Before I say the first word about politics, I need to be clear that I'm neither a registered Democrat or Republican; I am a independent voter who holds both political parties in pretty much equal disdain. They don't even bother trying to represent me in Washington. I'd love to be able to think of myself as a liberal -- it sounds wonderful, at least in principle. Some of the synonyms for the word 'liberal' are generous, abundant, copious, and plentiful. And of course, the antonyms for liberal include intolerant, stingy, narrow-minded, mean, and greedy. Really...who wants to be thought of as mean, or intolerant? I certainly don't. But the problem with self-identifying as a liberal is that the political ideology and the dictionary definition of the word appear to have very little in common with each other. Now people who know me personally know that I'm not really a confrontational sort of person, but neither am I the "go along to get along" sort of person, either. I'm about ten times more likely to initiate a conversation about the upcoming football season for the Georgia Bulldogs than politics or religion, but I'm also not shy about expressing my opinions or correcting the record whenever it seems necessary. I have this very annoying tendency of stubbornly refusing to concede that I could be wrong about something in lieu of better evidence. I'm also very unlikely to simply take your word for anything if the argument from authority has been invoked. Naturally, being radically liberal is a political orientation, not a religious one. It has been my experience … [Read more...]
Your inner parakeet
I love reading books written by Richard Dawkins. Quite ironically, he provides some of the very best material I could ever hope to find for use in discussions with my atheist friends about God and His creation, as well as existential science and evolution theory. It turns out that virtually everything I might ever need for my argument in favor of a supernatural God can be found in his book The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution, simply by following the advice of Dawkins and accepting many of his claims about the theory of evolution on face value. For example, in his book Richard Dawkins claimed that humans share a now-extinct ancestor with the budgerigar (another name for the common parakeet) that lived approximately 310 million years ago, writing that "Every species is a cousin of every other. Any two species are descended from an ancestral species, which split in two." (pg. 254) That would mean every modern living organism must be directly related to every other living organism on earth by descent -- with modifications, of course. Not only is your cousin a chimpanzee, but your slightly more distant cousin is allegedly the cucumber. The most obvious question coming to mind about this idea would seem to be "how?" Now my atheist friends have frequently suggested that I publish the evidence that disproves my cousinship to fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers and turnips so that I might earn fame, fortune, and even to win a Nobel Prize. However, the Nobel Prize does not honor a category for evolutionary biology, making the goal itself … [Read more...]
How did I get here?
The title poses what is known as an existential question -- questions that are much easier asked than answered. Who am I? What happens when we die? Is there a purpose for my life? Existential questions are the sort that you're never completely sure that you've really solved them, until you die. The answers that you decide are most correct will often determine whether or not you believe in God, which may impact many of the life decisions you make. So these are not trivial questions...in fact, they are the most important and difficult questions that we may ever contemplate. How in the hell did I get started writing books that talk about things related to religion and science, when I only received a business degree in college? That's also an excellent question, and an easier riddle to solve because the question itself isn't existential in nature. And this is my answer... I've always loved writing, whether it was source code for computer programs, a short story, or an effort to communicate important thoughts and ideas in concise language through documents I've written. I've always enjoyed tackling difficult problems and then working diligently to solve them. One of my earliest dreams was to become a professional writer one day. However, for the longest time, I was too busy working a full-time job and raising my family to write prose on the side, or to worry much about seeking answers to my existential questions. I had things to do, and people to see. I stayed busy. Then a fateful television interview that was mostly background noise while I worked … [Read more...]
The end of a delusion
My career as a writer was inspired by the word delusion, more than any other word which can be found in the dictionary. Delusions are defined as "fixed false beliefs or opinions" that are resistant to reason even when confronted by actual facts. For this reason, the term is frequently used to describe symptoms of mental illness. The book The God Delusion by renowned atheist and biologist Richard Dawkins was the inspiration for my first published book, Divine Evolution, after I heard Dawkins say in an interview that cars, computers, and even his book were all intelligently designed, but human beings were not. I still haven't gotten over the absurdity of his comment -- I began learning about computers while matriculating as a student at UGA, which was followed a long career as a software developer before becoming a professional writer. So I am well aware that the capabilities of an "intelligent designed" computer actually pales in comparison to the human brain, that DNA is exponentially more complex than computer machine language, and that the "software" that operates the human body works independently of our conscious brain is infinitely more complex than the source code for Google's search engine. Richard Dawkins made it crystal clear in his book that he believes supernatural phenomena does not exist. According to him, only the "real" or material world exists -- no gods, devils, ghosts, angels, or demons. No miracles, no answered prayers. Of course, I couldn't write Divine Evolution until I'd done quite a bit of research into the science of evolution … [Read more...]
Lying for Jesus
If the ability to annoy atheists actually produced income, my personal wealth might rival that of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. I don't even have to try hard. Merely expressing my opinion does the trick just about every time. Annoying atheists seems to be a talent that comes quite naturally, about as difficult for me as breathing. Of course, it isn't my intention to anger people that I've more than likely never met face-to-face, but often it can't be helped. My only alternative would be to remain silent about what I believe to be truth and keep my opinions to myself. However, we independent authors are expected to promote our own books, aren't we? How else might readers discover my work? A nonfiction book with a title such as Counterargument for God shouldn't leave much to the reader's imagination about where I stand on the subject of theology any more than Christopher Hitchen's book God is Not Great, or The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Now I don't consider myself a Christian apologist (even though I freely admit that I am a Christian) because I rarely if ever use theology to argue against atheism -- I prefer using clear logic, scientific evidence, an understanding of statistics and probability, and good, old-fashioned common sense to illogical arguments and Bible thumping. The (shorter) second section of my book defends my Christian beliefs (and the Bible, to some degree) against the most popular attacks used by prominent atheists like Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and David Silverman of American Atheists. When I "attack" atheism … [Read more...]
