Comments on: Ray Comfort is a Coward http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/ Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:11:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Christian http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-6121 Christian Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:54:24 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-6121 Thunderf00t is not a prominent atheist but rather a popular atheist among his own kind. As you note, he has the whole atheist blogosphere behind him; whether or not is that is true I don't. But just as Pharyngula is a vehicle which PZ Myers uses to make fallacious attacks against religion and its believers, so too does Thunderf00t use his varies web spaces to make the same sort of attacks against religious people. His "why do people laugh at creationists," for example is one long ad hominem and straw man attack. When you call someone stupid, as he does creationists, that is simply an invalid, fallacious argument which reeks of desperation. He's also called a youtube user who goes by the name "howtheworldworks," in this same fashion, calling a subscriber whore, sir stares a lot, etc; this after appearing in a video where Thunderf00t rails against these types of attacks. Of course, he was speaking of when they are directed at him.These types of arguments are, of course, common among atheists. Dawkins, for example, seems to think calling religious people stupid, uneducated, deluded, inferior, etc is valid but yet he refuses to debate creationists. I am not claiming to be a creationists, but you would think that if religious people are as stupid, uneducated, deluded, inferior, etc as he claims, he could easily out debate a creationists. Dawkins even refuses to debate those who support intelligent design, which is not creationism. Thunderf00t is not a prominent atheist but rather a popular atheist among his own kind. As you note, he has the whole atheist blogosphere behind him; whether or not is that is true I don't. But just as Pharyngula is a vehicle which PZ Myers uses to make fallacious attacks against religion and its believers, so too does Thunderf00t use his varies web spaces to make the same sort of attacks against religious people. His "why do people laugh at creationists," for example is one long ad hominem and straw man attack. When you call someone stupid, as he does creationists, that is simply an invalid, fallacious argument which reeks of desperation. He's also called a youtube user who goes by the name "howtheworldworks," in this same fashion, calling a subscriber whore, sir stares a lot, etc; this after appearing in a video where Thunderf00t rails against these types of attacks. Of course, he was speaking of when they are directed at him.These types of arguments are, of course, common among atheists. Dawkins, for example, seems to think calling religious people stupid, uneducated, deluded, inferior, etc is valid but yet he refuses to debate creationists. I am not claiming to be a creationists, but you would think that if religious people are as stupid, uneducated, deluded, inferior, etc as he claims, he could easily out debate a creationists. Dawkins even refuses to debate those who support intelligent design, which is not creationism.

]]> By: Saul Burbridge http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5760 Saul Burbridge Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:21:17 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5760 One could easily be critical of Ray Comfort here...was it that Comfort couldn't afford the cost, or was it that he didn't want to donate money to a non-Christian organization? We shouldn't critcize Dawkins for his decision unless we know for certain that Ray couldn't afford to pay $100,000 to the foundation. One could easily be critical of Ray Comfort here…was it that Comfort couldn't afford the cost, or was it that he didn't want to donate money to a non-Christian organization?

We shouldn't critcize Dawkins for his decision unless we know for certain that Ray couldn't afford to pay $100,000 to the foundation.

]]> By: Saul Burbridge http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5759 Saul Burbridge Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:20:47 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5759 The money Dawkins was asking for was for his foundation, not himself, so he wasn't being greedy. He always seems to be busy doing something of use, and debating a Creationist isn't very useful (seeing as they don't learn anything anyway), although exposing the flaws of Creationism to people who aren't ignorant is. So the reason he was asking for the money wasn't for greed at all, it was for the benefit of others, and had the challenge had some real use then he would have taken it without payment (as he has done before). As it stands, Dawkins has taken on and defeated many Creationists before, and therefore taking on another one who won't take in anything that Dawkins throws at him won't be of much use to Dawkins credentials...which is where the money comes into it. The money Dawkins was asking for was for his foundation, not himself, so he wasn't being greedy.

He always seems to be busy doing something of use, and debating a Creationist isn't very useful (seeing as they don't learn anything anyway), although exposing the flaws of Creationism to people who aren't ignorant is.

So the reason he was asking for the money wasn't for greed at all, it was for the benefit of others, and had the challenge had some real use then he would have taken it without payment (as he has done before).

As it stands, Dawkins has taken on and defeated many Creationists before, and therefore taking on another one who won't take in anything that Dawkins throws at him won't be of much use to Dawkins credentials…which is where the money comes into it.

]]> By: Saul Burbridge http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5758 Saul Burbridge Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:19:10 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5758 One could easily be critical of Ray Comfort here...was it that Comfort couldn't afford the cost, or was it that he didn't want to donate money to a non-Christian organization? We shouldn't critcize Dawkins for his decision unless we know for certain that Ray couldn't afford to pay $100,000 to the foundation. One could easily be critical of Ray Comfort here…was it that Comfort couldn't afford the cost, or was it that he didn't want to donate money to a non-Christian organization?

We shouldn't critcize Dawkins for his decision unless we know for certain that Ray couldn't afford to pay $100,000 to the foundation.

