Knowledge, question on island, Pixabay / Arek Socha
Christians usually know when an inquirer is on a genuine search for knowledge or just a misotheist who is playing games. The latter may think they do not have to play with the hand they have been dealt, so they try to mark the cards, deal from the bottom of the deck, and pull other foolish tricks with their eternal destiny. It is bad enough to demand proof for the existence of God, but worse when they insist that there is no evidence for him.
That is amazingly arrogant. When such a statement is made, this child is reluctant to spend a great deal of time with that person. Sure, I can make some replies and see if I can spot any sign that the Holy Spirit is working in his or her life. Sometimes they start with bluster, then interact more civilly than before.
One jasper was so supercilious when asked what evidence would convince him, he said to present it and he would decide if it was worthwhile. I could tell that the goalposts were already in his pickup truck, ready to be moved. Also, he was judging other Christians and me as stupid because we could not meet his rigged challenge! I didn’t play. After all, there are times to end the discussion and find better things to do. Jesus did that.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all in favor of giving evidence when needed. Apologetics is important to help remove stumbling blocks for people coming to faith in Jesus. Certain kinds of evidence are not needed, as evidence for God is all around and they have no excuses. However, evidence must be presented in a presuppositional framework. That is, we presuppose that God exists and the Bible is his Word, and we will not accede to their naturalistic presuppositions.
Most people are indoctrinated into an evolutionary worldview. It’s not just about science, philosophies of life and morality are taken from it. But not consciously for the most part.
We have two articles to consider that are on a similar theme. The first one is about the “no evidence” claim, and it has a different approach we can use to get the attention of a scoffer. I reckon this is best in person with friends or family.
The ‘no evidence for God’ claim, though, is an interesting one. It often works to frame the discussion in such a way that only we have a burden of proof. It allows the unbeliever the comfortable position of the skeptic: they get to poke holes in our case without ever having to make a case for anything themselves. This however sets up a false dilemma: either we can convince them that God exists, or our faith in God isn’t reasonable. But there’s practically always a way to doubt any argument for God (or practically any argument for any philosophically interesting conclusion, for that matter) that’s not obviously wrong to all rational people. Plus, skeptics regularly demand airtight arguments practically anyone would have to accept before they would believe in God (Agnosticism). As such, we almost certainly won’t convince them. But then that supposedly means that our faith in God isn’t reasonable. The game is rigged from the start. Heads, the skeptic wins; tails, we lose.
You can read the entire article at “No evidence for God?” Don’t forget to come back for the next part.
You came back. Groovy! Unbelievers and even some Christians may wonder if the Bible is useful and can be trusted. I did. I was raised in an Untied Methodist (misspelling intentional) home and was allowed to attend a Babdiss school. Those Fundamentalists (I am not using it as a pejorative) insisted on the Bible being the inerrant word of God, so I did some investigation on it and on beliefs. That is, with an attitude toward doctrine-type statements of, “Where did you get that?”
Any question of origins is historical in nature, not entirely subjected to empirical science. The Bible, through its authors, makes some pretty strong statements about itself. It is self-attesting, and a reliable historical document based on eyewitness accounts. Historical matters have been verified, never disproven. Also, there is prophesy that has been fulfilled, sometimes hundreds of years later. Documented.
People today must judge between two contradictory worldviews: the biblical worldview and the evolutionary worldview.
I’m a lawyer, so I think about this like a legal case. Juries have to judge between opposing litigants, like we have to judge between worldviews. Juries do it by weighing the evidence. Let me give an example from a case I worked on.
Believers in universal common descent do not have a track record for consistency, especially when it is coupled with militant atheism. Evolution is supposed to be random, so there is no teleology. The work of the Master Designer is rejected and things only appear designed — a risible escape mechanism.
Eugenics is supposed to help evolution along, giving it a hint of intelligent design. Another way to help evolution along is through transhumanism. We become something better by harnessing and even merging with technology. Again, evolutionists are inconsistent because neither eugenics nor transhumanism are truly evolution.
Cyborg and circuits, Pixabay /Gerd Altmann (geralt)
People believe in cosmic and biological evolution, and in deep time, despite the evidence, not because of it. There are gobs of evidence supporting creation and refuting evolution, but people prefer “blind, pitiless indifference” to the rational conclusion that God is the Creator.
Study on it a spell. With atheistic materialism, there is no reason to believe in the consistency of the universe; laws of nature cannot exist. Neither can laws of logic. Atheism is incoherent, making it impossible for science to exist. The biblical worldview makes sense of what is observed and is internally consistent; it explains laws of nature and logic.
Going further, an evolutionary worldview ultimately ends in despair. In biology, death is necessary for life because countless billions of life forms supposedly lived and then didn’t make the cut, so new ones evolved into being. If transhumanism works, ultimately, everything dies in the ultimate heat death of the universe. People choose to believe this unscientific philosophy of despair.
Unless everything merges into a consciousness outside the confines of time and space. That is metaphysics, old son, not science. Ironically, God the Creator does exist outside the confines of time and space.
Scientific evidence for evolution is utterly lacking. Were evolution true, innumerable transitional fossil forms between basic kinds of creatures would clearly document the evolution of life from single-cell organisms to humans. Yet even among evolutionists there are no undisputed examples of these “missing links.”1 Moreover, the spontaneous emergence of life from nonlife has never been observed and seems absolutely prohibited by the laws of physics and chemistry. Despite intellectual pretensions to the contrary, people accept evolution not because of scientific evidence but because of its emotional appeal.
