your view

[Seeker]

what are your guys views on the somewhat now outspoken Atheist Penn Jillette?

[Danieltwotwenty]

Never heard of him, have you got any links to his work?

[Seeker]

just type him in on google or youtube. You are shure to get results.

[Thadeyus]

what are your guys views on the somewhat now outspoken Atheist Penn Jillette?

Seems like a not too bad guy.

*Shrug*

[Seeker]

do you feel you are persuaded to view him as a nice guy because he shares the same view on religion that you do. Or is it an honest observation?

[Ivellious]

I love Penn Jillette. He's a funny guy, he's honest about his opinions on pretty much anything...and, most of all, he's an atheist who, while outspoken, is not out there to be offensive just for the sake of being offensive. He will be open about how he thinks religion is dumb, but he's not saying it just to make Christians angry. It's what he believes, and he'll be the first to admit that it's just his belief, and that you are totally entitled to your own belief on the subject. That, and he doesn't just want to shut out religious ideas. In fact, he rather openly has said (on many occasions) that he respects religious folk who are loud and proud of their beliefs, as long as they don't expect other people to agree with them. And I respect that kind of attitude, especially when compared to, say, Richard Dawkins, who wants to destroy religion and thinks religious people are all stupid blah blah blah...

So yeah, he's crude and his brand of humor isn't for the faint of heart or the thin-skinned, but overall I don't see any reason to dislike him as a person.

[Seeker]

Thank you your guys insight on this subject delights me.

[cnk12]

I've always found him likeable and still do. Seems like a nice man in most settings I've seen him in. One of the more interesting things I saw him speak about once were people he knew with a good moral compass. Given moral relativism's intellectually inconsistent application to Atheism, I was surprised to hear him go there.

Aside from that, I used to watch a show he and his magic act partner "Teller" had on Showtime called BullSh-t. It was a half hour program where they exposed scams and quackery. I enjoyed it up until they did one on whether or not the Bible is truth.

I watched it again on You Tube before writing this to refresh my memory.

They referenced all kinds of O.T. scripture, then attack it themselves, have a guy from skeptic magazine attack it, then show a limited edited response on the topic from a Phd in Biblical Studies at some university (who doesn't appear that swift, though I'm sure he's 10x smarter than I am) trying to defend it before they poke fun at him. Then they do the same thing to Jesus and the resurrection.

The attacks are made with a comic element to them (as the show has), sarcastic, and disrespectful. The analogies put forth, suggest you're stupid if you believe.

Even though I wasn't a Christian, it irritated me and I lost all respect for them because of the unfair, partial way they represented the "opposing" view.

All in all, they did a terrific job of making anyone not strong in their faith, feel foolish for having any.

To anyone at all well read, the attacks on Jesus and the Resurrection fall flat. From my perspective as someone who is evolving into a Christian, they do the most damage in their representation of the two accounts in Genesis and Noah and the flood. I will be reading up on these topics and I'm sure I'll find something reasonable.

Anyway, it would be so nice to see something produced for the faithful that has the means and talent this show had.

[Thadeyus]

do you feel you are persuaded to view him as a nice guy because he shares the same view on religion that you do. Or is it an honest observation?

From what I've seen of his performances and what I've seen of random interviews. To me he seems like a nice enough guy.

*Shrug*

[Seeker]

i feel i can now agree to some extent with you.