Strange as it is, I would think atheists would have no problem with Flew's defection. Yet they seem to be extremely upset about it and begin not to address his argument, but attack him personally as in the above posts.
The argument speaks for itself. We knew when he announced it that the origin of life isn't the insurmountable problem he seemed to think it was, and we knew that Gerald Schroeder was just another creationist who can't get the probability calculations right.
Gobucks has a point about keeping each other on the reservation. But, assuming atheists really believe they are correct, I remain surprised at how threatening an ex-atheist can be. After all, they tell us that belief in God is no different than belief in the tooth fairy. Yes, I know the real reason, but it isn't the one they give.It shouldn't be any different than belief in the tooth fairy. But people like me are a small minority who are despised by people like you who are in the majority.
We're not a persecuted minority, thank Jefferson, but feared & even despised, especially 'round here? Absolutely.
Do you have a persecution complex or just a poor self image? I don't despise you. Because I don't follow your reasoning or think your caricaturization of Christians is misinformed does not mean I despise you. Your value as a human does not depend on your personal positions. Christianity teaches the intrinsic value of human life primarily because the imago Dei. Contrast that with the atheistic belief that we are only evolved animals. There is no basis for intrinsic value in that system. Peter Singer, for example, thinks we may be of less value than other forms of life.