To read the rest, see “Future Hope: Evolution or Resurrection?“ No form of materialism, naturalism, evolutionism provides salvation. Only despair. There is no hope in evolution. Christians have hope in Jesus Christ, who died on a cross, was buried, and his bodily Resurrection defeated death. We have a blessed hope, and you can too.
This article may appear to be one of those “atheists are nasty to me so I will pay them back” things, but if you’ll stay with me on this trail, you’ll see where it leads. (Edited for wording 1 September 2022.)
After all these years dealing with misotheists, I should no longer be amazed at their vitriol and bigotry. It seems to be increasing. (It may be a sign of the Last Days, but I will not delve into eschatology this time.) Many professing atheists (Romans 1:18-23) claim to believe in freedoms of speech, expression, and thought, but they seek out and ridicule Christians for doing those very things.
They frequently try to put us on the defensive by dodging what we discuss, introducing new subjects, ignoring replies, more dodging, and attempting to intimidate. They get furious — furious, I tell you — when we don’t let them manipulate us and play “Gotcha!” games.
If you study on it, you may also notice that Christians and biblical creationists are not “allowed” to argue from our own worldview. Those atheists insist that we engage on their terms and accept atheistic naturalism, but they call it “neutral ground” or some such. Christian, if you agree to “leave the Bible out of it”, you’ve just agreed with the atheist that God’s Word is incorrect when it discusses them and their rebellious condition! There is no neutral ground. You savvy that, Pilgrim?
There have been times where I have read comments such as this one: “My atheism is a side effect of being intelligent, rational, logical, and basing my conclusions on evidence.” However, they show an extreme lack of knowledge of science, evolution, logic, and Christianity. Then they make statements about God, the Bible, Christianity, Christians, biblical creationists, etc. Such remarks are simply prejudicial conjecture, indicating that those making them are not interested in serious discussions.
The one I quoted above has frequently stated that he already knows that the Bible, creation science, and other things presented by Christians are “wrong” and will not read them or watch the videos. This is being informed? No. I think that kind of arrogance is a cover for cowardice.
Indeed, he even reacted to a post and said that I don’t “understand what a theory is in science.” Boskus, the Page owner, humiliated himself yet again because he not only attributed the article to me, but if he had read it, he would have learned that it was written by a scientist. Scientists know what a theory is in science, if I recollect rightly.
Over and over, we get proven right by the atheistic goat rodeo denizens who do not display original thought, and especially their lack of critical thinking. F’rinstance, see how alleged Bible contradictions are shredded. Objections to Christianity and especially biblical creation are contumeliously thrown about by those with Atheism Spectrum Disorder, but for those of us with experience, we read and hear the same old nonsense. Mr. Bentley has a short, humorous article on the responses of atheists that I suggest you read.
My previous article on this weblog was a retooled post from Fakebook that examined alleged logic and morality from certain misotheists. It prompted reactions. One was built on complete dishonesty, including putting words in my mouth. I saw that he was just another angry bigot who was justifying his rebellion against Almighty God, and not worth my time. (I reckon he sent about ten visits here with his link.) If you go there, note that he doesn’t exactly enforce the comments policy for his sycophants.
A second reaction was written by an acolyte of the first writer. His comments on this weblog were the same old boilerplate rhetoric. When I stopped responding and allowing his disingenuous comments, he wrote his own post. I was a mite irked when I gave one reply:
To show the brilliance of The Mighty Atheist™, you begin with an ad hominem, using cowboy as a pejorative. This is followed by a hasty generalization about my knowledge of atheists based on just one article. I’ve got some bad news for you, Sunshine, I’ve been writing about atheists, theology, and other things for somewhere around fifteen years. That means I won’t fall for tricks. So, have fun with your argument from silence and other logical fallacies in your vindictive, petty post. Mayhaps when your frontal lobes develop and you can have a rational discussion, I’ll let you comment on my posts again, mmmkay?
I didn’t bother to read any responses.
There are a couple of things I’ve said on other occasions: The days of “You believe, I don’t, let’s turn on the game and watch it,” are long gone. Also, since evolution is foundational to the religion of atheism, they really get on the prod when fish-to-fool evolution is doubted. Things can be going well between a misotheist and a Christian, but express evidence against evolution and supporting creation (especially the Genesis Flood), and they’re ready to slap leather.
I know this trail is a mite long, but the end is in sight.
The secular science industry is dominated by atheists. Although the adored peer review process is saturated with difficulties and some even want it scrapped, they stay with it. A spell back, someone used a vile word and secularists rode into town and shot up the saloon. It began with a “c”. Yep, someone said “Creator“, and it wasn’t even meant in reference to the real Creator that we will all stand before in Judgment.
I mentioned earlier about a post that was written by a scientist. That atheist discussed earlier was angry because the title was, “Many Scientists Believe Scientific Theories Religiously.” It’s true. While they claim to believe things because of evidence, there is no empirical support for many of those things. Just-So stories (here’s a passel of them for example), inferences, bad science, fraud — sure. We get a prairie-schooner full of that. But nothing helpful.
