Oh Goodie! A Dialogue!

h/t Dispatches


Why the hell don't I get these emails? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the "Meet hot girls now" and "date hot Asian ladies" spam in my mailbox (not really; spamfilters GO!), but why can't once in a while get something like this? Maybe I don't know enough creationists, or I'm not on enough mailing lists. Whatever the case, while browsing Dispatched from the Culture Wars today, I came across this excellent little dialogue that Ed had posted.

As my readers know, I love a good chance to snark at something. So there's no way I'm going to pass up this opportunity. Picture the scene: The back drop is set. The lecture hall is full, and the professor is getting ready to give a lecture. It could be a professor of anything; cosmology to astrophysics to nanochemistry to unicorn biology - Fundies who write and enjoy this stuff can't tell the difference. The point is, he's getting ready to give his lecture. In steps the brave and noble (always White, always Male) student. He clears his throat and interjects, interrupting the classroom. The mandatory black guy in the corner is going "Aaawww hell naw" and the room is a deep hush. The stage is set for an intellectual Battle of the Titans - but because that would outstrip our budget constraints, we give you these two strawmen, instead:

All Aboard the Failboat!

I'm a regular over at the web forum Fundies Say the Darndest Things. Sometimes, I'll see a post that just leaves me breathless. Most of the time, though, they leave me with a concussion, and my desk grumbling angrily at me. Very rarely I end up with ones that get me sick. This is more of the first two than of the last one, and it inspired me. Rather than heavy issues for this post, I figure I'll poke fun at a Creationist argument by Mr. Banana-man himself, Ray Comfort.

Ray has his own blog that he keeps entitled, creatively enough, "Ray Comfort Food". This fellow thinks that he's had atheists on the ropes now for the last several years, with the ultimate proof being the how easily bananas fit in our hands (hence his nickname - Banana-man Comfort). A recent post over at FSTDT.com is from Ray's blog, wherein he builds several straw atheists and proceeds to attacking them in a question and answer session. As an atheist who is decidedly un-straw (although crows and ravens still laugh at me; the fact that they're some of the most intelligent animals on the planet means this should concern me more than it does), I'm going to "respond" in kind. Keep in mind, it's the straw-skeptic that's asking these questions. My response will be the red text - the pretentiously named Word of Enlightenment. I'll also be rendering Mr. Straw Atheists' questions into real answers one might get from an actual atheist as we go along... providing I can. This will be the Word of Science, which is obviously in blue.