Monday, March 3, 2014

Answering Kirk Hastings: Tenth Question for Darwinists

This post is part of the ongoing saga to answer the questions asked by Kirk Hastings of the defunct Evidence 4 Faith podcast. This post addresses the fifth question of Kirk's "Top Ten Questions for Darwinists."

10) If Darwinian evolution is true, and we are simply the result of random processes with no real reason or purpose, then why should we even be concerned about surviving, either as individuals or a race? Why shouldn't we all commit suicide as soon as possible, in order to get all the pain and suffering of this world over with quicker -- especially since we are only going to die eventually anyway?


Because most people actually enjoy living.


On a more pragmatic note, a suicidally minded species is going to go extinct. We’re here because our ancestors chose to live.


This last question is, in many ways, the saddest one. In it Kirk reveals something of himself that I don’t think he knew he was exposing. With this question he reveals an emptiness inside. There’s something missing in the life of Kirk Hastings, and while he apparently tries to fill it with religion, in the end, I think he knows he’s only fooling himself.


For all his misinformation and misdirection, in the end I feel sorry for him. He really seems to think that without religion life isn’t worth living. This says a lot of very depressing things about his family, professional and social life.


Referenced Podcast Episodes with Full Descriptions



Surprise! Kirk Hastings’ recent email drew me out of (semi-)retirement. After recovering from those withering electronic insults, I sat down with expert Hovindologist Matt W to review Hastings’ magnum opus, “What Is Truth?” We examined his many and varied claims about truthology, and how they relate to science and most especially “Darwinism.” In this episode — part one of a three-part series — we discuss Kirk’s conversion process and his absolutely unshocking failure to grasp even the basic principles of science and mathematics while he attempts to take down Darwinism. This series could also be entitled, “We read Kirk Hastings’ shitty rehashed creationist screed so you don’t have to.”
Kirk does get an A for effort, though, and should he succeed in his quest to demolish Darwin’s theory of evil-ution, he may ultimately end up with a Nobel Prize. History (or maybe the next episode, where we finish talking about the science portion of his book) will have to render a verdict on that score.


Continuing our hard-hitting inquiry into the nature of Truth with Kirk Hastings as our guide, we cover the following chapters: “Sixteen Additional Problems with Darwinian Evolution,” “What Does Microbiology Indicate?”, “Is the Concept of Intelligent Design Scientific?”, and “Superstition, Philosophy, and Religion.”
Do Kirk’s arguments fare any better than they did in the last episode? Could they possibly fare any worse? Has he gained any scientific understanding at all? Does Chuck answer more of your questions from Facebook?
And if you can’t get enough of those lovable Evidence 4 Faith guys, check out Joe and Emma’s E4F takedown podcast on Meat Mutant.


The next chapter in our continuing series on “How Dumb Can Arguments for Christianity Get?” is live! The answer: pretty dumb indeed. We cover Kirk’s gaffes on the manuscript evidence for the Old and New Testament, discuss the Amazon reviews for “What Is Truth?”, dramatically re-enact some of Kirk’s Irreligiosophy comics, and engage in serious literary criticism of one of Kirk’s fan fiction stories.
All that packed into one hour of juicy podcasttainment. Don’t say I never gave you anything


114: "WIT" IV: The Case for Christ                   
It all ends here, folks. I have given up the ghost after trudging my way through 12 chapters of the oddly-named “What Is Truth?” by Kirk Hastings. In this episode we cover the recent bannings of 99% of the members posting on Kirk’s “Question Irreligiosophy Project,” as well as my now-deleted review of his Superman fan fiction story. Matt and I make it all the way through Part XI, “The Case for Christ,” but only halfway through Part XII, “What About All These Other Here Religions?” before my brain finally overloaded from the sheer magnitude of dumb.
I must retreat now, and think no more on moronic Christian pseudo-arguments for their evidence-free religion, or quite possibly even dumber Christian arguments against other evidence-free religions.


2.6 Spontaneous Generation and Abby O’Genesis                       
WARNING! This podcast contains explicit science not suitable for creationists!
In this episode Matt and I go over the history of spontaneous generation, how the idea began and how it fell out of favor. We then go over various myths of creation before proceeding to the Scientism myth of creation: abiogenesis. We take a whirlwind tour through hydrothermal vents, the Krebs Cycle, the iron sulfur world of Günter Wächtershäuser, and about a semester’s worth of high school biology in just a few excruciating minutes.
So strap on those nerd glasses, get your pocket calculators out, and let’s do this thang.


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