Also, atheists and evolutionists hate presuppositional apologetics, but they are hardcore presuppositionalists themselves! Christians are to presuppose the truth of the Bible, but atheists and Darwin’s disciples presuppose evolution, deep time, that everything came from nothing, and materialism. There is precious little empirical evidence, and it is dragged down by the stones of all of those assumptions.
A post I saw this morning brought all these things together for me. There is a firefight among materialists about the Webb telescope and the Big Bang. Essentially, “Liar! I never said what you said I said!” Meanwhile, accusations against Eric Lerner were shallow, since he has rejected the Big Bang for decades. (His own belief has no evidence, however.) This link is to a secular article that affirms the “facts” of the Big Bang, but I present it here with a coarse wording warning.
All of this is to say that misotheists and evolutionists fiercely guard their origins myth, and despise freedoms of speech, expression, and thought. It is not about evidence, because they really don’t have any! It is a spiritual problem. God exists, they know it, but suppress the truth. Many hate his followers, like this sidewinder:
This example of atheist “morality” is posted under Federal Fair Use provisions for educational purposes
Many feral atheists have repented and become Christians. There are several in the biblical creation science organizations. Sin affects all areas of one’s thinking, and with salvation and the entrance of God’s Word comes light.
The inspiration for this article is…truly bizarre. Like so many other times, an inspiration arrives followed by other thoughts and even circumstances. It began with a shoe.
I found a pair of sneakers tucked away that I had forgotten. Since my wife and I were doing some walking in nature (here are a few photos), I wore those a few times. They seemed all right, especially with good insoles. Then I got a job that involved lots of walking on a hard floor. My feet hurt after the first day, so I used the sneakers. Some pain the second day, less exertion on the third day but I still had pain. Then one broke.
You see the sole and the shoe with the canvas
God’s Timing? Humor? Coincidence?
There have been several instances in my past where I believe God was preserving me. The most notable was around 1978. I was a young driver, and I was on the prod while speeding along a four-lane divided highway. My exit was a right turn, down the ramp, and a stop at the bottom of the hill. When I made the right turn, the car kept turning and I went into the ditch. Later, I learned that the tie rod broke. If it had broken while I was going at a high speed, it may have been the end. I wonder if the Lord had an angel holding on to it until then.
In a more recent car-related instance, I had an arrangement with my mechanic in another town a few miles away. He was going to junk the car for me. While leaving that workplace, something snapped and it steered funny. Okay, I was already a couple of miles closer to his place, so I kept going. I “limped” it along with my four-way flashers going and doing as much driving on the shoulder as possible. When I arrived, the mechanic examined it and said, “It’s a miracle that you got here!”
The shoe thing is less dramatic. I had been on those walks, and had worked in them. When I got home, I pulled into a parking place and started to get out — and stumbled. The guy in the car next to mine said to be careful. I told him I had just come home from work. He said, “See how the universe takes care of you?” What fresh evil is this? If I had been thinking, I might have said, “It’s how the Creator of the universe is taking care of me!”
A spell back, I wrote “Evolution, God, and Humor” about — well, what the title says. Was God playing a prank on me with the timing as well as showing his provision? We’ll never know this side of Heaven.
Little Things Matter
These often-overlooked things can be vital.
There is a proverb that has taken many forms for about a thousand years. Here is a common version:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of a message the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
As we have seen in analyses of fossils and bones of our alleged evolutionary ancestors, feet are very important in determining a critter’s locomotion. (Indeed, our “cousin” chimpanzees are uncomfortable walking upright for more than short distances. They have “hands” on their feet.) Foot, leg, pelvis, back, neck bone, skull work together. A bad shoe causes foot pain, compensation throwing one’s stride out of whack, leg and back pain…you get the idea.
There are other simple things that pull back the reins and holler “Whoa!”:
Clean drinking water is vital. It’s ironic when a place is flooded but people can’t drink that water.
If the BIOS on a PC or laptop is corrupted, the computer is “bricked.”
A horse can canter or gallop a long way in a short time, but can do almost nothing if it is hobbled. We read in James 3:3-4 that a horse is controlled by a bit, and a ship is steered by a comparatively small rudder.
The last prisoners of the Tower of London are ravens. A superstition is that if they fly away, the Crown will fall and so will Britain. So, their wings are clipped (flight feathers trimmed). Looks like Britain has essentially fallen and become pagan, innit?
Someone made a remark about an article on preventing shark attacks: It didn’t mention staying out of the water.
“Does this article have a spiritual application, Cowboy Bob?”
The Spiritual Application
In “Pinpoint Accuracy — The Takedown of Christianity in the West” (which this child highly recommends), Calvin Smith added something to my original broken shoe inspiration: ball bearings. Although the procedure was flawed, the idea was excellent: The Allies in World War II bombed plants that made ball bearings. Many German war machines relied on them.
As discussed many times in biblical creation science apologetics, an assault on the most prominent parts of the Christian faith and the Bible is difficult for enemies of the faith. Instead, they chip away at the foundations because most major Christian doctrines begin in Genesis. Why trust the Bible if it is wrong in the very first verse? “Science says” evolution happened and the earth is billions of years old.
They get Christians to doubt the accuracy and especially the authority of the Word of God, and in many ways, they are succeeding. That’s why we have to strengthen and promote the truth of creation.
EDIT: I got some new shoes. They cost more than I wanted to pay, but my foundation is strengthened.
This article will touch on several areas, some of the things I have thought about for quite a while. So I will present some speculations with what I think is evidential material, run it up the flagpole, and see if anyone salutes it.
