First, for those who believe there is no God (or at least seriously question it), why does it matter if an athlete chooses to thank Him. Would you badmouth an athlete for thanking the spouse who stood beside them, or the coach who provided the training program to get them there? If not, why question ANY thanks they give.

And there are plenty of people out there thanking God for gifts that are perhaps less publicized then the Olympic medalist. I didn’t see a lot of cameras around me when I finished Ironman. But I firmly believe nobody makes it through that race without help.

supernatural = magic.

Provide me with any (any at all) evidence of the supernatural which science has looked into and NOT debunked or found a natural explanation for.

If you can do this one thing (a thing which no one else has done) then I might take your claim that something ’supernatural’ is involved in anything anywhere in the universe. Until then, you have no credibility with me when you invoke ’supernatural’ to explain anything.

His argument might (and I mean MIGHT) hold some sort of weight if there weren’t so many other religions saying that their god is the “True God ™” at the same time. If the only question was whether there was the god of Christianity or no god, then the argument might be interesting… but as this is not the case.

Why do I feel this distinction is important? Well, according the christianity, we humans have the excruciatingly important task of choosing the right god to believe in or we spend eternity in hell. Ho are we supposed to do this? Well, most of us just go with whatever we grew up in or around (i.e. most Americans are christian while most Indians are hindu, etc). Now if we realize that a god outside of our immediate culture might be the “True God ™”, then we have to be open to the possibility that the god we have been exposed to thus far is a false one.

Now how are we, mere mortals, supposed to make a good decision with this especially with the stakes so high? Well, we have to use our ‘god given’ faculties of reason and logic with a healthy dose of skepticism. Being able to ask ‘why’ about various issues regarding various gods is the only way that someone can make such an important decision (without just going with what your culture has predisposed you to accept). Of course, when you do this with the christian god, you will quickly figure out that he’s a complete bastard, but you have to actually engage your brain to do this (hence I’m not holding my breath).

So, getting back to the article in question, if the only faculty that we have to determine which god is the “True God” is our own ability to think, then one important aspect of determining this is to evaluate whether this god is as ‘good’ as his followers claim he is. The christian god fails this litmus test out of the gate, unless, of course, you use circular reasoning in order to say that anything he does is good because he is good… the reality is that when you take a hard look at the bible and do not treat it with kid gloves (i.e. assume that it tells the truth before verifying that it does), then you will find the morality of a primitive people which was consistent with the times they lived in reflected in the pages of this document. Nothing more. You will also find this in the various tomes generated by the various religions that we know about throughout history. The gods of the time always reflect the morality of the people that live within those times.

So we have to, with our modern view of what is moral and what is not, decide whether or not something is right or wrong. We do this in every day life, but when it comes to the bible and god, then we are supposed to suspend this activity? That’s known as special pleading, and it does not hold water with anyone who does not already wish your myth to be true.

In reading William’s blog and comments I see I lot of your argument in here. So, this is not only for you!

http://thescroogereport.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/why-does-god-allow-evil/

That is always MY argument when I hear that “god” or “jesus” helped someone “win”.