Althouse: On not getting married.

February 1, 2010

On not getting married.

"I don't see the point. We are married for all intents and purposes, everything's shared, and actually our fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one... but there's no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God."

209 comments:

«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 209 of 209

Freeman Hunt said...: Richard Swinburne, anyone? Alister McGrath? Robert Hambourger? William Lane Craig maybe?

There are many more. Every time religion comes up, must we watch this kabuki theater of some atheists acting as if no one has ever answered their objections or put forward arguments for God's existence during the last century?

Current popular atheism is no more intellectual than current popular religion. Both brimming with undue hubris.; 2/1/10, 10:17 PM
buster said...: Crack Emcee said:

""Anybody can believe what Jesus said."

It's that easy - and if you don't they'll either kill you, run you out of town, or hound you to the ends of the earth. And they'll feel good as it happens because they're doing it for God, and a reward they'll get when they're dead - though they can't prove that, or anything else about it."

I used to live in the Bay Area, Crack, and I don't remember it that way.; 2/1/10, 10:27 PM
hombre said...: Crack wrote: And if you can't, please apologize, because that shit you're spouting is not only pretty insulting to our intelligence but really stinks up the joint.

You've got to be kidding! You link to a 10 minute video - I watched it the first time you offered the link - that you actually believe provides a definitive resolution to a 2000 year old debate and I'm supposed to apologize for insulting your intelligence.

Impressive.; 2/1/10, 10:30 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: elHombre,

I didn't dare you to scorn me, I dared you to rebut the argument. And I'm still daring you.

Put up or shut up.; 2/1/10, 10:58 PM
William said...: Those smart asses at Gawker can only make snarky comments. If you want real insights into God and man's place in the universe, this is the place to go....The belief in happy marriages and God are not reducible to rational analysis. Logic cannot prove that you have a happy marriage or that God exists.....Since Copernicus, we have been discovering that our place in the universe is less and less significant and central. According to string theory. even our universe isn't all that important. Like the notes and melody on a stringed intrutment, the warp of time and matter can produce an infinite number of universes. Hegel said that God is mankind seeking consciousness. Perhaps in some universes a higher power has evolved; in others, not. Perhaps we are all just avatars in a computer game that members of a more advanced universe have designed to keep the kids quiet on long trips.; 2/1/10, 11:08 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Buster,

I grew up in South Central, Los Angeles, not no fake ghetto, but that real live, real live ghetto.; 2/1/10, 11:38 PM
Joan said...: Shorter Crack Emcee: because my life has sucked so very much, I'm entitled to make sweeping generalizations based solely on my own wretched experiences.

The 10-minute video demonstrating that no one can logically prove God's existence was OK. A bit condescending, but that was to be expected. I just love how it portrayed all people of faith as imposing a religious requirement on friends, co-workers and family members. I suppose that does happen, but most people of faith know that you catch more flies with honey.

In rebuttal (not that you asked me, but what the hell): the video too quickly dismisses the idea of a non-physical God as something impossible. The physical world isn't the totality of existence. Chemistry can explain how life works but it can not explain consciousness.

How do we know what we know about God? God told us. We've got about 2,000 years worth of witnesses to Christ, and some 3,000+ years before, witnessing the Creator.; 2/2/10, 1:28 AM
hombre said...: Crack wrote: I didn't dare you to scorn me, I dared you to rebut the argument. And I'm still daring you.

Put up or shut up.

Stop being disingenuous. Despite your arrogance, it should be obvious to you that greater thinkers than you or I, or the individuals making the video, have not resolved the issue of God's existence in centuries.

You, and your video, attempt to reduce the argument to a preachy, question-begging restatement of philosophical materialism. Do you really suppose that Craig's contentions can be dismissed in a single sentence? As Freeman points out, it is more akin to kabuki than serious philosophical argument. As such, it calls for scorn, not rebuttal.

Or, perhaps you would care to undertake a rebuttal of Plantinga's modal ontological argument for the existence of God. It's higher end, so you can have, say, 500 words or less. Put up or shut up.

Absurd, isn't it?; 2/2/10, 5:26 AM
raf said...: It seems to me that a true atheist would not bother to push back against what to him must be a meaningless ritual, no more significant than saying "how are you?" when you meet someone. The self-proclaimed atheists are some of the most religious people I have ever encountered; they see religious symbolism everywhere.

wv: dialk - for ... something clever that starts with "k" ....; 2/2/10, 12:42 PM