I’ll allow that I have some cognitive dissonance happening. I don’t trust humanistic psychology, but getting some kind of treatment for mental illness can be beneficial. However, some problems fade over time. Even medication (although scientists do not know why one works and treatment is often a crapshoot) can be necessary. Talking with a biblical counselor is most likely the best answer.
There are many unhealthy thinking patterns classified as personality disorders, but the groupings and labels are unhelpful since many have traits that overlap. Some of these resemble psychotic symptoms. Also, Autism Spectrum Disorder is a kind of mental illness. Some people have been misdiagnosed as having some other disorder until the patient was reevaluated. These things help indicate that the field is not exactly scientific.
Armchair Psychologists
People tend to throw around words to label others, acting as if they were licensed psychotherapists making diagnoses. “You have cognitive dissonance”, “That’s an example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect”, “You’re just paranoid”, and others. They probably don’t even know what the words mean other than spending five minutes looking them up on teh interwebs.
Individuals have personality flaws, and will exhibit “symptoms” found in the lists for psychologists. It’s when some have several indications that a diagnosis could be made correctly. By an expert.
Toxic People
This expression seems to be relatively new. Generally speaking, toxic people bring harm to others, especially their mental well-being. Toxic people feed their own egos by rejoicing in (and causing) distress and harm to others. It is a serious problem in interpersonal relationships, especially when realizing that a family member is toxic. In many cases, they cannot be avoided, so the victim needs to learn skills to minimize the damage.
I was recently told about a woman who eventually left her physically-abusive husband, but he was able to turn the woman’s own sister against her! Fortunately, that was straightened out later.
What is frequently discussed is self-esteem. I’ve heard and read Christians who condemn self-esteem, but I reckon they’re on the prod about sinful pride. There is a reasonable amount of healthy self-esteem in people, including Christians. We don’t want people becoming damaged and feeling worthless!
Narcissism
Among the snap judgements that armchair psychologists make is to call someone a narcissist. A person may appear that way if they spend a bit too much time focusing on their appearance, for instance, or make their personal gratification a priority. Traits here and there do not necessarily make someone a narcissist.
Narcissists can be oh so charming, but will not build you up. They tend to tear you down, and even try to leverage your accomplishments for their benefit. Unfortunately, they seek out certain kinds of people to be their victims. Narcissists are not likely to be planning. Rather, it is a skill that comes naturally.
Sometimes intelligent people can be seen as narcissistic, but that may not be the case. I cannot find a script, but I’ll do this from memory: In an episode of Barney Miller, the genius Arthur Dietrich was making a rather heady remark. Nick Yemana, who had no idea of what Arthur was saying, replied, “I don’t think that’s necessarily true!” Instead of belittling Yemana, Dietrich said, “But it’s possible.” Yemana agreed thoughtfully, “It’s possible.” Great scene! Arthur was very intelligent, but didn’t lord it over others.
Check online and you’ll find many sites and articles dealing with narcissists in your life. People diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are comparatively rare, but that can be skewed because they may think there’s nothing wrong with them, so why seek treatment?
Consider this: People with inflated pride are more difficult to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ because they see no reason to repent, and humbling themselves is unthinkable.
Whether someone has been diagnosed with NPD or not, if narcissistic traits are observed, the recipient of their manipulations should be on guard. There are various defensive methods to counteract it. Again, being aware of what’s going on is extremely helpful in and of itself. There are videos (a few are linked below) and articles available online. Unfortunately, spouses, children, and other family members may not admit that the other person has a problem.
These emotional abuses can also become physical. Yes, while it may seem like a harmless aberration, a narcissist can be physically as well as mentally dangerous.
This word has an interesting history. It came from a 1938 stage play, Gas Light, then the Gaslight movie in 1940 (at the moment, available for free on YouTube). The 1944 movie featuring Charles Boyer, Igrid Bergman, and Joseph Cotton is the version most people know. The evil husband wanted his wife’s riches, and when he searched in the attic, he turned on the gas light up there and it dimmed elsewhere in the house. He was trying to drive her insane, and one of his tricks was to tell her that no, the light never dimmed. It’s a tense psychological drama and I recommend it (having only seen the 1944 version). Also, it’s distressing to see what he put her through, even to doubt her own sanity.
There are key traits and phrases that gaslighters have, but a couple here and there do not mean someone is a narcissist or gaslighting. You savvy that, pilgrim?
Unlike the story, to gaslight someone does not have an end goal in sight, but is a wicked method of manipulation. It is ongoing. Narcissists seek gratification, and gaslighting is one method. The gaslighter tells the victim what to think, they have no right to their feelings, plays the victim, and may even claim that they know you better than you know yourself.
Take note that the gaslighter will use other people against his or her targets. Victims are often belittled in front of their friends and family, and the accumulation can lead to the recipient having self-doubt, even to the point of questioning their perception of reality.
One note here is that gaslighting is a tactic of narcissists, but there are other toxic people that use it.
Atheism and Mental Illness
Yeah, I know, them’s fightin’ words. Well, deal with it because I’m going to lay out my controversial speculations.
Atheists exhibit many of the characteristics of narcissists and sociopaths. (See “It All Adds Up: Many Atheists are Nuts,” where I discuss an article on narcissistic sociopaths.) You will frequently see, especially on social(ist) media, that atheists pretend to be smarter than “theists.” They also dehumanize Christians and creationists, which makes it easier to negate our views; some cannot say anything good about, or in agreement with, a Christian!
