The first cause argument

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Michael

I hate a lot of arguments for God. There isn’t a single good one. Not one. But the one I hate the most is the first cause argument. It runs smack into the face of science. Here’s why.

For something to be caused, a force must be exerted. Force is measured as mass x acceleration, F=ma. Acceleration is measured as the change in velocity of an object over time. Got it? Good. Now let’s look at this terrible argument from believers.

They say God is eternal. He exists outside time. Okay, let’s go with that. That means they believe he caused the Universe to exist from somewhere outside it. But do you see the problem? They already said he is outside time. As we just learned, something which is caused has a force placed on it. Something which has a force placed on it has mass and acceleration. Something which has acceleration has gone through time. Without any time, God cannot cause anything.

Science tells us, quite clearly, what is involved in causation – most importantly of which for my point is time. Yet in the premise of the believer’s argument is the explicit exclusion of time. They’ve defeated themselves. Any honest believer should immediately abandon this line of argument.

Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics, Religions | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

A distorted image of the police?

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Michael

Apparently the Swiss and German have organized Christian police associations. They recently sent off a complaint to video game makers, signaling out one specific developer, The Darkness II:

The groups expressed concern that minors and young people were playing violent games and forming an unreasonable hatred of the police through a distorted image of who they were and what they did. They objected to financial gain through what they called “idealized violence” and called for publishers and politicians to pull out of the business in an attempt to prevent real world violence, particularly towards police officers.

“What a man soweth, that shall he also reap!” read the letter, quoting Galatians 6:7 from the Bible and adding an exclamation point for emphasis.

There are a number of ways game makers, specifically the makers of The Darkness II (2K), could counter this claim. They could point out that there is no evidence that video games make young people hate the police or turn to violence. They could also point out that shows like Cops do a heck of a job of painting police as perfect angels who virtually always catch the criminal (because we know there certainly are no fat cops out there who can easily be out run). They could even point out that while no one should hate the police, officers are human and they do make mistakes; we should always have an eye on them. But none of these tactics constitute real slap-downs. And, after all, with such a silly, paternalistic organization whining about such a silly non-issue, shouldn’t there be a discussion-ending rebuke? Something that ought to really embarrass the whiners? I think so, and that’s why I am so satisfied with their response:

“There are no police officers in the game,” replied 2K.

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