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God (Ray Comfort) vs. Atheism (Aron Ra) webcast yesterday

Mr. Scott

Under the Amazing One's Wing
Joined
Nov 23, 2005
Messages
2,546
Lots of gems in this webcast, which was on live last night and made me a fan of Aron Ra. Ra posted the show on YouTube (below).

Ray Comfort was infuriating in how he, in the first half, kept interrupting Ra, then complained about Ra interrupting him in the second half. Ra did a brilliant job vivisecting Comfort's arguments. Most impressive is how Ra calls Comfort several times on Comfort's Humpty Dumpty tactics (redefining words to support his arguments).

 
I've heard Ray Comfort "debate" before. Honestly, if there is a God, I'm pretty sure He doesn't want a complete idiot like Ray Comfort speaking for Him.
 
I listened to about 20 minutes of this, and I'm now a confirmed non-fan of Aron-Ra.

His style just reeks of arrogance and intellectual bullying rather than sincere willingness to engage in a two-sided discussion.

And contrary to what you said, I hear (in this "first half") Aron-Ra interrupting Ray Comfort more often than Comfort interrupts him.

While Comfort is almost certainly wrong to reject evolution, Ra's "you have conjugation, which is an example of horizontal gene transfer" doesn't really address any of the substance of WHY he's wrong. Ra's attempt to go to some "gotcha" in which Comfort apparently claimed that dogs were blind (?) was just a distraction.

What bothers me most is not who's right and who's wrong (I'm an atheist myself, so I side with Ra on that question), but the fact that Ra is clearly and unabashedly contemptuous of Comfort, while Comfort seems to be respectful and even praises atheists while disagreeing with them.

The sort of undisguised contempt which drips from Aron-Ra's "antitheist" voice has me judging him the loser in the debate even though I believe his position is the correct one.
 
I listened to about 20 minutes of this, and I'm now a confirmed non-fan of Aron-Ra.

His style just reeks of arrogance and intellectual bullying rather than sincere willingness to engage in a two-sided discussion.

And contrary to what you said, I hear (in this "first half") Aron-Ra interrupting Ray Comfort more often than Comfort interrupts him.

While Comfort is almost certainly wrong to reject evolution, Ra's "you have conjugation, which is an example of horizontal gene transfer" doesn't really address any of the substance of WHY he's wrong. Ra's attempt to go to some "gotcha" in which Comfort apparently claimed that dogs were blind (?) was just a distraction.

What bothers me most is not who's right and who's wrong (I'm an atheist myself, so I side with Ra on that question), but the fact that Ra is clearly and unabashedly contemptuous of Comfort, while Comfort seems to be respectful and even praises atheists while disagreeing with them.

The sort of undisguised contempt which drips from Aron-Ra's "antitheist" voice has me judging him the loser in the debate even though I believe his position is the correct one.

So you don't like Aron Ra because he wasn't "nice" to the mendacious dissembling Comfort, calling him out on his BS, and you believe Comfort's fawning "respect" for atheists was sincere?

SUCKER! :D
 
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What bothers me most is not who's right and who's wrong (I'm an atheist myself, so I side with Ra on that question), but the fact that Ra is clearly and unabashedly contemptuous of Comfort, while Comfort seems to be respectful and even praises atheists while disagreeing with them.

Wow. Talk about misplaced priorities!
 
Yeah, it's a "niceness" contest and Comfort was "nicer". :rolleyes:
Niceness counts for a lot if you're trying to win hearts and minds.

If you're just trying to impress the choir with how smart you are and how snide you can be, I guess you start Pharyngula.

I judge people more by how they act than by what they know. YMMV.
 
Niceness counts for a lot if you're trying to win hearts and minds.

If you're just trying to impress the choir with how smart you are and how snide you can be, I guess you start Pharyngula.

I judge people more by how they act than by what they know. YMMV.

Are you familiar with Comfort's (BananaMan) body of work.

Smarmy is the more apt term.
 
Are you familiar with Comfort's (BananaMan) body of work.

