Ray Comfort Attempts a Parse

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Ray Comfort tends to get himself into trouble when attempting to parse, well, anything. I can't tell if it's because Mr. Comfort lacks the minimum intelligence necessary to successfully parse, or if it's because he is aware that he is lying, is aware that others are aware he is lying and as a result, tries too hard to hide the lie. (I'm usually pretty good at understanding the motivation/psychology of others, but Mr. Comfort is the Schroedinger's Cat of psychology for me. I just can't figure him out.)

Watch in amazement as Mr. Comfort attempts to parse the difference between "lack of belief" and "not believing".

"I was just reading some reviews of your book over on Amazon. LOL. I had a quick look at the first page of the book and I just had to pass on my observation. The first lie I can see is in the third sentence on page 1: ‘An ‘atheist’ believes that there is no God...’ While that statement correctly describes me -- I believe that there is no God -- the vast majority of atheists do not hold this view. i am one of those atheists. i don't actively believe there is no god. i have simply found no evidence that there is a god. this is different from actively believing there is no god. duh. They merely lack belief in gods. Quite different from what you are saying. I'm calling you out on the lie as I know we've explained the difference to you many times now. only at least 100 times. Either Mr. Comfort doesn't bother to read the comments he moderates (mine pretty much always get moderated), or he is so arrogant he thinks that he knows better than me what I believe. It isn't just a simple mistake on your part. It's a lie Ray.” alphgeek alphgeek is one of the many atheists who regularly comment on Mr. Comfort's posts. Like StephenJ, it is well worth reading Mr. Comfort's drivel to get to alphgeek's replies.

It’s true. Most contemporary atheists carefully say that they “lack belief in gods.” "contemporary"? "carefully"? well, yes, Mr. Comfort, I am careful in what I say. The whole purpose of language is to communicate. If you don't choose your words carefully, you typically end up communicating something you didn't intend to, thus obviating the entire purpose of communication. (I recommend that all men who read this think about it for a while. It may well solve some problems for you.) I say “carefully” because they don’t want to be seen as having any “faith” at all, probably because of its overtones. no, Mr. Comfort, you don't know how I feel better than I do.

So let’s look closely at what they are saying. You use the word "carefully" one more time . . . hello, thesaurus! If I tell you “I lack belief that my Ford truck has a maker,” I am saying that I think nothing made it. and we're back to the truck argument. it's silly, it's a red herring, and it has no connection to the previous paragraph. Just to review, I have no idea how the universe got started. I don't have the necessary understanding of physics to truly grasp the Big Bang Theory, for one. I just don't know. That does not mean, however, that "god did it" is the answer. if everyone just automatically went with "god did it" as an explanation for everything, there would be no science. and no computers/internet for Mr. Comfort to make his ridiculous red herring arguments on. It just happened. That is scientifically impossible. Nothing is nothing. It cannot “make” anything. and how could god be something before there was anything to be something in again? If it can make something, then it’s not nothing because it has the power to make something. enough with the semantics, Mr. Comfort. So the contemporary atheist with his semantics paints himself into an intellectual dilemma. no, I don't. I don't know where everything came from. I don't claim to. I have seen no evidence of any god, therefore I lack belief in god. I also lack belief in tiny pink unicorns. and the truck still exists.

He has the choice of thinking nothing made everything, that something made everything (perhaps God) and is no longer an atheist, or he joins the “Don’t Understand How” club--the DUH. nice, Mr. Comfort. really nice. not exactly an argument or logic, but really juvenile. Penn Jillette is a well-known atheist. Look at his honesty when it comes to the issue of believing: “I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy . . . But, this ‘This I Believe’ thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, ‘This I believe: I believe there is no God.’” So I'm only being honest if I feel exactly as Mr. Jillette does? (I love Penn Jillette, btw. I just don't feel the same way he does.) Let's apply this to other areas of my life. Am I being dishonest if I say that I prefer men to women sexually? What if my favorite movie or song is different from Mr. Jillette's? Would this qualify as dishonesty on my part? See how quickly this gets out of hand?