Common Sense Deactivated?

[Nakosis]

I am particularly fond of his banana argument. I feel like his comedy was better in that one than this.
Hopefully he'll come up with some funnier material soon, or he should think about leaving comedy altogether, imho.

Had to look that up...

“Behold, the atheists’ nightmare!” declares Comfort, before detailing the many user-friendly features of bananas, which include its “non-slip surface,” “tab at the top” for easy opening, and convenient shape which is “even curved toward the face to make the whole process so much easier.”

In fact, the banana as we know it is the result of careful artificial selection by humans over the course of many years. The wild banana is small, seed-filled, and unpalatable. The banana came about through human manipulation of evolutionary mechanisms.

In response, Comfort said in a video that has now been made private that he “was not aware that the common banana had been so modified through hybridization.”

Ray Comfort's 2006 Hysterical Banana Argument Demonstrates What Creationists Mean By 'Proof' | HuffPost

 

[Deeje]

Pick whatever story you feel most convinced by. Without proof, to me these are just fanciful imaginings. Just take whatever you believe/accept to be true and weave together a plausible story.

Isn't that exactly what most people do? And isn't that the problem?

One side uses ridicule and manufactured "science" (theories not facts) to "prove" that the concept of a Creator is nonsense, whilst dispensing their own fairy story that is equally unprovable nonsense......And the other side flies in the face of provable science to claim that everything appeared at the wave of a great magician's hand in just 7 literal days.

There is truth in the meeting somewhere in the middle of those two scenarios I believe.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Love him or hate him, Ray Comfort makes a good argument.

You've got to be joking.

 

[Deeje]

The modern banana was cultivated by man to achieve it's current shape, size, color, and taste.

You mean we have fossils of ancient bananas?

Can you show me these? What shape, size, color and taste did these have? Apes apparently ate them anyway.

 

[Nakosis]

Isn't that exactly what most people do? And isn't that the problem?

One side uses ridicule and manufactured "science" (theories not facts) to "prove" that the concept of a Creator is nonsense, whilst dispensing their own fairy story that is equally unprovable nonsense......And the other side flies in the face of provable science to claim that everything appeared at the wave of a great magician's hand in just 7 literal days.

There is truth in the meeting somewhere in the middle of those two scenarios I believe.

As we validate stuff we can create a better narrative. I just recommend not getting to attached to any one. Might end up having to scrap it at some point.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

You mean we have fossils of ancient bananas?

Can you show me these? What shape, size, color and taste did these have? Apes apparently ate them anyway.

A complete case study in religious thought.

 

[David1967]

Love him or hate him, Ray Comfort makes a good argument.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1163450647090949

Can nothing create everything?

What evidence would convince you that there is intelligence demonstrated in the DNA that makes up all living things?

No such thing as "common sense" Deeje. If it was common, more people would have it.

 

[Deeje]

Going through the responses to this thread already, it is apparent that Ray Comfort's questions are not as important as shooting the messenger. Its an old tactic...shoot the messenger and you discredit his message. That doesn't work.

Please answer his questions because I believe they are valid regardless of what you personally think of the man.

 

[Deeje]

No such thing as "common sense" Deeje. If it was common, more people would have it.

/\ /\ /\ THIS /\ /\ /\

Deactivated or eradicated?

 

[David1967]

/\ /\ /\ THIS /\ /\ /\

Deactivated or eradicated?

Deactivated I think.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Regardless of his methods or his tactics, (obviously the reason why atheists hate him) answer his honest questions for yourself. Can everything come from nothing?
Can the book of life have no author? Can any book write itself?

I particularly like Dawkins' reaction to the audience laughing at his absurd statements. He is obviously not use to being the object of ridicule but rather the dispenser of it.

Ray Comfort is a liar, he has no "honest questions".

In answer to your poorly formed question, all of the evidence out there indicates no need for a creator, so yes, there is no reason at all to doubt that life could have formed itself. You are guilty of an equivocation fallacy. You are using two different definitions for the same word.

And no, you can't ridicule that which you do not understand. Comfort merely makes a fool of himself at best.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Deeje, have you watched this? The problem is that the word "nothing" is poorly defined.

You really should watch it. Some complex ideas are brought up but explained so the lay person can understand them.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I personally think he had a good point with the banana. It is perfectly designed to be peeled and held in the direction of the mouth for immediate consumption. (when you are hungry, this is important) You really believe that was just an accident? Discarding the banana peel might be a trifle hazardous to pedestrians but it makes excellent fertilizer for the garden. "Nature" is applauded for its design and recycling skills.....but what is "nature" exactly? Is it that "something" that came from "nothing", I wonder?

You should actually study some of the commentary around his banana 'proof'. Peel back the anti-theist retoric (peel back...see what I did??!?) And you'll find simple and compelling proof he was epically wrong. He was, in short, just making crap up that fitted with his pre-existing world view.

