The Lord is much with us these days, with skirmishes betweens believers and heathens getting a lot of attention in the media.
The most idiotic moment this week? We’d vote for Nightline’s “no-holds barred battle over the existence of God” between former child star Kirk Cameron and a pair of sarcastic athiests. Slate has a laugh-out-loud summary.
This article appears in May 10-16, 2007.
Thanks for the link. I’m dying to find out why the ultra-talented Kirk Cameron was holding up a duck with the head of a crocodile.
Be sure to follow Jim Nintzel’s links and watch the video on the ABC website. It’s supposed to be a scientific debate over the existence of god, but the Christian guy comes out and uses a bunch of arguments that aren’t even scientific. He basically restates the Intelligent Design argument (a rhetorical argument with weak premises and logical loopholes), touches on Pascal’s Wager, refers to the human conscience as if it implies God created it, and essentially resorts to the same tactics summer church camp leaders use to convince gullible children. The low point is when the speaker, Ray, describes a Coca Cola can at length and then asks what you would say to somebody who claims the can is the result of chance. (“I should have had a V-8?”) Another highlight is when he refers to the eye’s tear ducts as “little squirters.”
It gets much better when the athiests come out. The guy quickly slams all of the above arguments. Then he lets his female counterpart speak, and, um, she is SMOKING HOT. Watch the video just to see this woman. Not only is she attractive but her debate consists of one slamming argument after another. Wham, wham, wham, she knocks down the Christians’ arguments like a Bionic Whack-a-Mole player. Every now and then they cut to a shot of Kirk Cameron and the doofy Ray guy just sitting there sweating. Did I mention that she’s freaking hot? That quality goes so well next to intelligence.
For a rebuttal, Kirk Cameron comes out and starts talking with his best Infomercial voice. Instead of addressing the atheists’ arguments, Cameron goes into his personal life experience, talking about how he “used to be an atheist” and then decided to change his mind because…..he personally felt like it. There is no scientific content to his rebuttal; instead, he appeals to the audience to remember that “what you decide today will determine where you spend eternity.”
The Christians come across looking like fools. The Ray guy responds to the question, “Who created the creator?” by answering, “God exists outside of reality, he’s eternal!” completely violating his own premise. Even the host takes him to task for this.
As long as we’re sharing videos, be sure to watch this video of Jane Fonda making Stephen Colbert’s boyhood “Barbarella” fantasies come true.