Countering Atheism

While The Global Atheist Convention was on in Melbourne a rival crowd of around 400 were attending Creation Ministries International rival event “Countering the Rise of Atheism— the Evidence for Creation”.

One can only wonder at which evidence they may have been looking at for all that time, since creation implies the appearance of whole organisms, plants, planets, stars, galaxies, and even matter itself from nothing whatsoever.  Something we are told is impossible by the very people promoting this view.

It is clear reporters of the event did not attend The Global Atheist Convention or have any idea what constitutes science since they deride Dawkins for promoting his new book,(which he didn’t, although they allow Dr Sarfati’s to pimp his new book “The Greatest Hoax on Earth”), refusing to debate “creation scientists” and cast him as the “hero of the faith”.

Let’s clear the air, Dawkins is a brilliant, hardworking gentleman and an outspoken (strident?) atheist, but he is no Pope. Like everyone else he is human and prone to error.  Everything must be scrutinised critically, and this includes the words spoken and written by Richard Dawkins.

Dawkins does not waste his time with flat Earthers, crystal healers, holocaust deniers, alchemists, or creationists. On the whole these groups are closed minded, pig headed, and completely irrational – at least within the scope of these beliefs. There is no amount of logic which can shift people from positions they did not use logic to arrive at, so why waste time trying?

Creation Ministries International also label P.Z. Myers an “infamous anti-Christian blogger”. For the record PZ is not anti-Christian; he’s anti stupidity and simply points out the ridiculous notions at the centre of Christians, Muslims, psychics, faith healers, creationists, and homeopaths among others. If you don’t want to be laughed at, try real hard not to have daft ideas in your head.

One thing they did get right was labelling The Global Atheist Convention as the biggest atheist event ever in Australia, although I would go further.  The Global Atheist Convention was the largest specifically atheist event in the world. Sure there are sceptical conferences like The Amazing Meeting (TAM) or inspiring events like TED, but none have a laser like focus on disbelief like The Global Atheist Convention did (if indeed you can focus on nothing at all).

Of interest was their statement that a screening of “Darwin: The Voyage that Shook the World” is in the same league of “The Jesus Film” in terms of its long-term impact. I am sure that is probably true, since I have not heard of either movie. Best of luck with your ad hominem attack, guys.

However, this line from their article is a whopper:

“For atheists, evolution (everything made itself without the need for a Creator at any stage) is an axiom, a given.”

The only place evolution and atheism actually have anything to do with each other is in the tiny minds of creationist fools. While both are the result of critical thinking and intellectual honesty, one is not built on or dependant upon the other.

Evolution explains the changes in life over time (or more accurately the shifts in allele frequencies in populations over time). The theory says nothing about the formation of the universe, the origins of life, or the presence of gods. In fact, it’s entirely possible to believe your god set the process of evolution in motion if your brain has not been severely damaged by literal interpretations of ancient fables.

Most educated people know that atheism is the default position, a rejection of theistic claims, so there are no claims that atheists are required to defend. But try telling that to Dr Batten:

“There is no reason for Christians to be bluffed into retreat on this issue. The claim that atheism is reasonable, rational, even scientific is a claim that is unreasonable and not at all scientific. Now, more than ever before, science is revealing the wisdom and power of the Creator God. New discoveries on genetics and DNA shout design and affirm the history of Genesis. Is it any wonder that atheists won’t debate informed creationists?” – Dr Batten

What is Dr. Batten a doctor of exactly? I put my money on theology, which is the academic equivalent of a professor in phrenology. Interesting, but ultimately worthless. Dr Batten goes on to say:

“We marvel at the intelligence of the scientists who are discovering these things, but what about the One who invented it all? How much more intelligent is He? It sounds like the Creator of all revealed in the Bible; the One who is all-knowing. Atheists claim to be reasonable and rational, but a proper understanding of the issues shows that atheism is anything but reasonable and rational.”

Right. So complexity requires design for which theists invent a god, but neglect to address the more complicated (and unanswerable) question of where the“one who invented it all” came from. I am not fond of infinite regressions.