Smarmy is the more apt term.
I'm familiar with the stupid "banana" argument, and I think I saw that former child star gushing over him in an interview, but no, I'm not very familiar with his body of work. "Smarmy" may be more apt, but I still think it was an effective tactic juxtaposed with the "sneering" from the other side in the 20 minutes of the debate I listened to.
 
I'm familiar with the stupid "banana" argument, and I think I saw that former child star gushing over him in an interview, but no, I'm not very familiar with his body of work. "Smarmy" may be more apt, but I still think it was an effective tactic juxtaposed with the "sneering" from the other side in the 20 minutes of the debate I listened to.

There are other "debates" featuring Comfort's smarminess. Try out the Nightline Face-Off.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1229854964003619354#

Yuck.
 
But if you're already an atheist, then he's not trying to win your heart or mind. So it seems like you dislike Aron-Ra because of the effect you assume he will have on other people.
I think I dislike him because of the effect he has on me, and I further assume that he will likely have that effect on most of the people whose hearts and minds he is perhaps trying to win.

Maybe Comfort's "body of work" has convinced those familiar with it that he doesn't deserve any respect, but even if that's the case I think it would be more effective to treat him more respectfully in a debate such as this. Even if one has to be smarmy to do it.
 
Maybe Comfort's "body of work" has convinced those familiar with it that he doesn't deserve any respect, but even if that's the case I think it would be more effective to treat him more respectfully in a debate such as this. Even if one has to be smarmy to do it.

Looks like sincerity is not high of your list of virtues as long as everyone is making nice-nice. Do you think Comfort was being sincere when he said he "respects" atheists? If so, I've got a used car you may be interested in.
 
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I've met and talked to AronRa two times, two years in a roll at Darwin Day here in Florida and hope to see him again at the next one. And I’m not talking about hi and goodbye talks, I’m talking about long talks about many things and AronRa is always a cordial person.


So if one even begins to think they know him after 20 minutes of him talking to a known liar that cut him off without AronRa telling him to stop it, then that person heard a completely different talk then the one I heard.


Paul


:) :) :)
 
I listened to about 20 minutes of this, and I'm now a confirmed non-fan of Aron-Ra.

His style just reeks of arrogance and intellectual bullying rather than sincere willingness to engage in a two-sided discussion.

And contrary to what you said, I hear (in this "first half") Aron-Ra interrupting Ray Comfort more often than Comfort interrupts him.

While Comfort is almost certainly wrong to reject evolution, Ra's "you have conjugation, which is an example of horizontal gene transfer" doesn't really address any of the substance of WHY he's wrong. Ra's attempt to go to some "gotcha" in which Comfort apparently claimed that dogs were blind (?) was just a distraction.

What bothers me most is not who's right and who's wrong (I'm an atheist myself, so I side with Ra on that question), but the fact that Ra is clearly and unabashedly contemptuous of Comfort, while Comfort seems to be respectful and even praises atheists while disagreeing with them.

The sort of undisguised contempt which drips from Aron-Ra's "antitheist" voice has me judging him the loser in the debate even though I believe his position is the correct one.

When I first started to attend dog shows, I was very surprised when, quite often, the worst behaved dog, the one who snapped and snarled his way around the ring, at the other dogs and at the judges and trainers, was the one who won. Eventually someone told me that the judges judged the show on the basis of ideal conformation, and not on behavior.

Likewise, the winner of a debate is the one who makes his point, through logic and facts, and supportable theory. It is not won on the basis of manners or snappy dressing. You seek a beauty contest, where they select (on the side) the most congenial.
 
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Likewise, the winner of a debate is the one who makes his point, through logic and facts, and supportable theory. It is not won on the basis of manners or snappy dressing. You seek a beauty contest, where they select (on the side) the most congenial.

Since when? The winner of the debate *should* be the one who has the best arguments and in a debate club with professional judges you might be right.

But when you are talking about the ignorant masses it just doesn't work that way.

There is a reason why politicians consult advertisers and publicists.
 
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