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- It does not matter whose name we use in language, but if the evidence for a particular belief is valid and true. In this case, Ray and Kirk do not care about proving their position, instead they try to fool people into not trusting themselves and present snakeoil to them, appeal to emotion to trick them to joining their faith.
- Have you seen a man walk on water, or rise an army from the dead? Never. No one has. Has someone seen a species of animals diverge into two separate species? Hundreds of times.
Every religion claims to believe as they do because of reason, education, or intelligence given by their god in revelation. But whether they admit it or not, all of them are assuming their preferred conclusions on faith, and this would still be true even if all of their gods exist. Believe as hard as you want to. But convincing yourself however firmly still can’t change the reality of things. Seeing is believing. But seeing isn’t knowing. Believing isn’t knowing. Subjective convictions are meaningless in science, and eyewitness testimony is the least reliable form of evidence.
For example, if I go into my front yard and I see a large sauropod walking down the middle of my street, I will of course be quite convinced of what I see. I may be even more satisfied when I follow the thing and find that I can touch it, maybe even ride it if I want to. When I gather sense enough to run back for my camcorder, I may not be able to find the beast again, because I don't know which way it went. But that doesn’t matter because I saw it, I heard it, felt it, smelt it and I remember all that clearly with a sober and rational mind. But somehow I'm the only one who ever noticed it, and of course no one believes me. Some other guy says he saw a dinosaur too, but his description was completely different, such that we can’t both be talking about the same thing. So it doesn't matter how convinced I am that it really happened. It might not have. When days go by and there are still no tracks, no excrement, no destruction, no sign of the beast at all, no other witnesses who’s testimony lends credence to mine, and no explanation for how a 20-meter long dinosaur could just disappear in the suburbs of a major metropolis, much less how it could have appeared there in the first place, -then it becomes much easier to explain how there could be only two witnesses who can’t agree on what they think they saw, than it is to explain all the impossibilities against that dinosaur ever really being there. Positive claims require positive evidence. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and that’s what I’d need –since what I propose isn’t just extraordinary; its impossible. But since there's not one fact I can show that anyone can measure or otherwise confirm, then my perspective is still subjective -and thus uncertain. Eventually, even I, the eyewitness, would have to admit that, although I did see it, I still don’t know if it was ever really there –regardless whether I still believe that it was.
It doesn’t matter how convinced you are; belief does not equal knowledge. The difference is that knowledge can always be tested for accuracy where mere beliefs often can not be. No matter how positively you think you know it, if you can’t show it, then you don’t know it, and you shouldn’t say that you do. Nor would you if you really cared about the truth. Knowledge is demonstrable, measurable. But faith is often a matter of pretending to know what you know you really don't know, and that no one even can know, and which you merely believe -often for no good reason at all.
- "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can change this."
-- Albert Einstein, in a letter responding to philosopher Eric Gutkind, who had sent him a copy of his book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt; quoted from James Randerson, "Childish Superstition: Einstein's Letter Makes View of Religion Relatively Clear: Scientist's Reply to Sell for up to £8,000, and Stoke Debate over His Beliefs" The Guardian,
- James "the Amazing" Randi has debunked hundreds of supernatural claims and made an early career as a magician. However, he does not like to be called a magician because it implies he is actually doing magic, which is impossible. He likes to call himself a conjurer, but above all things he is a skeptic. It is easy to perform magic tricks on camera, but it does not help Ray or Kirk's point.
- Ray has conjured up a God to be a deceiver so less intelligent people can feel comfortable to continue not thinking. A clever notion of Christianity, it does not want followers who can think.
- Ray retells the story of the B-24D bomber Lady Be Good. What Ray is promoting here is a discouragement from independent rational thought. Ray discourages rational thought in favor of blind faith in a book.
- Here are some interesting quotes From Einstein that Ray and Kirk would wish people did not see...
"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."
-- Albert Einstein, quoted in Madalyn Murray O'Hair, All the Questions You Ever Wanted to Ask American Atheists vol. ii., p. 29
"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can change this."-
-- Albert Einstein, in a letter responding to philosopher Eric Gutkind, who had sent him a copy of his book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt; quoted from James Randerson, "Childish Superstition: Einstein's Letter Makes View of Religion Relatively Clear: Scientist's Reply to Sell for up to £8,000, and Stoke Debate over His Beliefs" The Guardian,
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- Kirk does not aim to test your intelligence level, but to put you through a series of slick tricks to make you seem unintelligent. People tend to make such mistakes under stress or rushed.
