being C. S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man), and 10 Books that Screwed Up the World. His website is www.ameaningfulworldaudio.com
Well how about that!
There is a very large number of explanations to Fermi paradox, lots of Atheists and Agnostics love talking about it.
Charity etc assumes that no non-Christian culture has came up with those values.. Travelling outside Europe or America would dispel those. Idea that without idea of God everyone will start just killing each other is especially amusing. Some of the most historically stable and lawful human states/societies and cultures did not have it and were polytheistic.
Lack of childbirth in modern societies has more to do with disintegration of patriarchal family organization then religion or atheism.
“My pastor gave a great sermon on this a while back. He basically said that we should be demonstrating why living a Christian life is so fulfilling instead of ATTACKING the lifestyles of others. I think I agree with him.”
I think I do too. And I am an atheist.
The evolutionary purpose of religion is it provides a strong advantage in tribal warfare. I'm not religious, I wish I was, but I strongly want true believers for America's military and commander in chief. Reagan had it, Palin has it, Obama does not.
It was not until a few years ago that I learned that the Inquisition was NOT Christians torturing non-Christians, but Catholics torturing Protestants.
I can’t believe I didn’t know that.
And no, I am not angry at any current Catholics over it.
Because relative to the size of the universe, light is VERY slow.
2. Join Mensa.
Why would that make someone cry? Author falsely assumes atheists think religion and intelligence are antithetical.
Get them, ever so casually, to talk about persecution by zealous believers in general, and then the persecution by zealous Marxists in particular.
The problem isn't atheism vs. deism, it's a problem of anyone who has a philosophy that he thinks is worth more than human life. As far as numbers, remember that 100 million people in the 15th century would have been 1/4 of the Earth's entire population. A higher population and higher population densities, coupled with better communication, transportation and killing technology, makes for much more efficient killing. Author also compares all deaths due to communism throughout the world with one instance of death due to religious fanaticism in one country.
“Wait a minute,” removing the dust jacket, “How did that happen? This is my copy of Margaret Sanger’s The Pivot of Civilization! Say, wasn’t she the founder of Planned Parenthood?”
What's the problem here? Both were pretty evil people. The author mistakenly assumes that atheists would support abortion.
A comfortable prejudice for American atheists is that religious believers all speak with a heavy Southern accent and use small words.
Idiotic statement.
Atheists love humanity as long as there is less of it.
False. Author mistakenly equates atheists with enviro-nuts.
Invite some atheist friends to read and discuss Darwin, and then read some purple passages from his Descent of Man where he waxes eloquently on the importance of eugenics
Great, then we can go over the part where Darwin argues against eugenics, says it would be detrimental to a human society. Author doesn't know his Darwin. In fact, this could be turned around on the Christian expecting to spring a trap. I wouldn't suggest using this one.
“Wasn’t Keynes an atheist?”
What does that matter? Atheism has nothing to do with economic theory. But if it did you'd think the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism would be a better fit.
Atheists love the nihilistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
Yet another false assumption.
This author could only trap the most idiotic of atheists, probably dumb college kids who have sucked up the socialist crap fed to them and have ditched their religion due to rebellion, not sincere thought.
I wonder what you call a lot, do you have numbers on atheism and party registration or voting? We do know that people that don't go to church, vote overwhelmingly democrat.
Read my post #29. Of course we shouldn’t be belittling them as if ‘we have arrived’ and are ‘enlightened’. God’s Truth is not something WE made up or authored - HE did! If we speak the Truth AND expose the lies and flaws in their logic, with well-presented and life-offering explanations, then their house of cards falls. Again, if we out-intellect on our own, we’re operating in the Flesh. But when the Holy Spirit guides us and gives us what to say, we can be used as effective instruments. Don’t fall prey to the Political-Correctness of shutting us up.
The fermi paradox assumes without warrant that faster than light travel is possible.
The typical version I've seen assumes STL travel.
1. Discuss the Fermi Paradox.
Things just are not looking good for the Star Trek universe, with colorful aliens on every stellar corner.
As many planetary systems as we've been able to detect, not one is much like ours. "We've found an earthlike planet!" tends to mean "we've found a rocky body that's outside the 'Roasting in the Flames' zone."
I noticed a long time ago, how much of serious science fiction involved excuses to get around the Fermi Paradox. They're "hiding". They're "resting". They're snooty, they don't like us. They're "pining for the fjords", or something.
Maybe, they're just not there.
6. Have Lots of Children. Atheists love humanity as long as there is less of it.
Or, as I think of it "far to many of you, not near enough of me."
I was just quoting a line I heard from an old U-boat captain talking about depth charge attacks. The captain said every once in a while an atheist would embark on his ship. When they were under a depth charge attack the atheist would get down on his knees and pray with everyone else. I don't know how long this conversion would last. Probably until the next depth charge attack.
I did this once with a rabid atheist I worked with. After debating Creation vs Evolution for a little bit and he declaring moral relativity was good and there were no absolutes, we got political and he said ‘Reagan is Evil’. His face turned bright red with anger as I then used his logic to point out how he can say such things based on his beliefs. The irony was very funny.
It has nothing to do with political correctness. It’s a question of efficacy.
You looked at the wrong Darwin book. Check out his "The Descent of Man" (as noted in the article) and them come back and tell us what Darwin thought about eugenics and what to do with the "inferior" types of humans. Scary stuff.
We only found our first extra-solar planet orbiting a regular star about 15 years ago. Most of those we didn't actually see, only calculated the existence of based on things like the wobbling of the star. We actually saw our first extra-solar planet in visible light a couple of years ago. Also, we've only found planets in our own tiny little neighborhood of our own galaxy.
It's as if you looked through a telescope at Earth and decided it was a water planet based on observation of a square-foot of water in the middle of the pacific.
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