Ray's offering a hundred dollars for a less than 100 word essay about "Why we don't believe in God". Link
I'm going to submit an essay (it's a shame "I choose life" is more than 700 words. Oh well...), and in the unlikely event I'm eloquent enough to win, I'm going to request he donate the money to the charity of his choise.
I would allow him to pick the charity simply because I am not familiar with American charity's (as I live in Australia): all I would ask is that he gives it to a non-religously motivated group, and lets us know who he gave it to.
I would like to encourage others to request the same.
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If a student of mine turned in an essay that was only 100 words, he'd fail.
ReplyDeleteI think he means "write my next book for me"
ReplyDeleteHeh, true. I haven't done a 100 word anything since primary school: it's just not possible to get across everything you want to say.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try anyway.
Interesting point: my blog post above consists of 118 words.
ReplyDeleteI think it's going to be a $100 tract...and we write his book for him.
ReplyDeleteEven 100 words is too many for most of the attention spans over there.
ReplyDeleteIts a constricting rule, to be sure, but does provoke an interesting idea, namely whats the most effective, most concise argument against the existence of a God, and how simplest to present it. Seems like its almost a worthwhile exercise actually. Ridiculous framing of the contest though, "Runners Up will be chewed out by me in my next book that I'll expect you to pay for to read, and the 'winner' (who no doubt will be the one who does the worst job of arguing) will get a small cash prize... they hope."
ReplyDelete...cripe, know what its almost worth running a counter-contest over here just for the exercise, like take a collection (needs to be at least $250 just to effectively tell Ray where he can blow it out of) that goes to whoever can come up with the most concise argument against the existence of God, decided by public debate instead of Ray just picking the lamest of the crop to beef up his damned book.
So, an evangalist writing a book is going to choose a concise, erudite, persuasive piece promoting atheism.
ReplyDeleteI don't think so.
You read his book and then you come across this killer paragraph that shows in 100 words why god is illogical and unproven and life is meaningful and fulfilling without god.
Defeats the purpose of the evangalists book.
More likely that evangalist will choose the submission that he can most easily fisk. He can then claim that he has deconstructed an argument that he has selected out of many as being the de facto atheist position.
Hey Rex, that's not a bad idea. How about the spare money from the forum fundraiser?
ReplyDeleteAssuming Macguyver Jnr hasn't spent it on Hookers and Blow yet... ;)
And it needs to be at least 500 words or less.
PS: Word verification says "Rexusf". Omen?
Wow - Ray's built a hefalump trap.
ReplyDeleteAren't you supposed to try and disguise the big hole with branches or something?
Anyone who thinks there is any worthwhile argument that can be written in 100 words doesn't have a worthwhile argument.
Don't do it, folks.
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ReplyDeleteEven though 958 words may exceed the attention span of most Christians on there I submitted the article on my atheism that I already have in my blog.
ReplyDeleteMy Atheism
If it will help you any, he's asked for 200 words or less...not 100 words or less.
ReplyDelete@quasar:
ReplyDelete"And it needs to be at least 500 words or less."
(my emphasis)
?
just a typo, I would imagine. You mean '500 words or less'?
Less then 100 words?!
ReplyDeleteWhy am I an atheist? Because babies are delicious!
freed,
ReplyDeletehe started with 100 words. But even with 200 I couldn't even list the names of all the smart people who said more intelligent things about atheism than I ever could...
Meh - I suspect he's gonna take it and use it as cannon fodder in his latest book / sermon; he's going to use something he feels he can shoot down.
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to tackle the challenge, but I've decided I don't want to aid him in any way
I am an atheist because I was born an atheist.
ReplyDeleteSome people become emotionally stunted and choose to believe in supertitions to assuage their insecurities and fear of death which were instilled in them by equally emotionally challenged people in their environment.
Since I have found no compelling reason to believe in and of these thousands of superstitions, I shall remain the atheist that I was born.*
Thank you, thank you very much.
El-Frog-o
*Occam's Razor enabled
He wouldn't use the best essay anyway. You know how much Ray loves straw man arguments. He'd probably use an essay by someone like, the guy from awhile back who said he'd sue Ray about the April Fools Day bumper sticker? I can't remember his name, or the exact name of the atheist radio program where they tore him a new one. Was it the Nonprophets? Anyway, that's the kind of person's essay Ray would use. Damn, what a rambling post.
ReplyDeleteFroggie,
ReplyDeleteif I just sign yours with my full name, it'll cost me less than five words.
/signed
Felix,
ReplyDeleteLOL
thanks
Interesting. I posted a question at Ray's at to whether deist essays would be acceptable (ie. "Why I think Ray's God is Crap")
ReplyDeleteI was actually very respectful, but my question doesn't appear to have been posted