Also, while it “sounds like the Creator of all revealed in the Bible” if you squint real hard and over analyse the words “In the beginning…”, they have still yet to demonstrate how they have eliminated all other creator gods from the thousands to choose from.

“Indeed, atheists have to believe that the universe popped into existence with no cause whatsoever, but Dr Batten showed from logic that the universe had to have a cause which was both eternal and all-powerful; again consistent with the Creator revealed in the Bible.”

Our creationist friends would have you believe that those who reject their claims suddenly make all sort of fantastic claims. Things pop into existence from nowhere at all – like oceans, firmaments, plants, animals and man. Who knows what bizarre things we might come up with next – perhaps that women were created from on of our ribs, or a talking snake undid god’s entire plan. Madness I tell you!

Anyway, ex-atheist and retard, Dr Carl Wieland, Managing director of Creation Ministries International, was reported as thrilling attendees with scientific evidence for creation in the rocks and fossils. Apparently he does this by insisting all evidence must be viewed through some sort of lens to make sense of it. How foolish of us who try to remain impartial and let the evidence speak for itself.

These morons actually think that every fossil and rock layer in the world was formed in one cataclysmic global event. Yep, that’s right – flood geology is alive and well in Australia. Noah was real and filled his dingy with termites, flesh and nylon eating bacteria, guinea worms, oh and butterflies and bunny rabbits. The dinosaurs can go fuck themselves. Then the corpse of every remaining animal drowned by their all loving god manages to arrange themselves into a unambiguous progression from simple to complex forms in reverse chronologically aged rocks. It so amazing it’s almost a miracle!

Also, according to Dr Carl Wieland, “atheists use a framework that begins by rejecting God and His Word” and we are “bound by our biases.” I suppose that better that being bound by the biases of ignorant and illiterate goat herders who lived 2,000 years ago in another country where myth and legend were commonplace.

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived…” – Romans 1:20

You read that right.  Seeing the invisible in the Bible.  No wonder these people are messed up.

Next up was Dr Jonathan Sarfati, who thinks “evolution is impossible because there is no way the first cell could have generated itself by naturalistic processes…” Of course, what he fails to realise is even the simplest modern cell is the result of billions of years of evolution. The first “cell” would not even be recognised as a cell by today’s standards. Such nuances are lost on these black and white thinkers.

Dr Jonathan Sarfati goes on to state that “[evolution is] blind faith, and defies the known facts about chemistry…” You know what else defies known facts about chemistry? Magic, that’s what. A spooky, ethereal being from beyond space and time conjuring matter and time into existence my mere thought is NOT science.  It’s never been observed, it’s untestable, and cannot be falsified.  You fail.

One attendee, Darrell, summarized the talk by saying:

“Probability of life from chemical evolution = guessing your 5000 digit PIN in 1 try.”

No you fucktard. The probability of your super sky wizard is next to zero. We have never seen anything created from nothing, nor people rise from their graves, or the Earth standing still so God’s favourite people had a few extra hours to kill the opposition. What makes you think any of these things are even possible? Or is it that WITH God all things are possible?

Anyway, it’s comforting to see that these people’s measure of success is merely three people posting favourable comments on Facebook.

“Fantastic day today at the ‘Countering the Rise of Atheism’ event. It’s just so encouraging to see intelligent people of God, so passionate about defending the truth of the Bible in a society completely dominated by secular world-views. God bless CMI and despite the success of today, I hope to see even more people at future events.” – Ash

“Hi guys, thanks for a fantastic day yesterday-great talks and very nice setup. Awesome to see it packed to the rafters!! Had a friend that came and said it was ‘refreshing’” – Darrell

“Excellent job yesterday at the conference guys! I feel privileged and grateful to have access to this wealth of knowledge/information ~ through your commitment to the truth” – A lady, O.F.

Humming? Hardly.

References

• http://creation.com/countering-atheism
• The Global Atheist Convention
• The Greatest Hoax on Earth
• P.Z. Myers
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_myth
• The Amazing Meeting (TAM)
• TED
• Evolution
• Phrenology
• Guinea worms