At other times, atheopaths will act like we’re all amigos on a first-name basis. I’ve been called by my first name, the atheist pretends to be patient and friendly — and told what I think and believe! (Take a look at “Further Adventures in Atheo-Fascism” for a more detailed analysis on how they dodge things they don’t like.) Internet atheists can be the most vile and underhanded.
Gaslighting is obviously most effective in personal relationships, but some attempt to do this online. Atheists ridicule, mock, demonize, and recruit others to join in. This can be used to destroy the Christian’s confidence, and even cause him or her to doubt their memory and thinking — perhaps even to doubt their faith.
Used under US Fair Use statutes for educational purposes. The difficult-to-read part in red in that image posted by another Admin, but the image is small here: “Because our uninformed opinions, regurgitations and prejudicial conjectures are universally admissible as evidence and our glib offhand denials are incontestable refutations of anything and everything we personally don’t like or understand.”
When pointing out on Fakebook that an atheopath used a logical fallacy, the response is a laughing emoji.
Catch them in a lie, same response.
Correct a misotheist about their own evolutionary mythology, same response.
Keep one on topic, same response.
Require one to keep to the standards they demand of us and back up their claims…you guessed it.
Do these things sound like characteristics of healthy minds? That’ll be the day! Atheists are exceptionally negative people, and what is deep inside comes out when being keyboard warriors in their safe spaces. Narcissists and sociopaths get furious — furious, I tell you! — when their manipulations fail. If you want to torment online misotheist troll, deny them the attention they crave.
Early on at this WordPress thing (it will never be the home of The Question Evolution Project), I was trolled by a site run by atheopaths. Personal attacks, ridicule, avoiding the content, the usual nonsense. When I blocked that site from commenting here, everything ceased. If they talk about the content here, I’m not aware of it.
I’ll allow it’s mighty difficult to refrain from getting wrapped up into equivalent retaliation, but Christians are not called to slap leather with every internet tinhorn, no matter how wicked and manipulative.
The Spiritual Aspect
When encountering knowledgeable Christians and creationists, Christophobes become even more obstreperous than usual. Why is that?
Non-Christians are the property of Satan. I believe atheists and occultists are closer to him than most people. We do know from Scripture that unbelievers hate Christ in us, and he told us they would hate us. But the one that is in us is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). The spirit controlling them can see the Spirit that is in us.
Atheists are angry, and their fundamentally-flawed worldview is bleak and hopeless. The universe began by chance, life originated by chance from minerals (your mother was a rock and your father was rain), evolution happened through time, chance, random processes, mutations, natural selection — and when you die, you’re worm food. No Judgement, no rewards, no punishment. Yes, very bleak.
Why waste their time tormenting Christians and creationists? I doesn’t make sense to spend so much time seeking their identities and railing against the God they pretend doesn’t exist. But their father Satan requires it. Atheopaths are full of pride as well as wickedness, and it is extremely difficult to get narcissists to realize that they are sinners in need of humility and repentance. We need to pray, share the gospel, be firm but avoid being contentious. Their conversion is not up to us and our golden words (1 Cor. 2:1-2), that is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are to be faithful. And we know what — and who — is real.
Video Links of Interest
These come from secular perspectives, and most have something to sell. A couple are from people who claim to be actual licensed therapists, some are from people who have lived through their experiences. I embedded one below. They provide interesting and probably useful information, but I cannot endorse everything they say.
This child is often late to the party when it comes to reviewing books, movies, and videos. In this case, A Matter of Faith is a movie from October 2014. God’s Not Dead, which I have not seen, was released in March of that year. I watched this one on 30 April 2022.
Irrelevant, but a fun surprise for me is that it was filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I know the area, having lived near there for several years.
Christian movies are like getting grub from the chuckwagon: depends on who is doing the cooking. The genre has a reputation for Pollyanna-style material and bad acting, and some of that is deserved. For example, the A Thief in the Night films that began in 1972 had a good message about the end times, but acting and production were often poor. If I recollect rightly, the last two were improvements over the first ones.
To be fair, the movie industry is known for being hostile to presenting Christians in a positive light, so enthusiastic Christians filmmakers work with low budgets and whomever they can get to work in front of and behind the cameras. Many are using actors who make no pretense at Christianity, but still do their roles in a professional manner.
Things are changing. While many Christian movies suffer from weak writing, it is incorrect to assume that if it’s faith-based, it’s going to be bad. Can’t be using the genetic fallacy and rejecting the entire genre, we have to judge them on their own merits.
Here’s what happened that brought A Matter of Faith to my attention. YouTube recommends videos, so I looked. The entire movie is available there on a channel supposedly owned by the Christiano brothers of Five & Two Pictures who made it. It can be seen on the cutely-named Freevee (formerly IMDB TV), which is owned by Amazon (an Amazon account is required to use it, but not the overpriced Prime). It is also on Pluto and Tubi. Note that selections change, so it may not be on any of those tomorrow.
I went to IMDB and saw that it had a user review score of 3.7 out of 10. Atheists were out in force to vote the movie down. It’s who they are and what they do. Some were saying “worst movie ever made”, and one hatetheist equated it with ISIS propaganda (hyperbole much?), plus other extremely negative claims against Christianity — especially creation science.
