commentary this week

[Trueblood]

I think it would be impossible to express any ideas at all on religion without giving his opponents ammo.

That's absurd. Even expressing an idea contrary to what someone believes doesn't hand them a counter-argument. I've disagreed with one particular southern Baptist I know on the continued relevance of religion in moden society, and I didn't hand him a ready-made hole in my argument.

Run with the notion that all Christians believe that Adam and Eve only had two male children who managed to populate the Earth with their offspring, and you're setting up the straw man of "something Christians believe" specifically to knock it down. A Christian who is familiar with Genesis will point to their "facts" to refute you.

Randi's done this before. His determined belief that martial artists breaking boards is a carney stunt is a straw man as well. Speaking from experience, board breaking is not a matter of mystic energy; the energy is very real and very physical. There's _technique_ yes, but that's it... no magic. Anyone who says so is a fraud, but JR can't/won't see the difference.

 

[Brown]

Run with the notion that all Christians believe that Adam and Eve only had two male children who managed to populate the Earth with their offspring, and you're setting up the straw man of "something Christians believe" specifically to knock it down. A Christian who is familiar with Genesis will point to their "facts" to refute you.

I don't see the straw man here.

First, I have re-read the commentary to see whether Mr. Randi characterizes what Christians believe, or makes a blanket statement that all Christians hold to a particular belief. I do not see him saying this. He does mention that there were stories that he was told, but I don't see him saying that all Christians tell these stories as fact.

(And I know that there is by no means agreement among Christians on these points. Many devout Christians do not consider Genesis to be historical, but rather consider it to be "allegorical" or "mythical." In the most recent sermon that I heard on the topic, a Lutheran minister told his congregation that he believed the Genesis story was "symbolic" rather than factual.)

But make no mistake, some believers do indeed take positions exactly as Mr. Randi described them. He is not mischaracterizing the position of some believers at all. This is hardly a straw man.

You are right that there are those who claim to have "answers" to Mr. Randi's objections. I submit, however, that there is no consensus as to what the "answers" are, and indeed some of them are bizarre in the extreme. (One of the most bizarre I'd heard was an explanation founded upon extra-Biblical myth, particularly the story of Adam and his first wife, whose name was Lilith, I believe. Another was that "others" on Earth at the time were a race of beings that were actually aliens, and were known as Nephilim.")

 

[Diamond]

Run with the notion that all Christians believe that Adam and Eve only had two male children who managed to populate the Earth with their offspring, and you're setting up the straw man of "something Christians believe" specifically to knock it down. A Christian who is familiar with Genesis will point to their "facts" to refute you.

I note you did not refer to the incest issue.

In any case the Genesis myth (which came from earlier civilisations) makes a propositional case for recent divine creation which has repeatedly been shown to be false.