Customer Reviews

The Case for Atheism: There Isn't One

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The previous reviewer states "the 'Bottom Line' is this: If there were answers there would be no former Christians". This is possibly the most obviously fallacious and overtly mindless attempt to refute Christianity you can find. There is no philosophical value, no intellectual substance... just dumb... like most atheists nowadays. It's really worth actually viewing this movie before making commentary. Regarding the actual film; it's actually quite worthwhile and thought provoking. Not as good as Craig vs Hitchens, but still substantial. I recommend it quite highly.

This DVD is terrible if you are expecting to watch a normal debate. Essentially what this is a combination of endless pop-ups like those "pop-up videos" from MTV. There are relentless "pop-up" comments throughout the debate (only when Dan is speaking), and ceaseless interruption of Dan Barker's presentation by Todd to expound for several minutes for each sentence or two that Dan Barker utters. It's kind of like those times you're in an argument and later on you're like, "Oh yeah, I should have said this, or I should have said that." Well Todd pauses Dan from speaking every few seconds to insert his commentary CEASELESSLY during Dan's presentations and rebuttals. I found it extremely annoying. Please Todd, if you market this as a debate (which you did), then let us watch the debate. You are welcome to comment afterward, or at least let him complete his statements and then summarize. This should be called, "Todd's commentary on the debate". The marketing was misleading.

As far as the debate content, it was fun to watch even though there was very little actual argumentation on either side, it was largely a battle of bare assertions and ad hominems. Both parties followed each other down crazy rabbit holes. Far too much time was spent on evolution. What does biological evolution have to do with the existence of God? Evolution could be true (and although I certainly don't believe it is), if it were it does nothing to disprove God. It was an unnecessary rabbit trail that many Christians go down, that consumed far too much of Todd's talk time. Todd should have dismissed all talk about evolution, and continue providing or reiterating arguments. Q&A was brutal for both sides, I would give the nod to Todd *barely*, but he colossally dropped the ball on a few questions (especially the 9/11 question).

Todd debates from the perspective of "fidest" which I think it good for lay people, but terrible for people who done even rudimentary study. While I can't recommend the "debate", there were nuggets of good information from Todd, and he did provide a few snippets of information worth writing down. While I agree with Todd that there is no case for atheism, his debate performance absolutely did not demonstrate that. If you read the summary on the back of the DVD cover it's written as if Todd *DOMINATED* Dan Barker and anyone who watches this will realize that is not the case. Todd "won" (if you can call it that) by the skin of his teeth. The back of the DVD also implies that solely by watching this debate its content replaces the need for you to study apologetics, evolution, church history. Don't be fooled, you need study those topics diligently.

This was by far the most compelling and interesting debate I have ever seen done by a Christian in debating with an atheist! Todd Friel did a great job of dismantling every "argument" and "objection" of Dan Barker. Although Dan Barker claims to have been a Christian for 20+ years, Todd is able to get to the heart of the problem: Dan has been a victim of the modern gospel that is no gospel at all! Dan proves himself, sadly, to be a false convert and now travels the country debating and fighting against the God he doesn't believe in, and His followers.

The format is set up very well, with Todd interjecting commentary during the debate which gives better insight into what he (Todd) believes and why Dan has his own beliefs. I would HIGHLY recommend this DVD to Christian or atheist alike. With a running time of slightly over 2 hours, this will leave you with enough to chew on for at least a month! Straight shooting, very knowledgeable, and also very tactful, Todd Friel shows clearly in the Case for Atheism that, well, there isn't a case for it!

Friel is giving unsuspecting seekers a false belief system that there is an iron-clad, no nonsense assurance of all that Judeo-Christianity claims to be true; yet millions of good and sincere people have and are continuing to walk away from their faith in Jesus Christ. No one wants to give up what they have held to be true all of their lives; but unanswered prayer, the evil and suffering of this world, and untold acts of hatred upon the innocent from newborn babies to the helpless elderly make it absolutely impossible for an honest and sincere seeker of righteous truth to believe in Judeo-Christianity. The age old adage of "IF GOD IS GOD HE IS NOT GOOD-IF GOD IS GOOD HE IS NOT GOD" is as true today as it was when Cain slew Abel. Rabbi Harold Kushner concluded in his book, "WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE" that God Is Good - But He Is Not God. God is always 100% responsible for all things in all ways at all times simple because he is 100% responsible for the creation of all things in all ways; and he supposedly has the unlimited power and insight to intervene at all times in all situations to assure an outcome that would bring glory rather than shameful hatred to his name. Friel would be one of those who would blame mankind rather than God for the devastation of earthquakes, tsunami waves, hurricanes and the like.
Men like Charles Templeton, Dan Barker and Bart D. Erhman stood in pulpits for years and years preaching the Gospel before concluding that this life cannot possibly be the reflection of being the gift of an all Powerful Loving Heavenly Father. The "Bottom Line" is this: If there were answers there would be no former Christians.