COKid Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 By PAUL VITELLO Published: July 2, 2010 An explosion of smart-phone software has placed an arsenal of trivia at the fingertips of every corner-bar debater, with talking points on sports, politics and how to kill a zombie. Now it is taking on the least trivial topic of all: God. Publishers of Christian material have begun producing iPhone applications that can cough up quick comebacks and rhetorical strategies for believers who want to fight back against what they view as a new strain of strident atheism. And a competing crop of apps is arming nonbelievers for battle. “Say someone calls you narrow-minded because you think Jesus is the only way to God,” says one top-selling application introduced in March by a Christian publishing company. “Your first answer should be: ‘What do you mean by narrow-minded?’ ” For religious skeptics, the “BibleThumper” iPhone app boasts that it “allows the atheist to keep the most funny and irrational Bible verses right in their pocket” to be “always ready to confront fundamentalist Christians or have a little fun among friends.” The war of ideas between believers and nonbelievers has been part of the Western tradition at least since Socrates. For the most part, it has been waged by intellectual giants: Augustine, Spinoza, Aquinas, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche. Source and remainder of article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/technology/03atheist.html?src=busln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valerus Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Veteran Posted July 3, 2010 Veteran Share Posted July 3, 2010 [...] Publishers of Christian material have begun producing iPhone applications that can cough up quick comebacks and rhetorical strategies for believers who want to fight back against what they view as a new strain of strident atheism. [...] I'd love to see some of those comebacks... Christian: "God is definitely real and the Bible states God's beliefs." Rational person: "Prove it." What comeback could they possibly have to that? GreatStalin 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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