Review of my debate with Joe Boot at St. Cloud State University

March 2, 2010 by August
Filed under: Miscellaneous 

August Berkshire (third from left) enjoys a post-debate meal at Perkins with students from SSA at SCSU on Feb. 24, 2010.

Benjamin Seghers has a nice review of my recent debate with Christian apologist Joe Boot at St. Cloud State University at his SCSU Intellectuals blog. The topic of the debate was the existence of God. Apparently I did pretty good:

Who had the stronger arguments? Me being a member of SSA, I’m naturally inclined to say Mr. Berkshire did, just as I’m sure most of the Christians in the crowd would say Mr. Boot did. Did anyone in the crowd change their mind? I don’t know, maybe a few (as I said, there was no polling to objectively gauge this). For those coming in unsure, I hope either debater helped clarify the positions so that informed and educated decisions could made. I very much enjoyed the debate. It was great to hear from Mr. Boot a new perspective that I had not heard before. Mr. Berkshire also brought interesting arguments that I also had not heard before, which helped me solidify my beliefs. I do have to admit though, one my favorite quotes from the whole thing was from Mr. Berkshire: “According to Christian theology, God sacrificed himself to himself to save us from himself.”

According to Benjamin, there were close to 1,000 people attending. Wow! Who knew so many people were interested in examining this question? Well, us atheists of course, but I think many more people have doubts about God than we’re given to believe by what we see in the media. Read Benjamin’s full review here.

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Comments

9 Comments on Review of my debate with Joe Boot at St. Cloud State University

  1. datheism on Tue, 23rd Mar 2010 2:23 am

    2. engforum.pravda.ru/showthread.php?t=280780

    Einstein puts the final nail in the coffin of atheism…

    *************************************
    youtube.com/watch?v=V7vpw4AH8QQ

    *************************************

    atheists deny their own life element…

    add some comment moderation to your blog of blasphemy…idiot…

  2. abadmin on Tue, 23rd Mar 2010 10:19 am

    3. “The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”

    – Albert Einstein (Letter to Eric Gutkind, January 1954)

  3. Jordan Bell on Sun, 4th Apr 2010 10:25 am

    4. So because you can quote Einstein that means the word of God is feigned truth? I can quote a 3 year old telling me 2+2=77. That doesn’t make it true. Follow the rules of logic and philosophical debate. This quote would only be applicable if Albert Einstein were perfection embodied in man. Otherwise, you are simply quoting another man’s opinion.

  4. abadmin on Sun, 4th Apr 2010 11:50 am

    5. I was quoting Einstein in response to the previous comment, which seemed to claim that Einstein was a believer, or that his discoveries led to belief. So I was setting the record straight as to what Einstein thought in regard to god. I was not using a quote from Einstein as proof that gods don’t exist.

  5. Parabola on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 2:06 pm

    6. Swing and miss from Jordan Bell as we enter the bottom of the ninth…

    And yes, Einstein had some good things to say about religion.

  6. Jordan Bell on Sun, 11th Apr 2010 8:50 am

    7. However Einstein did purport to believe in a god, though not the Judeo-Christian God. He could not ignore the pressing truth- that there is indeed a God. He acknowledged the existence of an abstract and impersonal god in his quote, “I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.”

    Albert Einstein, responding to Rabbi Herbert Goldstein who had sent Einstein a cablegram bluntly demanding “Do you believe in God?”

    ANTHONY GOTTLIEB. “God Exists, Philosophically (review of “Spinoza: A Life” by Steven Nadler)”. The New York Times — Books. http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/18/reviews/990718.18gottlit.html. Retrieved 2009-09-07.

  7. abadmin on Sun, 11th Apr 2010 10:47 am

    8. Due to Christian persecution, it was very difficult 50 years ago (and even today for some people) to come out of the closet as an atheist. So, the “impersonal god of nature” became an acceptable euphemism for disbelief in any sort of personal, active god or afterlife.

    It would make no sense to worship “Einstein’s God” or to expect anything from it. It might as well not exist, as I do not see how it is any different than just nature itself.

    Even the atheist Stephen Hawking talked about the “mind of God” in his book “A Brief History of Time.” If that’s what it takes to get Christians to read science books – fooling them with euphemisms – it may be a price we have to pay.

  8. Jordan Bell on Sun, 11th Apr 2010 4:45 pm

    9. I was not aware that the impersonal god was a euphemism in that time period. I will simply concede this point, as I believe this could be accurate.

    There is something to be said for common misconceptions that lead to philosophical falicies. For both the Judeo-Christain POV as well as the athiestic POV. The most common misconception perpetrated by the atheistic POV as well as some in the Judeo-Chirstian POV is that you are required to abandon logic and embrace faith in the unseen. The second is that the athiestic POV abandons belief in that which is unseen and embrace mere logic.

    To believe in science does not require the abandonment of the unseen or that which you must put your faith in. I believe in the power of the wind, which is unseen. I believe in the pressure of space and its ability to destroy life; however no one has exposed their naked body to space outside of the atmosphere to prove it. Faith and science must be embraced in tandem. I understand that this example is slightly more difficult to apply to the arguments of God; however, the basic premise still stands.

    As for the misconception that an atheist must abandon all hope or faith and embrace mere certainty and logic… I’m sure I need not say much on this matter as you know it is not true. The atheist hopes for an impromptu improvement in his father’s cancer. While logic may dictate a percentage of overcoming this disease, the atheist, as all human beings, hopes for the best and has faith in the doctors medical care.

  9. Jordan Bell on Sun, 11th Apr 2010 4:49 pm

    10. You also asked a VERY important question I would like to address.

    This then begs the question: “Then why doesn’t God provide indisputable EVIDENCE of his existence?”

    What would you consider to be indisputable evidence of God’s existence. What would it take for you to renounce atheism and realize the existence of God? Does it need to be a personal encounter? A light beam coming from the sky and a booming voice to follow?

    I don’t mean to make light of your question; however, I do earnestly wish to understand what you require in way of proof.