So for the past six months or so I've been watching A LOT of the religious channel for two reasons. The first is that I'm doing research for my novel which involves evangelical characters and the second is that I'm thoroughly fascinated, disgusted and entertained by the multitude of ridiculous programming. I know a few people who are fairly religious but they aren't like what I see on there. I mean, I'm in art school so this is such a different world that the one I exist in.
Anyway, there's this one show that involves Kirk Cameron from Growing Pains fame and Ray Comfort, and evangelical preacher. It's called The Way of the Master and basically involves these two talking about the 10 Commandments for half an hour and interviewing people about their beliefs on the street. Seriously, every episode I've seen thus far (4) has the interviewer asking the interviewee if they believe themselves to be a good person. Then they ask them if they lie, steal, or commit adultery. Here the definition of adultery is simply looking at another person with lust rather than having relations with a person while they are married. May I honestly ask God to get over himself if that is the case? I mean, seriously, how on earth does he think more humans get made in the first place? Anyway, there was an episode on idolatry (2nd Commandment) which really irked me simply because they deem their extremely specific version of God as the only correct one and everyone else is an idolater. I would argue, however, that they are basing their version off The Bible which has been translated thousands of times and has been passed from human to human to human. I would even say that their perfect God is impossible to please because once something "perfect" touches anything human it immediately becomes imperfect simply because humans are not perfect. But I digress.
Anyway ABC Nightline had a debate between Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort and two atheists whose names I forgot because I've only seen them for twenty minutes and I'm bad with names. Ray and Kirk were supposed to prove that God exists without using The Bible and without talking about faith which I thought was really funny because the idea of it is ridiculous and totally negates itself. God without faith? God proven with science? Impossible, at least with the science we know. Science requires experimentation and data and proof, none of which we have about God. I know we're in a scientific age and that you want to reach all the nerdly nerdingtons out there, Ray, but it simply doesn't work. I am not an atheist. I am agnostic and after a lot of thought about what I personally believe I have come to the conclusion that there may be things out that that humans cannot comprehend. Daemonic Reality by Patrick Harpur is a good read for this. I think that there may be things out like ghosts and faeries and magic which can be explained by science, it just isn't science that we can understand or see yet. Then again, there might not be. Even J.K. Rowling creates a scientific branch for Harry Potter's magical world. There is a scientific way that spells are set up and it's called arithmancy.
The atheists debating Ray and Kirk did an all right job. They were a bit snottish and irritating, though. I think they had a pretty easy task, though, and that Ray and Kirk just set themselves up for failure the moment they put science and God in the same sentence. You can't PROVE that God exists. Faith is the whole point. If you prove the existence of God, aren't you then disproving the existence of a God who cannot exist without faith? I mean, if we had a Babel fish this might be a bit different . . . but then God would disappear in a cloud of existential smoke. Ray and Kirk say they will not cite The Bible, but do quite a bit when they talk about the 10 Commandments, so that was kind of dumb. Anyway, they seemed pretty easy to argue against considering they didn't answer some of the questions posed to them and that their "proof" was flimsier than most of Paris Hilton's wardrobe. It's still an interesting watch, though because I often watch their show and start yelling things out at the TV that they will never hear. It's nice to see them outside of their element and not having control over the debate so they actually will have these things said to them and so that their silly statements will not be given a free bus pass.
Oh, and Ray? You're not Jewish. If you believe that Jesus Christ is a form of God and is your savior then you are NOT Jewish. Stop saying you are. It's really annoying.
Part one of Face-Off: Does God Exist?
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