Replies

(Obviously, it has, since you've gone to the bother of inventing positions for your "opponant," positions he doesn't hold.)

If this is not a position you hold, then I shall do what I said, and recant. But, I did not invent this position just to oppose you.

This is YOUR statement.

(People can indeed choose to believe in utter superstitious rubbish. And in a way, that's for the best. We need stratification in society. While some will choose to discover facts and will go to the stars, some will choose to disbelieve facts, and will serve a useful role scrubbing toilets and sweeping the streets, and wondering why it is that their prayers aren't curing their diseases.)

You seem to pride yourself on ridiculing those who believe in God. I had deduced, incorrectly it seems, that your belief is that there is no God. Which, applied to its full extent would mean that evolution was not designed. Now, it is your right to believe this, just as it is someone else's right to believe that there is a design guiding evolution. It seemed to me, that the root cause of your ridicule was emanating from this fundamental belief, which you do have the right to have. However, if this was the underlying foundation for your statements, such as the one above, I have the right to call to your attention that this is philosophical in nature. If it is dishonest to conclude this to be a philosophical issue, then please list all evidence that evolution could not have been designed by a creator, designer, maker, or so forth.

Since my premise is false though, and you do not take this position, then I stand corrected.

Hypothetically, if my premise were correct, then one should be careful in examining the root cause of derogatory statements before posting.

I am failing to see why you think I am dishonest, even though you keep insisting. I will concede that I may have drawn a false premise about you if I have taken your comments out of context. It was not purposefully dishonest.

(Yes, because you're debating dishonestly. I have little interest in actually debatign those who use such blatant falsehoods.)

May I suggest that you are accusing me of being dishonest because I am confronting you on a belief issue, and not a scientific one. I have no problem with you if your belief is that there is no purposeful design behind evolution. I do have a problem with you throwing out insults emanating from a false since of superiority based on such a belief.

Since this is not what you were doing, then never mind.

Will you kindly point out my falsehoods so I will formulate more accurate premises in the future.

> This is YOUR statement.

Note the context that it was put in: not general belief in some god or other, but in a specific belief that some god or other did things in contradiction to all scientific evidence.

> You seem to pride yourself on ridiculing those who believe in God.

Wrong. It is a curious quirk among those whose faith is weakest and yet whose opinions are loudest that if you ridicule some ridiculous *facet* of a belief system, you are ridiculing the whole thing.

> May I suggest that you are accusing me of being dishonest because I am confronting you on a belief issue,

Suggest all you like. Doesn't change the fact that you are setting up dishonest strawmen. I seem to recall *some* religion or other had a minor provision that said that "bearing false witness" was a general no-no (it was probably in the small print, somewhere in a little-used Appendix at the back).... but I'm sure you'll get special dispensation.