Comments on: Christianity and the use of Anecdotal Evidence http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/ Resources for skeptical, de-converting, or former Christians...... Thu, 23 May 2013 22:24:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: prairie nymph/sarah http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48473 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:42:12 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48473 She talks about things like: answered prayers, coincindences, mystical experiences such as being filled with light, feelings of connectedness, near death experiences, life changing experiences, etc.

She mentions things like a study on regressive prayer. They had people pray for random hospital patients from the past and then compared their results with others.

A study by Gail Ionson showed that patients turning to God instead of rejecting God seemed to stave off HIV almost 5 times as effectively.

That kind of thing.

]]> By: ACN http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48442 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:17:44 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48442 The latter, I am very familiar with “woo” in general :)

]]> By: Ubi Dubium http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48440 Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:31:41 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48440 ACN, are you looking for a definition of “woo” or are you asking about what specific instances of “woo” appear in that book?

]]> By: ACN http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48411 Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:21:27 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48411 “She isn’t trying to prove or disprove God with science but to bring back to the discussion all of the “woo” that some scientists ignore or try to explain away as trivial or that some religious adherants use as proof for God.”

What exactly do you/she mean by all of the woo?

]]> By: Sarah http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48394 Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:54:08 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48394 Didn’t C.S. Lewis call himself the reluctant convert? I was under the impression that he studied a lot before becoming a Christian. Of course, I’m relying on second-hand information.

]]> By: thin ice http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48266 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:03:00 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48266 @Mike: feel free to use punctuation. It costs nothing extra. I’m sure that you are more intelligent than your comment reflects.

@Sarah: Haven’t read the book. But I would agree that “brokeness”, or some sort of emotional crisis, is at the core of most religious conversions. Even if it’s a relatively spontaneous emotional crisis brought on by a very skillful Altar Call.
Conversely, I think that most deconversions – including my own – involve a careful, lengthy rational examination of the evidence. I can’t think of a single person I know whose conversion to christianity involved weighing of the evidence from both sides, but rather involved responding to one’s “heart”.

]]> By: Sarah http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48093 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:27:49 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48093 Speaking of data collection, my husband is currently reading a book called “Fingerprints of God, the search for the science of spirituality” by Barbara Bradley Hagerty.
She isn’t trying to prove or disprove God with science but to bring back to the discussion all of the “woo” that some scientists ignore or try to explain away as trivial or that some religious adherants use as proof for God.
In one meta-analysis (I think, this is second hand info- it may have been another type of study) she found the most common factor in a religious conversion was some type of “brokeness”.
Has anyone else read that book?

]]> By: cag http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48004 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:49:43 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48004 Mike #31 – Lying is not teaching. Basing your life on a book of fiction is not laudable, it’s pathetic. Your bible states that the Earth was created before any other object in the Universe. All but the religion addled know this to be just the first in a series of lies in your useless user manual. We don’t have faith, we have the search for knowledge that has provided real answers and will continue to provide answers for the questions that remain unanswered. Religion answers nothing but who is gullible enough to believe in its lies.

]]> By: Mike http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48002 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:04:54 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-48002 still cant understand how atheist have so much faith against the church I guess they have faith to believe they are right over the tons of church fathers teaching the opposite

]]> By: Am I missing the god gene? « de-conversion http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-19480 Sat, 24 May 2008 17:08:33 +0000 http://de-conversion.com/2007/06/30/christianity-and-the-use-of-anecdotal-evidence/#comment-19480 [...] line in The Ghost Map (a wonderful nonfiction book I’ve written about here before) sticks in my head. The book [...]

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