Subject: tough questions Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 21:51:35 -0800 From: "Brian Holtz" Organization: Sun Microsystems To: Hi Glenn, I too went to college in Mississippi and now work here in Silicon Valley. Your web site is quite impressive, but I can't easily tell if the specific questions below are answered in your Over-dex of Objections. If they are, please send me pointers to the answers. If you're interested, you might also want to look at the critique of Christianity in what you might call my own skeptical "think tank": http://humanknowledge.net/Thoughts.html#ArgumentsAgainstChristianity 1. If you believe that the evidence for your god is compelling, how do you explain that it is not accepted by so many otherwise reasonable people? Why do so many people claim that the evidence for some other (incompatible) god is compelling? What other thesis so important and compelling (e.g. heliocentrism, evolution) defied general consensus for this long? How can you be sure that problem lies with the non-believers, and not with your thesis? 2. If you believe that the evidence for your god is compelling, when (if ever) do you expect to achieve a consensus as widespread as that supporting (say) heliocentrism? In 100 years? 1000? 10000? Never? 3. In the past, your god was used to explain the "gaps" caused by the absence of a naturalistic understanding of physics, astronomy, meteorology, agriculture, and physiology. Most of these gaps began closing after 1500, but by 1850, there were still no naturalistic explanations for the origin and diversity of life, the mechanism of mind, and the origin of the universe itself. In 2000, compelling naturalistic explanations already exist for the diversity of life and the mechanism of mind, while outlines of naturalistic explanations are being formed for the origins of life and the universe itself. If by 2150 there exist naturalistic explanations in these four areas that are as widely accepted as (say) heliocentrism, what significant gaps will be left for your god to explain? 4. If, when my first 100 trillion years of torment are over, you happen to remember that a basically good person is just beginning his torture essentially because he used his mind, will you think "right on! you and Hitler are getting what you deserved!"? Or will you then even momentarily consider the possibility that your god is less than perfectly just? Brian.Holtz@sun.com Knowledge is dangerous. Take a risk: http://humanknowledge.net