As for that last quote, what Ray and Kirk keep misunderstanding is that Einstein was not talking about the theist God. Stenger: To Einstein, 'God' is 'Nature'
"Both deism and traditional Judeo-Christian-Islamic theism must also be contrasted with pantheism, the notion attributed to Baruch Spinoza that the deity is associated with the order of nature or the universe itself. This also crudely summarizes the Hindu view and that of many indigenous religions around the world. When modern scientists such as Einstein and Stephen Hawking mention 'God' in their writings, this is what they seem to mean: that God is Nature."
-- Victor J Stenger, Has Science Found God? , chapter 3
- It is easy to compare the thoughts different viewpoints of people to match that of a book, such as the Vedas or the Koran.
- While generally true, that is not always the case. At one time, cows were forced to drink blood and other substances. What Ray fails to understand is that answers are not always absolute. Here is a good question, what were cows evolved to eat? Grass or corn? Your answer better be grass.
- "It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press
- If you really want to be wise, ignore Kirk and Ray. There is no evidence at all for a Heaven. Don't act like a child, grow up and think. Your mind may not be perfect, but it is the best tool that you have and that separates you from the rest of the animal kingdom. The man who put the eraser at the end of the pencil was smart, but the authors of the Bible did not have erasers. Instead, the Bible's words are dogmatic and remain fixed while still being demonstrably incorrect.
- So is "What the?"
- Einstein never believed in life after death. "I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."
-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press
- Only in Kirk and Ray's imagination do these "important" things matter. It is more likely what matters to these two is an audience who will open their wallets. It is easy for a book to say "do not trust your own thinking, because you may be wrong and I say that I am infallible. So you must trust me, above all others who claim to be infallible, or be punished."
The Bible is not the ultimate source of reliability, in fact it is rather the opposite. The Bible contains contradictions, forgeries, discrepancies, interpolations, legendary embellishments, evident fictions, and has many stories not supported by scientific or historic evidence.
- "I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."
-- Albert Einstein, The World as I See It
- Basically, Ray is admitting God is a deliberate deceiver. If God did design everything this way, then how can he punish his creations for acting in accordance to how they were made? Ray and Christianity would love to have people act like little children who do not use or practice critical thinking like an adult. People should cherish their intellectual abilities, it is the best tool we have. It is therefore, not surprising that Christianity would teach that God designed wisdom as foolish.
- A classic example of ultimate projection and irony. It doesn’t matter how convinced you are; belief does not equal knowledge. The difference is that knowledge can always be tested for accuracy where mere beliefs often can not be. No matter how positively you think you know it, if you can’t show it, then you don’t know it, and you shouldn’t say that you do. Nor would you if you really cared about the truth. Knowledge is demonstrable, measurable. But faith is often a matter of pretending to know what you know you really don't know, and that no one even can know, and which you merely believe -often for no good reason at all.
- Apart from the argument from authority, myths can often be filled with "life." The depth of it depends on the person, but the one thing that should speak the loudest is the evidence itself. Thus far, there is no evidence for a historical Jesus. Perhaps the reason the story of Jesus speaks out to Einstein is because virtually every detail of the life of Jesus comes from "Old Testament" scriptureshttp://rationalrevolution.net/articles/jesus_myth_history.htm#3.
- Using one man to provide support for their claim is an argument from authority. Just because the audience is not brilliant or have very high intelligence does not give any credibility to either Ray or Kirk's position by default. In fact, as seen through many reviews of their shows, debates, and books, the question we can be asking Ray and Kirk is not "are you a genius?" rather "why do you continue to be a shameless constant liar?" People tend to put their trust in people with an average intelligence than a pair of liars who fool people into their con.
- "For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything "chosen" about them."
-- Albert Einstein, in a letter responding to philosopher Eric Gutkind, who had sent him a copy of his book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt; quoted from James Randerson, "Childish Superstition: Einstein's Letter Makes View of Religion Relatively Clear: Scientist's Reply to Sell for up to £8,000, and Stoke Debate over His Beliefs" The Guardian,
- Knowledge is power against irrational uneducated ideas. That is what Ray fears. University students go to school for a great education, and they expect a lot of themselves to learn as much as they can, so it is not surprising that students act smart. They learn a lot at school, in the fields of history, religion, philosophy, and science. After a good education, maybe it is their knowledge of Christianity that makes them doubt the gospel, not pride. Pride is not an evil sin as Christianity puts it. Anyone, including religious people, who puts on more clothing than that is necessary to keep warm portrays a sense of pride.
- Reminder, this story never took place. Similarly, there is no historic evidence for Moses.
- Under a time limit and use of trickery wording, we can make mistakes. But it is a different story all together to deny what is observable right before us, such as gravity, evolution, old earth, and such in favor of fantasy beliefs.
- Albert Einstein was not implying "God, and the word." He was addressing education, not theology.
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