God and society

There’s lots in the news under that heading, and not only because it’s the Christmas season.

Michael Newdow is back in the 9th. Of course it’s the Ninth.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 4 will again hear a challenge by Michael Newdow to the Pledge of Allegiance and its phrase “under God.”

He also wants God’s name taken off U.S. currency. Will he get a favorable ruling. This is, after all, the Ninth Circuit.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is notoriously hostile to religion, so it could give us another anti-pledge decision.

The article details other clashes around the country and in the culture. No one article is long enough to include them all, there are so many.

And atheists keep arguing publicly against belief in God. Dinesh D’Souza is willingly taking them on, those who agree to debate him. This part was particularly interesting:

Finally there was a lengthy question-and-answer session. Given that the audience was mostly made up of Tufts students sympathetic to Dennett’s atheism, a majority of the questions was directed at me. Most memorable for me was the philosophically-minded savant who pooh-poohed the possibility of God’s existence on the basis of what he called the Principle of Parsimony. He argued that either propositions are true by definition, or they are true by empirical verification. If a proposition cannot satisfy either criteria, then it is meaningless. Since God does not exist by definition, the young man insisted, and since we cannot verify His presence empirically, clearly God has been refuted by the Principle of Parsimony.

I asked our undergraduate savant to apply his twofold test to the Principle of Parsimony itself. Is it true by definition? No. Well, can it be verified empirically? Again, no. Therefore by the student’s own criteria the Principle of Parismony is worthless and can be cast aside. The student had no comeback to this and neither did Dennett.

You can see this particular debate here, and watch or listen to D’Souza debate Christopher Hitchens here. His argument and reasoning are well grounded and referenced in his new book, “What So Great About Christianity.”

Be prepared to make a defense for what you believe. You’re going to need the right answers.