Disqus - Latest Comments for ldanix

Re: Why Aren't U.S. Liberals Outraged About Alfie Evans?

ldanix — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 23:26:40 -0000

I believe that the reason for the lack of liberal outrage is because their worldview has no room for intrinsic human value. Humans are only as valuable as what they can do, according to that view. Since they deem Alfie unable to accomplish much, they believe his value is low enough to kill. This is simply anti-human and anti-science.

http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Re: Illinois Bill Orders Public Schools Teach LGBT History to Children, K-12

ldanix — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 16:36:43 -0000

When the true worldview has been removed and is not allowed to be discovered in public school, this is what we get. "Education" that is even more pointless than it was before. Knowledge of how the world works has not been treasured in schools in a long time, and now survival skills are starting to be replaced with liberal indoctrination, but that is the logical path that a system that no longer values truth will follow. "Education" truly is overrated: http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Re: New Study: College Makes Students Less Religious

ldanix — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:23:33 -0000

Christian parents need to recognize this and prepare their high-schoolers to deal logically not emotionally with the challenges that their faith will experience in college. A fantastic book to take your kids through is "Welcome to College" by Jonathan Morrow.

http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Re:

ldanix — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 22:02:55 -0000

This is quite refreshing considering the arrogance we witnessed from Colin Kaepernick.

Re: Issues with Answers in Genesis

ldanix — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 13:06:24 -0000

Excellent post, Chad. I've noticed that AiG is also fond of trying to connect OEC to the acceptance of gay marriage. I took issue with this connection in a post I wrote a few years ago: http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

I also think that it is important that YECs and OECs recognize the areas of agreement, not only on the overall worldview of Christianity, but also on the doctrine of creation. There is many more areas of agree than is typically acknowledged by those like AiG:
http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Re: Obama, Canadian PM Wish Planned Parenthood a Happy 100th Anniversary: ‘Here’s to Another #100YearsStrong’

ldanix — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 01:01:08 -0000

"In the past, we used to discriminate on the basis of skin color and gender (and still do at times), but now with elective abortion, we discriminate on the basis of size, level of development, location, and degree of dependency. We've simply swapped one form of bigotry for another."- Scott Klusendorf (The Case for Life)

http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Re: Dr. Hugh Ross and John Smithwick (12.16.2014) | Daystar On Demand - Christian Videos

ldanix — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 13:40:03 -0000

Dr. Ross' ministry helped me tremendously in my intellectual struggles with science and Christianity. Thank you for having him on to encourage other people who are having similar doubts about the reliability of God's Word and the Christian worldview.

Re: Challenging Eyewitnesses of the Resurrection

ldanix — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 11:15:58 -0000

Ginny,

Thank you very much for the gentle reminder that we are addressing people not just their positions. The heart is not won by reason alone, though its decision is often protected by what appears to be reasonable arguments. This buffer must be addressed by reason, but in the process it must be done with love, so when the raw heart is exposed it is greeted with the warmth of Christ's love and forgiveness and not engaged by the cold blade of logic. It is a delicate balancing act to deliver and defend the truth but to do so in a way that reflects the gentleness of our Savior. It is always best to pray for wisdom in how we should (have) respond(ed) and be mindful of when we might be going too far one way or the other. This often comes from the encouragement, reminders, and advice of fellow members of the Body of Christ. Thank you.

The question that ended his challenge was definitely asked authentically and deserved a reasoned response. I should have been more explicit in my answer to "do you see a difference?". My answer is that I see a difference, but not the one the challenger addresses with this question. He and I had a lengthy interaction on the original post here (Frank): http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Long story, short: the question assumes the impossibility of extraterrestrials, ghosts, and resurrections. In our interaction, he denied the applicable, contextual foundation of his question (that resurrections were impossible) very early. The difference that he saw is founded on the necessity of affirming this impossibility, which he denied. Since he denies the assumption, the difference must be denied also.

The difference that I DO see (and one that I believe he also saw) is the difference between common and rare events (and whether probability plays a role in the reliability of an eyewitness). As long as the event is possible (which he did admit) then the question is now whether or not eyewitness testimony (and how much if "yes") can provide evidence to justify belief that the possible (but rare) event actually took place. Establishing that eyewitness testimony CAN provide enough evidence to believe a rare event took place, was the focus of the post. In our interaction (after he denied the impossibility, and I push to test his commitment to the denial) we discuss how much eyewitness testimony is required and whether the 500 in 1 Cor 15 meet this requirement.

Re: Book Review: The Making of An Atheist

ldanix — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:18:37 -0000

Muirman, thank you for that comment. As I mentioned in the conclusion of the book review, it is very important that we recognize that the author was not trying to describe every atheist out there. He noticed a general pattern and was bringing it to the attention of his readers.

Re: Book Review: The Making of An Atheist

ldanix — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 16:45:31 -0000

Tildeb, thank you for your comment.

