I have been reading in this and other forums for awhile. I am a regular listener to POI. I have read both of Sam Harris’ books and I am now reading Richard Dawkin’s God Delusion. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about some of the absurd ideas of Christianity and faith in general.

I made a short movie (4.75 minutes) about one such absurd idea. I am about to show this movie to some friends with whom I sometimes debate such things. If anyone has time and a high speed connection, I would appreciate you posting your critique here.

Here’s the movie: Absurd Ideas

I like the final part of the movie where you list and show the famous atheists.

Hey this is great! Very well done.

I am not sure that Galileo or Washington weren’t Christian BTW ... Washington was certainly not a particularly religious man, and may well have been a Deist, but IIRC it’s not quite clear. Galileo was almost certainly a believer; at the very least he would have kept any agnostic/atheist ideas to himself. It was not at all acceptable to be a doubter before the 18th C.; he would likely have been burned at the stake if he’d claimed that Jesus wasn’t savior of the world. That’s more of an accurate description of Giordano Bruno, which is why he was burned alive, although I am not clear on whether he was in any sense a Christian. (He may simply have been something of an early Protestant).

Galileo went about as far as one could go in his day and remain alive. In fact, it was probably his towering fame, as well as his advanced age, that kept him from being done away with by the Catholic church.

Yes, nicely done Sapien. It gave me a good feeling, moments there I felt uplifted and glad to know someone has the skill to communicate these ideas so well. Must be a geek.

Well, the hell is full of interesting people. I don’t know who went/will go to heaven, but it would be hard to find a more interesting group of persons.

But anyway, let me ask: does the bible talk explicitely about the tortures in hell?.

Barto - 27 August 2007 04:18 PM

...does the bible talk explicitely about the tortures in hell?.

The word torture is not used in the Bible to my knowledge, but it seems to me that the word fits the description of being kept conscious in a lake of fire for eternity. Also, the sounds described about the experience seem to fit, “great wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

dougsmith - 27 August 2007 03:52 PM

I am not sure that Galileo or Washington weren’t Christian ...

You could be right about these two. I take seriously though a piece that Thomas Jefferson wrote about Washington.

[quote author=“Thomas Jefferson”]Dr. Rush told me ( he had it from Asa Green ) that when the clergy addressed General Washington, on his departure from the government, it was observed in their consultation that he had never, on any occasion, said a word to the public which showed a belief in the Christian religion, and they thought they should so pen their address as to force him at length to disclose publicly whether he was a Christian or not. However, he observed, the old fox was too cunning for them. He answered every article of their address particularly, except that, which he passed over without notice.

I believe many enlightened thinkers of the past went as far as they could go and still remain in society. Had Galileo lived in a different time…

[quote author=“Galileo Galilei”]To command the professors of astronomy to confute their own observations is to enjoin an impossibility, for it is to command them to not see what they do see, and not to understand what they do understand, and to find what they do not discover.

Great vid!  Oh and Gene’s my hero…  He’s not going anywhere… Except to the moon and back.    I wonder if his ashes had a great trip?  Well, that and he’s staying in my heart for as long as I live.  :D

Right. Thanks for the quotes. Washington was very coy about his religion, which leads one to suppose he may have been a Deist or even an agnostic or atheist. But the case isn’t clear. Galileo was a wonderful person, arguably the first true experimental scientist in history.

Sapien - 28 August 2007 08:31 AM

The word torture is not used in the Bible to my knowledge, but it seems to me that the word fits the description of being kept conscious in a lake of fire for eternity. Also, the sounds described about the experience seem to fit, “great wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Well, certainly it is explicit enough. I asked because I know that there are a lot of persons with diferents views on the bible, and since I didn’t read it (and likely I won’t), I didn’t know.

I remember the previous Pope (John Paul II) declared the hell was empty, and that it is not a hughe concentration camp in the ‘traditional way’. That the only torture there is to be (live?) without the presence of god, and likely, god, in his infinite kindness (well, yes, they have a weird sense of humor), forgives everyone in the last moments and saves everybody from hell.

Very nice presentation.  The first story in my new book (comes out later this week) deals with this subject matter in a very similar manner.

Bravoooo!
When I die I want to go to hell. Seems there is plenty expertise to create a few air conditioners to make it cool enough for all to sit around and have great discussions about the hereafter. I wonder what people do in heaven that makes them so happy? Sorry, could not resist.
In response to the quote “only through me…etc”, my question to a Christian always is, “an aborigine, living in the jungle, never having heard of Christ, but a good provider to his family, a good father to his children, if he dies does he go to heaven? I always enjoy watching the dilemma and the attempts to justify that quote.
I believe that the only way to induce thinking about biblical interpretation is not to attack or dismiss, but to ask real questions about the morality of the message.