ARIZONA

ARIZONA STATE DIRECTOR
Monty Gaither
E-mail: mgaither@atheists.org

CHRISTIANITY vs. ATHEISM — WHERE DOES THE EVIDENCE POINT?

On April 15th 2005.

I think the debate came off acceptably, especially considering the fact that it was my first public debate. I discovered that I was not allowed to have access to my presentation nor my data stored on my flash drive.

It appeared to me that less than 100 people came to the debate. I would also estimate that about 40% of the audience was non-religious. As I "predicted" none of those requiring real evidence changed their position and those that only needed faith stayed with their position.

Any of you that attended the debate and that have any constructive criticism or helpful suggestions please feel free to email them to me.

Even with the flaws in my presentation quite a few came to me after the presentation and told me that my points seem to blow most of his premises out of the water. Even a couple of xtians mentioned that, but they also stated that their position did not change. Several people had suggestions for me to use if I do any more debates.

I do not know how the polled ended up, but would guess that it was around 60% for xtianity and 40% for Atheism.

My opponent misquoted me several times and misled people to thinking that most Atheists believe jesus was an actual person who arose from the dead. For them to believe that they would have to believe in some kind of god that resurrected this mythical person. Which would mean that they were not Atheists. I was not the only one to point that out to him.

Some came up to me as I was about to leave and told me that he told them that the reason the 9/11 attack occurred was because we had become to believe in being to "diverse" and was not using the government to convert non-xtians into xtians. That xtians must take over the schools and the courts so that xtianity and only xtianity can be in the schools and all government agencies.

There were a couple of jewish people who came up to me and told me that even though they believed in their god, they preferred my presentation to his, apparently he offended them when he said that the only people going to heaven were those who believed in jesus as the son of god. Also that when the jewish people use to sacrifice animals that they were making it look god-valued animals the same as he does man. So, I stated that I had thought that he accepted the old testament to be part of his mythical gods "holy word". But the old testament stated that the animal sacrifices were required of them by the mythical god of the old testament.

Again thanks to those of you who made it.

State Director Monty Gaither is asking for your assistance.

Every session the State Legislature attempts, and they usually succeed, in exempting religious organizations from general laws. Monty needs people who are willing to write letters, send faxes, or email the members of the State Legislature each time that they attempt this.

Monty puts out a newsletter that informs everyone on what is going on both in the State and around the country. It also lets everyone know if there will be a meeting or an event at some park or restaurant. If you would like to be on the mailing list, just send an email to Monty giving him your email address so that he can add it to his distribution list.

Contact: Monty Gaither, Arizona State Director for American Atheists, mgaither@atheists.org.

Monty is looking for a local lawyer who is willing to work on the removal of the 10 commandments monument from the Wesley Bolin Plaza (state property), the City of Tucson’s park called the “Garden of Gethsemane”, and/or the bible quotations on the Grand Canyon National Park grounds. At this time the AZCLU is willing to only work on the 10 commandments problem and only when the State Legislature is not in session, none of the legislature members are running for an office, and there is no other 10 commandment litigation going on in any other state or in the federal courts.

Thank you,

Monty Gaither