A lack of evidence is not evidence itself. If we wish to say that a belief or disbelief is based on evidence, then there cannot be a lack of evidence. In the absence of evidence, all we have is an emotional bent one way or the other. I will refer you to my latest post "Thor, Elvis, and Atheists" for some more material. (http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Re: Irony In Rejecting Eyewitnesses

ldanix — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 17:20:51 -0000

Roger,
Thank you for making that distinction. My post was already assuming the equivocation. It is rare that I hear the objection nuanced in such a way as to distinguish between bias based on evidence and bias based on emotional attachment. If the distinction were made in the objection, it tends to lose it rhetorical punch. I wrote this post quite a while ago, and today I certainly wish that I would have made that distinction more explicit and done it early in the post. By not doing so, it certainly appears as though I accept the equivocation. Thank you for the critique; it will help me in my future writings and discussions. :)

Re: Irony In Rejecting Eyewitnesses

ldanix — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 16:28:08 -0000

Frank,
You set up a false dichotomy of resurrections being common-place and nonexistent. How many resurrections can you count in the Bible? Does this number qualify for either of your two options?
I will examine your five points and respond to them at a later date. Thanks again for all the comments.

Re: Irony In Rejecting Eyewitnesses

ldanix — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 16:24:16 -0000

Roger, thanks for your comments. Regarding pointing to the loss of all testimony: that is exactly what I do in my response to Frank. I was having issues with my account wanting to post comments earlier, so I just wrote a blog post. :) Here it is: http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

Re: Irony In Rejecting Eyewitnesses

ldanix — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 16:19:44 -0000

Guest, to prevent us from getting of the subject of eyewitnesses into the extraterrestrial, I would like to refer you to a book that discusses extraterrestrial encounters from an orthodox Christian perspective. It shows that there is no inconsistency here. The book is called "Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men" by Dr. Hugh Ross, Kenneth Samples, and Mark Clark.

Re: Irony In Rejecting Eyewitnesses

ldanix — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 16:17:20 -0000

Frank, thank you for the comment. I have a blog-length response to your first observation that can be read here: http://lukenixblog.blogspot...

As a quick response to your second observation, it seems that if we dig deep enough, a "bias" could be found in anyone. This bias can be either over-hyped or under-hyped. Obviously, one side will tend one direction and the other side, the other direction. Whether a particular juror wishes to allow a bias to determine a witness's credibility is a bias of its own, on the part of that particular juror. The atheist who rejects the eyewitness of a resurrection should also reject the eyewitness of the founder in your example, because that would only be consistent with their worldview. You haven't given anything in this example that would undermine the credibility of the eyewitness, in virtue of her ghoulish testimony alone, to a juror who believes the supernatural exists. Further, you are not quite comparing apples-to-apples in your example, because you have only one eyewitness to that murder. While the resurrection claims many. The other eyewitnesses can either confirm, deny, or provide more or less detail when compared to the other eyewitnesses.

I would highly recommend that you read Cold Case Christianity by cold-case homicide detective J. Warner Wallace to see how detectives and the courts treat eyewitness accounts.

Re: Do all roads (and flights) lead to God?

ldanix — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:24:18 -0000

Scott, 10000 points for referring to a Looney Tunes character in a philosophical discussion. :D
I can't help but wonder how Elmer Fudd saw truth when Daffy Duck grabbed a carrot and bunny ears, while Bugs Bunny put on a duck bill and webbed feet. The sign said "Rabbit Season". Daffy (thinking the sign still said "Duck Season") states "You know what to do with that gun, Doc!" Guess who got shot. Was Elmer right or wrong?

Re: Can Science Test for the Supernatural?

ldanix — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:04:26 -0000

Bill, I see that this post is over a year old, but I thought I'd let you know that I found it thanks to Greg West at thepoachedegg.net. I appreciate that you too see the double-speak coming from skeptics regarding the issue of science testing for the supernatural. I actually posted what might be considered a follow-up to your article a couple months ago. Here is the link to it if you're interested. "Can Religion Be Tested For Truth?" http://goo.gl/WMHtn

Thanks for the great article.
Luke

Re: I'm Giving Away (Another) Kindle

ldanix — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:48:56 -0000

I read 7 blogs regularly and have about 40 that I keep in my queue just in case the titles or topics catch my eye.

Re: The Next Episode

ldanix — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:07:17 -0000

I completely understand where you're coming from. But I'm thinking more along the lines of clones. With alternativeto, the recommended alternatives are really like clones of one application, they aren't determined to be alternatives simply because they are in the same category (genre).

I really think that this would be handy going from platform to platform or license to license. At that point, having all RTS games in one section, may not be so bad. There are other criteria that can be used to narrow down a search for an alternative (license and platform) that would immediately knock the list down.

I specifically would like to be able to find opensource alternatives to some of the more popular games in retail, and my friend uses a Mac and would like to find alternatives for his computer. I also like some of the older arcade games and would like to find clones for free.

I and several of my friends already have used AlternativeTo several times to find software and have been quite impressed. I just see a need in the game arena for something similar, and AlternativeTo really has the power to do it right the first time.

Re: The Next Episode

ldanix — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:28:48 -0000

Since you're asking for feedback...I think the site is great. I would like to see a section for games added, though. I'm all about free and open source alternatives to pay-for software, and games are not excluded. This would be a great addition to the already awesome project you have going.