]]> By: Saul Burbridge http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5757 Saul Burbridge Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:14:52 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5757 The money Dawkins was asking for was for his foundation, not himself. He always seems to be busy doing something of use, and debating a Creationist isn't very useful, although exposing the flaws of Creationism to people who aren't ignorant is. So the reason he was asking for the money wasn't for greed at all, it was for the benefit of others, and had the challenge had some real use then he would have taken it without payment (as he has done before). As it stands, Dawkins has taken on and defeated many Creationists before, and therefore taking on another one who won't take in anything that Dawkins throws at him won't be of much use to Dawkins credentials. The money Dawkins was asking for was for his foundation, not himself. He always seems to be busy doing something of use, and debating a Creationist isn't very useful, although exposing the flaws of Creationism to people who aren't ignorant is. So the reason he was asking for the money wasn't for greed at all, it was for the benefit of others, and had the challenge had some real use then he would have taken it without payment (as he has done before). As it stands, Dawkins has taken on and defeated many Creationists before, and therefore taking on another one who won't take in anything that Dawkins throws at him won't be of much use to Dawkins credentials.

]]> By: The Thunderf00t/Ray Comfort debate - Indi in the Wired http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5692 The Thunderf00t/Ray Comfort debate - Indi in the Wired Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:41:33 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5692 [...] suppose, given that this is my third post this week, and second post in a row, on the topic. After a series of machinations that warrant an article on their own, Living Waters Ministry founder, and Way of the Master cohort of Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort accepted [...] [...] suppose, given that this is my third post this week, and second post in a row, on the topic. After a series of machinations that warrant an article on their own, Living Waters Ministry founder, and Way of the Master cohort of Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort accepted [...]

]]> By: Debating the theory of profit | A Division by Zer0 http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5586 Debating the theory of profit | A Division by Zer0 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:00:36 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5586 [...] Ray Comfort Is A Coward (atheistblogger.com) [...] [...] Ray Comfort Is A Coward (atheistblogger.com) [...]

]]> By: Sam http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5576 Sam Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:25:48 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5576 And that should be "Thunderf00t", not "Thunderh00f". Please forgive any other glaring spelling/grammatical errors. I still haven't learned that I can't write/speak properly when it's the middle of the night and I haven't slept! And that should be "Thunderf00t", not "Thunderh00f".

Please forgive any other glaring spelling/grammatical errors. I still haven't learned that I can't write/speak properly when it's the middle of the night and I haven't slept!

]]> By: Sam http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5574 Sam Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:14:03 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5574 Couple things to think of in this case 1) It's a standard fee that Dawkins asks for. Give in to one request and how many more will demand to be debated for cheap or free? These speaking/debate engagements are part of his livelihood. While I'm sure he's open to doing some for reduced fees (or free), if he's not picky about who he chooses to "help out", far more time would be spent both fending off requests and dealing with the negative press and blown-out-of-proportion rumours surrounding his refusals than on the actual debate and it would likely severely impact the work he does. Requiring a large fee stops every Christian who wants to take a stab at him from asking and if they do and he refuses, it's awfully hard for them to squawk about it (and how he's discriminating against them because they're not "important enough") when it's because they weren't willing to pay the speaking fee. Most well-known scholars and scientists require speaking fees when they're not doing events for charity so while Dawkins' fees might be viewed as unusually high, they are not as easily viewed as him being snooty or greedy as him doing some non-charity engagements for cheap/free and others not. 2) I doubt many borderline "convertible" Christians would watch. In the end, it would likely end up as a waste of time. Props to Thunderh00f for having enough hope and faith in humanity to undertake the task but from what I've seen from reading atheist vs religious blog posts, there would have been those who don't care what Dawkins says because they can't understand it, those who don't care because they've already dismissed it and those that don't care because they've already committed the entirety of his life, works and arguments to memory. Plus there's what Joe said. Couple things to think of in this case

1) It's a standard fee that Dawkins asks for. Give in to one request and how many more will demand to be debated for cheap or free? These speaking/debate engagements are part of his livelihood. While I'm sure he's open to doing some for reduced fees (or free), if he's not picky about who he chooses to "help out", far more time would be spent both fending off requests and dealing with the negative press and blown-out-of-proportion rumours surrounding his refusals than on the actual debate and it would likely severely impact the work he does. Requiring a large fee stops every Christian who wants to take a stab at him from asking and if they do and he refuses, it's awfully hard for them to squawk about it (and how he's discriminating against them because they're not "important enough") when it's because they weren't willing to pay the speaking fee. Most well-known scholars and scientists require speaking fees when they're not doing events for charity so while Dawkins' fees might be viewed as unusually high, they are not as easily viewed as him being snooty or greedy as him doing some non-charity engagements for cheap/free and others not.

2) I doubt many borderline "convertible" Christians would watch. In the end, it would likely end up as a waste of time. Props to Thunderh00f for having enough hope and faith in humanity to undertake the task but from what I've seen from reading atheist vs religious blog posts, there would have been those who don't care what Dawkins says because they can't understand it, those who don't care because they've already dismissed it and those that don't care because they've already committed the entirety of his life, works and arguments to memory.

Plus there's what Joe said.

]]> By: Kalitro http://atheistblogger.com/2009/07/02/ray-comfort-is-a-coward/comment-page-1/#comment-5571 Kalitro Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:48:36 +0000 http://atheistblogger.com/?p=1432#comment-5571 Of course they want to discuss with Dawkins. For them, he's the enemy. Not evolution, no science. Is easier to attack one person than an idea (specially a solid one) and they've make him the incarnation of that idea. Of course they want to discuss with Dawkins. For them, he's the enemy. Not evolution, no science. Is easier to attack one person than an idea (specially a solid one) and they've make him the incarnation of that idea.

]]>