A Miscellany 127
Some interesting sites
by Gordon Barker
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While perusing Sam Harris’ website I came across a remark made by Richard Dawson (which, naturally, I cannot find again) in which he mentions the web site “Why does God hate Amputees”.
This is a large rambling site that proposes the idea that prayer doesn’t work, God is an illusion, Jesus was wrong about a number of things and that generally, religion is repulsive. It is divided in to chapters, well referenced, easy to read, although it does beat its points into you rather bluntly. If you are looking for a more cerebral approach to arguments go to Sam Harris’ book “The End of Faith” or Richard Dawkins book “The God Delusion”.
The source of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, is a rather complicated affair that has been documented in many places. This article by Peter C. Murphy is a good place to start understanding this. The result is a picture of much political infighting and positioning as to what is in the Canon and the whole Father, Son, Holy Ghost trinity disagreement that has confused the church for over 1681 years now (Constantine introduced this at Nicene). Certainly, the books of the Bible are not self-consistent and they certainly do not command the awe that one would expect from a book written by God. In fact, no one of authority claims that the Bible fell from the sky or was dictated by God directly. Essentially it is only in the U.S.A. that a significant proportion of believers insist that the Bible is the direct word of God.
This is where the “Why does God hate Amputees” site is great. Many of the fundamental believers and born-again personalities I have come across have very little ammunition when it comes to a battle of wits. This site provides wonderful ammunition to beat your fundamentalist’s friends with.
Also on Richard Dawkins site is a worldwide listing of local Atheist / Humanist / Freethought groups.