After all, they are compelled to protect their fundamentally-flawed origins mythology because it is foundational to atheism. Many of the reviews did not show any knowledge of the movie beyond having watched the trailer, but yee haw boy howdy, they sure did use the word propaganda quite a bit.
One sidewinder said it had the “same merit as a Jonestown Koolaid commercial” and “I think the purpose of making this terrible movie was to try to enlist new members to a rapidly dwindling cult using hollow logic and citing mythical situations as “proof” to support their weak indoctrination attempt.” I could triple the length of this article by examining the false claims and blatant hypocrisy of many reviews, but we need to move on.
Rachel Whitaker was raised in a Christian home and she is going off to college. Her biology class is taught by Professor Kaman (Harry Anderson of Night Court fame), who has an agenda. He promises that if students attend the classes, they are guaranteed a passing grade. That’s a mite suspicious.
During her first few weeks, Rachel is too busy for church or reading her Bible. Professor Kaman, being the caiman that he is, makes bold evolutionary pronouncements with “evidence” that is strictly conjecture, and Rachel is accepting seeds of doubt.
Her father, Steven Whitaker, is upset that Kaman teaches evolution. (Where has he been? The secular science industry and academia are saturated with people who have a worldview based on atheistic naturalism for many years.) Steve visits the professor to respectfully complain about the evolution-only curriculum. Since the college needs a topic for an upcoming debate series, the professor cajoles Steve into debating him.
One trick is saying, “Evolution versus creationism“, and when -ism is used, it has a negative connotation for many people. That was the title of the debate. However (and this puts burrs under the saddles of fundamentalist evolutionists), both creationism and evolutionism can both be used. Indeed, many creationists have no problem with the word creationism.
A professor with training in evolutionism and a passel of experience in public speaking will debate an inexperienced parent of a student. Seems legit. Actually, biblical creation scientists have a difficult time in getting their secular counterparts to debate. Their challenges are declined or ignored most of the time. If Kaman wanted a hot topic for debate, he could have found several qualified creationists who would oblige.
Please pay attention. Although the professor is an atheist and evolutionist, he say, “I teach what my textbooks tells me to teach,” then praises evolutionary scientists. However, parents who take solace in the fact that there are Christian teachers in the public school system are deceiving themself. The reason is that, like Kaman implies, the curriculum given by the state takes priority.
Another student named Evan met Rachel and said that he had taken Kaman’s biology course. He pointed out that Kaman has an agenda and tried to get her thinking.
Rachel’s father wants to get is message out to Rachel and other students. She is appalled — appalled, I tell you — that her father is going to do the debate. Professor Kaman won’t change his beliefs. Also, it will “ruin me on campus!” Apparently nobody considered the possibility that if Steve pulled out, he would be labeled a coward and things would be worse for her.
A glaring error in the movie is that it was claimed that Kaman teaches that we evolved from apes. According to evolutionary beliefs, humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor. (The fact that our putative ancestors sure did look like apes apparently has no bearing on the situation.) The “evolved from apes” thing is something creationists should avoid.
Another weak point in the movie is something that should be discussed. Too many Christians and creationists attempt to defend our views with “memes” and clever sayings that would fit on bumper stickers, but are woefully unprepared in witnessing to atheists and evolutionists. These folks get slapped down by opponents who have learned their talking points and boilerplate rhetoric. Rachel’s father knew what he believed, but not why, and was unable to defend his position in the debate.
Kaman (if he had a first name other than Professor, I missed it) used rhetorical tricks including assertions, appeal to emotion, false definitions (including the common atheistic definition of faith), straw man, and more. He also used the category error of demanding scientific proof of God. While some may claim that the movie makers were creating a straw many with the way Kaman presented his arguments, other creationists and I have seen such things many times.
In addition, there are indeed professors who are openly hostile to Christianity and especially to creation. This Kaman jasper is a representation of many reports that drop down over the transom.
I left out details that would spoil the movie for y’all, but there were a couple of surprises. One had the professor giving what was said in the debate some thought afterward. There is no “everybody gets saved, let’s have a group hug” ending, but there were some unexpected events well as a couple of things that could be predicted by viewers.
A Matter of Faith was recommended by Creation Ministries International, Answers in Genesis, and others. It has some flaws beyond what I have said, but my agenda is to encourage people who watch it and keep in mind some of the things I have said. Ask yourselves and each other questions. F’rinstance, how would layman Steve have fared against Kaman if he had prepared from the numerous materials available online provided by creationists? How about if he knew and used a presuppositional approach?
To make the movie more realistic, they could have done a full, formal debate. (It would also have been quite a bit longer.) I mentioned earlier that Rachel told her father that he would not change Kaufman’s views. That almost never happens in a debate, although it may happen later. Good debates are for each side to present their viewpoints, and to see if they can withstand scrutiny. If you can spare 2-1/2 hours, I highly recommend the “Does God Exist?” debate between Dr. Greg Bahnsen and Dr. Gordon Stein.
Again, I recommend that Christians and biblical creationists see A Matter of Faith. They can spot some flaws, and learn about doing apologetics. Also pay attention and notice that evolutionists live by faith themselves. A link to the video was posted here, but I had to remove it because the video is no longer available to the public.