The bananas God gave us are nothing like the domesticated version he was waving around as proof of God.

I get that you believe in God, that's fine. We all make our own choices and live with them. But Ray Comfort is a clown.

 

[Spiderman]

The bigger question is why does God do such a lousy job of guiding those who seek him?... people that seek the truth and study his word wind up at opposite beliefs

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

Regardless of his methods or his tactics, (obviously the reason why atheists hate him) answer his honest questions for yourself. Can everything come from nothing?

You assume all atheists believe that there once was "nothing." Why?

Can the book of life have no author? Can any book write itself?

How does a gigantic ball of mass go from a jagged, mountainous jumble to a nearly perfect spheroid (or oblate spheroid if we're getting technical)? How does it do that "all by itself?" How do crystals form "all by themselves"? How do chemical reactions happen "all by themselves?" If we look closely, we see that there are specific, natural rules being adhered to in each case that cause those substances to act and react together in the ways that they do. Why is it so hard to imagine that the state(s) of matter that we have ended up calling "life" also possibly arise via interaction of matter under these rules?

I particularly like Dawkins' reaction to the audience laughing at his absurd statements. He is obviously not use to being the object of ridicule but rather the dispenser of it.

There were probably moments that the flat-Earth believing majority laughed heartily at their round-Earth-theorizing counterparts. Such laughter means nothing as regards truth. Not that I believe Dawkins was correct - after watching the video it appeared he was sort of stumbling all over himself in that bit - not exactly even sure what he was saying. But seriously now... who even knows the actual truth?

 

[Subduction Zone]

Going through the responses to this thread already, it is apparent that Ray Comfort's questions are not as important as shooting the messenger. Its an old tactic...shoot the messenger and you discredit his message. That doesn't work.

Please answer his questions because I believe they are valid regardless of what you personally think of the man.

His questions were bogus. You already asked one and I explained to you the problems with that one. And that was his main question. Would you care to ask another one?

 

[Kuzcotopia]

Can nothing create everything?

What evidence would convince you that there is intelligence demonstrated in the DNA that makes up all living things?

What convinces you that an intelligence made DNA? An intelligence created the smallpox virus' DNA, which id responsible for the horrible painful deaths of tensof millions of humans over the centuries?

What kind of insane madman produce the specific conditions, on purpose, for the human body requiring food to power itself, and then not provide enough of it, firing tens of millions of children to die of starvation, as their weeping mothers can't produce enough milk to feed them becuasr they are starving themselves.

What kind of crazed alien monster produced DNA's ability to mutate constantly, forcing millions to die from cancer, or consumption, as it used to be called.

If this "book" was on purpose, only the evilist of demons could have ever produced it. . . More likely, DNA does what it does, iterating over millions of years, producing all matter of weal and woe on this earth. Species live, they die, they experience unnecessary pain and suffering for no reason, because DNA wasn't created, it adapts itself and the consequences are what they are.

The true book is us, human's ability to take these naturalistic problems, learn about them, and produce solutions to try and fix them.

 

[Brickjectivity]

You should actually study some of the commentary around his banana 'proof'. Peel back the anti-theist retoric (peel back...see what I did??!?) And you'll find simple and compelling proof he was epically wrong. He was, in short, just making crap up that fitted with his pre-existing world view.

The bananas God gave us are nothing like the domesticated version he was waving around as proof of God.

I get that you believe in God, that's fine. We all make our own choices and live with them. But Ray Comfort is a clown.

He also opens the banana at the less convenient end. Its best to hold the stem and open the button end, or you can get banana goo everywhere.

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

Love him or hate him, Ray Comfort makes a good argument.

Can nothing create everything?

What evidence would convince you that there is intelligence demonstrated in the DNA that makes up all living things?

I watched the video. Nothing more than a "watchmaker analogy" substitution.

The fact that not a single person interviewed came back at Ray with "Is God, to you, even more impressive than DNA? If so, then what created God?" or something similar is PROOF that this video is heavily edited to only include people who didn't tear him apart at the seams - which is somewhat dishonest.

I also really, really enjoyed the plug by Tim Allen as the very last few seconds of the video. Perfect way to end it... celebrity endorsement. Gives a nice, finishing impression that this is nothing more than an advertisement for Ray's narrative. May as well have been Shaq holding up a soda can or pair of shoes while saying the same thing. Sort of shameless, really.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

, reality often defies intuition, and intuition is *very* untrustworthy.

True, atheists used to think a creation event, a beginning to time itself was impossible, 'religious pseudoscience'
Darwinists used to think life must have developed in slow steady increments, not distinct sudden stages...
Some even openly dislike the idea of God for asking more questions!

The simplest explanation is always the most tempting, but reality does not seem to share the academic fondness for Occam's razor does it?