http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2007/10/10/worlds-leading-atheist-now-believes-in-god/
For the past half century, the leading atheist in the world was philosopher Anthony Flew. He wrote over 30 philosophical works laying the intellectual groundwork for nonbelief. He debated Christian apologists. He was widely cited in atheist literature and at atheist conventions. What distinguished Flew was how comprehensive and fully-developed his atheist philosophy was. Other philosophers, such as Bertrand Russell and Martin Heidegger, espoused atheist beliefs but those beliefs were incidental to their philosophy. Atheism was Flew’s philosophy. HIs works such as Theology and Falsification and The Presumption of Atheism were considered classics of theist thought.Then Anthony Flew became a believer, and his book There Is A God describes his intellectual journey…
OK, so the World’s leading Atheist? Ummm… What about Dawkins? O’Hair? Robertson? Was there a vote? Did we all elect someone?And… didn’t we hear about this years ago? And isn’t Flew much more of a deist than a Christian (you wouldn’t know it from this article)?
Flew is a philosopher, not a scientist. In fact, he seems to be a philosopher particularly uninformed by science and seems to ignore 200 years of scientific development.
So now he thinks he has found evidence of a gawd. Ha Ha.
Physicist Richard Feynman had little consideration for soft disciplines like philosophy, and he was right.
I find it interesting that Flew has found a deity as he ages. The exact opposite happened with my g-father. He had been an old school tent evangelist and hell-fire-and-brimstone preacher for more than 50 years. In the last few years of his life, he lost his god and the depression that he had struggled with all of his life, took over. He screamed against god and believed that his god could no longer forgive his sinfulness. Scared his followers and fellow clergy horribly!
As for phreedum “predicting” that someone here would claim disease or dementia as the cause of Flew’s conversion…get a grip, phre! That’s a case of predicting what is already known. Don’t go thinking that you can take over a corner of Jean Dixon’s market.
He probably just needed money and knows the easiest way to make it is by deceiving people. Isn’t that why we have all these Xtian messes anyway?
I’ll never sell out.
From my understanding of arguing with xians who thinks Flew became a xian I accept he became a deist/theist and he personally interprets their is design in our universe so that brings him to a god belief. I don’t tend to argue with Deists often because when they say “god” they generally mean the spark of the universe and everything in it. They also debase the idea that god inspired any holy books so we agree on a definition of what god is.
Comment by Alexatheist
Please document the “false comfort” and addictive power of religion…?
So atheism played a part in the Cleveland shooting just the way it did at the Columbine shootings…
Let’s see . . . this hand or that hand? There’s Flew and on the other hand Mother Theresa.
Yep, a bunch of christian bigots pushed and pushed on an atheist until he snapped and took a few of his tormenters out.
Come to my house and push me around, and see if YOUR ass doesn’t get shot!
Phucking asshole.
Sounds like it was bullying that did it just like at Columbine. A bunch of xian students showing their “love” for a kid who was different and the kid just had enough. I don’t think that what he did was right but if I had ever been bullied to that extent in school who knows what I would have done. People can only take so much before they fight back.
We might say:
One Flew in the Cuckoo’s Nest.
bernarda,
That is indeed a good description!
Ah…how convenient…let’s totally leave the lack of belief out of the equation…
The kids writings tell a different story though…
So where was the compassion for the wife of the preacher who shot her husband last summer? I don’t remember anyone using your “bullying” defense…
I’m sure the atheist who set himself on fire in California last summer was also bullied…
Spander…this post is for you.
I dare you to go watch this new movie…
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071011133309.vhjahw6y&show_article=1
It will show you exactly why I call your income “blood money”…
I had compassion for the preacher’s wife as I would any woman who is abused. I never blamed her religion for her actions but I do think that it may have offered her justification.
This kid did what he did not becasue he was an atheist, or listened to marilyn manson, or wore black clothes, but becasue he was the victim of repeated bullying. Why didn’t the parents of these bullys teach their kids not to pick on this kid who was different? I’m not making excuses for a kid who obviously had lots of problems but again I must say that humans can only take so much bullying before they fight back towards the aggressors. When I was in school there was a kid who teased me everyday in the play yard because my friends were all girls and I “talked funny”. One day I had had enough so I punched him square in the nose and he hit the ground screaming. The teachers had been witness to his bullying and sided with me so the bully was paddled in front of the whole class (remember when that was allowed?) and I was not punished for hitting him. The bully never bothered me again.
How is this a form of Atheism?
phreedm
I hope you check out the way all your customers make their income and know for sure that when you receive payment from them that you aren’t receiving any blood money.
Phreedm!!!
Theism is irrational! There is no objective foundation for it! Nothing supporting it to be other than belief! It is not “knowledge”.
Therefore, how are we to be “open minded” to those that succumbed to their gullibilities and irrational tendencies?
You say you wish people would be “more open minded” to the life of someone that decided to let irrationality slip into his life in this area of discussion. Yet, you only sound like a fool for saying such, since there is nothing to learn from him.
Unless it’s knowledge, then it’s not worth serious consideration. Beliefs aren’t to be “considered”, but merely tossed until they show they are worthy.
You disgust me with your bullshit, Phreedm. Time and time again you spew bullshit, as if you have something to offer us. You do not.
You have a perceptive mind, alatham. Thanks.
Can we call it a draw?? Atheism may have lost Flew, but xtianity lost Mother Teresa.
Yup, Mother Theresa loved to watch people suffer. She got off on it.
Justme
This isn’t a football game. Religion is THE major tool of our government and the obscenely rich. The tool is principally used to divide and conquer those that might resist their agenda and manipulate one into acting against one’s self interests. There would be very few US kids enlisting in the US military today if this were not so.
What
Sorry, I should have put a smiley at the end to indicate I wasn’t serious…..
To further my non-seriousness, can we not make it 2:1 in favor of atheism (former evangelical Christian minister co-hosting “Godless infidels” talkshow):
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,300719,00.html
8^)
what is god?
phreedm why do you have such a case against spanders.this is not china no one is forced to get an abortion
if there is high abortion rate maybe churchs should be trying harder to convince members not to have sex outside of marriage.
Justme
No apology necessary. I’m just in an bad mood today.
The fact that Flew changed his mind without credible evidence speaks volumes. He’s nearing the end of his life and the brainwashing he received as a child (check out his Wikipedia bio, he was a thoroughly involved in the cult) was never fully expunged. He has fear now, so he’s doing some last minute bet-hedging. What a freaking wimp.