There are several aspects to Question Evolution Day that many people can support, such as biblical creationists and even professing atheists or agnostics who believe in freedoms of speech, expression, academic, and thought. Fundamentalist evolutionists and atheists find it execrable. They attempt to silence this day as well as creationists themselves through ridicule, misrepresentation, outright lies, and more. I thought an important part of rational and scientific inquiry is to allow the examination of contrary evidence, but I’m just a nobody. It is easy to think that those who claim to believe in freedom of speech only support it if the material supports the consensus.
Here’s an area that I must confess to having inconsistency. There have been several misotheists and anti-creationists who want to slap leather with me over the years, and several times I have pledged to stop featuring their comments and such as examples of bad logic and bigotry. I was giving them the attention they seem to crave. Then they give me something else that needs to be used. C’est la guerre.
Used under Fair Use provisions for educational purposes.
The above image was posted on Fakebook and these misotheists did the usual: share for the purpose of mockery. First, I want to point out that the owner of that Page and his few fans complain when creationists point out that Charles Darwin was a blatant racist, they falsely claim that we are engaging in ad hominem attacks. Then they hypocritically use their own. Frequently.
By the way, notice the “ha ha” emoji. Atheists love those, even when they’ve been caught lying or given irrefutable evidence for something. No intelligent response, just a childish retort.
The two sentences in the comment on the “share” are chock full o’ fallacies, so let’s give them a look-see.
As I said, they usead hominems frequently. This one has “idiots”, “moronic”, and “clowns”. Some people defend the use of insults and say that are not ad hominems when not used in the course of an argument, but I disagree. It is still to the man and is a way to dismiss what another person or group has to say.
For that matter, an insult can also be a form of poisoning the well to discredit what the other says before any statement is made. If someone states, “No, that’s not an ad hominem, I simply insulted you”, it should not be allowed to stand. It does nothing to advance an argument or position, and is harmful.
Note the viperine conflation of evolution with science, which is common among anti-creationists. This is frequently expanded so that, if we reject atoms-to-atheist evolution, we reject science. Not hardly!
If you study on it a mite, you’ll see that their attitude is anti-science. You betcha, since those who
One need not be a creationist or Intelligent Design proponent to have doubts about evolution. It is in no wise “settled science” or “proven”, since science can’t prove anything, and a true spirit of science it so seek knowledge (which includes adjusting or even rejecting bad theories), not protecting the prevailing paradigm.
Dissent from Darwin has been signed by over 1,200 scientists (and MDs who are also professors of medicine). As discussed at Piltdown Superman, this is essentially blaspheming Darwin and, therefore, hazardous to their careers. If there were more professional, academic, and other freedoms, there would undoubtedly be more signers.
I am once again reminding people that there are many credentialed scientists in the creation community that have published in refereed journals in their own fields. Of course, evidence refuting evolution and supporting creation is not allowed in the secular science industry. It makes Darwin frown.
Interestingly, while I was writing this, another Admin at The Question Evolution Project re-posted something I wrote a spell back about how creationists embrace science. That same Page owner under discussion here called me a liar in his comments. Because atheism.
Implicit in the line, “As if a bunch of Creationist clowns are going to cause science to abandon evolutionary theory”, is an appeal to motive fallacy. Since that Admin uses the genetic fallacy as an excuse to avoid reading creationist material, he doesn’t know what Question Evolution Day is about in the first place.
When I started QED, I never said that it would cause the secular science industry to abandon one of their foundations. (Indeed, glance through this collection of Darwin Day images and notice the religious fervor. Somehow, a couple of QED images made it into the mix.) I am a nobody. Fact. I wasn’t being facetious before. And I know I don’t have much influence or power. This is a movement by and for the people who actually care about getting out the truth and prompting people to think for themselves instead of floating down the stream of “consensus science”.
This may put some people off, but mayhaps some of my history will be useful.
Creation Ministries International had a Question Evolution! campaign that included several videos and questions that evolutionists cannot answer. I made a comment that there should be a Question Evolution Day. Didn’t happen, so, being a cowboy at heart, I took the initiative and started the observance. Not much happened.
I asked for other people to participate, and had a boost a few times from Creation Today. Ian Juby promoted QED on Genesis Week a couple of times. Many other people wrote weblog articles (Duane Caldwell has done several at Rational Faith), and people on social(ist) media had their own material as well as sharing hash-tagged #questionevolutionday posts.
In addition, I sought out interviews on radio and podcasts (here is one of my favorites; a skilled interviewer brings out good responses from the subject). A few times I got my name “in print”, such as The Christian Post and The Washington Post (via Religion News Service.) Like I said, I was being a cowboy. Being a nobody, however, hindered getting doors opened.
Writing that stuff makes me uncomfortable because I have long said (and pray to remind myself) to seek glory to God, not glory to Bob.
Even so, one point to QED is that a passel of us common folk can get together and spread the world. We can hope and pray that people will realize that they are not getting all the facts from atheistic materialists. They may question evolution and realize that the God of the Bible is the Creator — that means he makes the rules and we should find out what he has to say.
As for angry atheists…they can’t hurt us. Sure, ridicule and say all sorts of evil things, it’s who they are and what they do. But they can’t stop the truth, and people don’t need to spend much time on hard-hearted trolls, you savvy?
I hope all y’all will get involved in Question Evolution Day, our protest against Darwin-mandated science philosophies can be heard!
Misotheists try to prove their intellectual superiority to us st00pid dujmb theists by using risible logic, which includes invalid comparisons.
“We don’t believe in God in the same way we don’t believe in Santa Claus”, or “We don’t hate Jesus, nor do we hate Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc.” Let’s give a look-see on why such remarks are ridiculous. Instead of going at this as a formal logic lesson, this article will take the reader along a different trail.
At first glance, this may remind people of an argument from silence, and I’ll allow that there are superficial similarities. (A quick example of an argument from silence is that in the comments area of a post, I responded to the request to mention a movie that needed its ending explained. I asked for The Quiet Earth. No responses. To assume that nobody can answer would be fallacious.) What follows can be more properly considered an argument from conspicuous absence.
Santa Claus from the Victorian era from Free VINTAGE Illustrations Notice how this is very different from modern portrayals
There really was a Saint Nicholas of Myra in the 4th century, and he was a generous, godly man. Legends and modern mythology have very little to do with the real person. It is highly unlikely to find a sane adult who actually believes in the fat guy at the North Pole who has elves working for him, flies around the world pulled by reindeer on Christmas Eve, and defies physics. Ain’t happening, Hoss.
There are other things that won’t be found:
Science supporting his existence, including physics, archaeology, biology, paleontology, and more.
Gatherings of people who sing his praises, offer worship, and give exegetical teachings from the Book of Santa.
Prophecies that have been fulfilled, and others waiting to be fulfilled, from that same book.
Testimonies of people who have experienced miracles or had their lives changed by Santa.
Folks coming to the door or talking in the park, imploring people to come to salvation through the Claus Clause.
Disaster relief efforts spearheaded by organizations like Santa’s Purse.
Schools, hospitals, and so forth being built by believers in the modern version of Santa Claus.
For people who claim that they take Jesus as seriously as they do Sinter Klaas, they sure do spend a passel of time hating God, but no effort to hate Santa. For that matter, many professing atheists seek their personal value and identities railing against someone they claim doesn’t exist! However, they do know that God exists (Romans 1:18-23). They need to repent. It would be great if they did it at Christmas time.
For my wife and me, this is a day of mixed emotions.
We see images of happy gatherings for Thanksgiving, the Macy’s merchandising parade is on TV as I write this, food and abundance…
Today is the anniversary of the birth of two people who are no longer with us. We think of others who have also passed on. The celebration is just the two of us.
Thinking back on how Basement Cat was so thrilled and just had to have her turkey, she would reach up and tap my wife’s arm, “Hurry up!” Afterward, she would take a contented nap. We really miss her.
Christian liberties are being destroyed in Western nations, governments are becoming increasingly Marxist and totalitarian. I’m the worst of the worst, what with being white, male, heterosexual, Christian, married, and a biblical creationist. That last point is probably the worst for atheists and leftists, since we promote the foundations of the gospel message. Wouldn’t be surprising to be given a one-way ticket to the Land Down Six Feet Under in the near future.
Yeah, pilgrim, lots to be sad about. Angry. Bitter.
We have a home, shelter, food, tremendous wealth compared to others in the world (or even in these formerly United States), and more.
There is a God, he has made himself known in his Word. I thank him that I have been promoting the truth through online ministry efforts, even if people only care about “memes” and pithy sayings. Ministries and apologists… we do our “watchman on the wall” parts, so if others remain unprepared, that’s on their own heads.
All I am, all I have, is through God. Jesus Christ has blessed me — and Christians — to live godly lives. God the Son died on the cross for my sins, was buried, bodily raised on the third day. Believers are raised with him, and seated with him in glory with God the Father. We have victory in Jesus, and are indwelt with God the Holy Spirit. He is coming back. There will be a great reunion with our Savior and believers who have gone home before us.
God is greater that the world. With the right perspective, I can be thankful and not bitter. But I need to pray that I don’t let other things take my eyes off Jesus. Praise, glory and honor to God!
The only reasons I can think of for denying that atheism is a religion are ignorance and dishonesty. It has been defined as a religion by courts, definition, and the actions of professing atheists. They demanded their own chaplains for the military, and Harvard hired Satan himself — oh, wait, that is a different story. Harvard hired an atheist as chaplain.
One of several schools that was founded on Christian principles but jumped the fence into apostasy, Harvard hired this “chaplain” pretends to be “good without God” and claims to be able to provide spiritual guidance to everyone. That’ll be the day! It has been clearly demonstrated that professing atheists are contumelious toward Christians, especially biblical creationists. They define “good” in a postmodern, relativistic way that fits the culture of the moment; whoever betrayed Jews to the Nazis was doing a good thing by Nazi standards.
God calls people like this fools, and anyone going to an atheist “chaplain” is asking for spiritual disaster. Indeed, there are marked similarities between atheism and the LaVey brand of Satanism. Atheism is irrational, lacking the necessary preconditions of human experience. It also has no consistent moral foundation, as is painfully obvious.
Don’t be disunderstanding me here. Yes, there are atheists who have high moral standards, and may even have better conduct than some “Christians”. But as with science, logic, consciousness, love, goodness, and other things, they cannot give a coherent justification for morality. They believe everything came from nothing, yet mock the biblical Christian worldview, which is the only consistent and rational expression for human experience.
Goodness is not relative. Atheists, like other unbelievers, need to humble themselves and repent, making Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives.
The Creation Cowboy 