AronRa

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==See also==
 
==See also==
 
*[[The Atheist Experience]]
 
*[[The Atheist Experience]]
*[[Rational and irrational YouTubers]]
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*[[Rationalwiki: Vlogroll]]
  
 
==Footnotes==
 
==Footnotes==

Revision as of 21:47, 10 December 2011

AronRa, aka the Texan Tank.

AronRa is a YouTube atheist and activist. His videos focus on biology, with an emphasis on countering creationist claims, and advocating rationalism in science education. Although his YouTube videos are his most commonly known work, he also posts written material on his website LocoLobo. He's a big, bearded long-haired guy, looking a bit like the sort of person with an interest in breaking your legs because you've been looking at his girlfriend, but he's one of the more articulate and informed debunkers of creationism. If he breaks your legs he'd likely explain the evolutionary origins of the femur that'll soon require urgent medical attention. People enjoy the presence of AronRa, many love the sound of his laugh, but everyone is blown away by his intellectual arguments and his speedy delivery of pwnage.

Contents

Science: It's kryptonite to creationists

AronRa's videos focus on the scientific evidence for evolution, normally avoiding the theological discussion. This is sensible, since scientists should not have to read Superman comics in order to refute the claim that a mild-mannered reporter took an unprotected stroll on the moon.

Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism

This is a seventeen part series of videos[1] in which AronRa addresses the most popular claims of creationists. The series is highly critical of the methods employed by creationists - describing the ringleaders as liars - some of whom having a financial interest in the beliefs they're pushing. The series is aimed at the general public, or sheep, who he feels are being deceived by the purveyors of creationist misinformation.

AronRa's criticism of religion is normally restricted to the claims conflicting with science. It is asserted that many scientists are themselves religious, and the choice of "evolution or God" is a false dichotomy. Science by its very nature can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God, although it can disprove naturalistic claims made by religions and their texts. The series runs as follows:

  1. "Evolution = atheism"
  2. "Scriptures are "Gods Word"
  3. "Human interpretation = absolute truth"
  4. "Belief = knowledge"
  5. Evolution(ism) part one - "the religion of atheism"
  6. Evolution(ism) part two - What evolution is and isn't.
  7. "Evolution is random"
  8. "Mutations are rare, harmful decreases in genetic information.
  9. "No transitional species have ever been found".
  10. Cladistic phylogenetics - exploring Darwin's tree of life
  11. Macroevolution has never been observed
  12. Intelligent design creationism in opposition to material science
  13. "Evolutionist hoaxes" and creationist frauds
  14. "Creation is evident" -part one (Warning: Contains Kirk Cameron. Viewer discretion is advised)
  15. "Creation is evident" -part two
  16. Evolution 'just' a theory, not a fact. Part one
  17. Evolution 'just' a theory, not a fact. Part two

Five facts

This list of miscellaneous information is endorsed by the RationalWiki Pub Quiz Team!

After being tagged to give Five Facts, AronRa let out the following infomation about himself. Essentially, he's a one-man episode of the X-Files.[2]

  • His name is not "Aaron" nor is it "Erin" or whatever, it's Aron, pronounced quite pirate-like as "Arrrr-on". People add an extra "a" as if he habitually mispells his own name.
  • He is descended from Norse gods. No, really.
  • Back in the summer of '87 he owned a giant venomous lizard. It somehow managed to escape, which led to the police shooting it with a shotgun. Because of the lack of laws against lizards, he was charged with possession of a "venomous, tree climbing alligator".
  • The above story was reported in Weekly World News as "police battle giant lizard". As a result, this is the only true and verifiable story ever reported in that tabloid.
  • His large size and loud voice may have been responsible for most of the sightings of Bigfoot in the last two decades.

Debate offered to Creationists and Ray Comfort

Often times creationists criticize AronRa on intellectually defeating Christian creationists who do not support them. In response, AronRa made a video where he would allow the creationist community to select a person who is up for the challenge and does reflect their personal beliefs. To date, no one has dared accepted the challenge.

On April 24, 2009, shortly after the Rational Response Squad debate with Way of the Master, AronRa made a video pointing out Ray Comfort had no evidence, in fact Comfort's only intention was to preach his sermons. Ray Comfort also challenged atheist biologist Richard Dawkins to a debate, however Dawkins declined for several reasons. If Dawkins agreed, then Comfort would pretend that his own insane ravings were somehow comparable to the consensus held by the worldwide scientific community. And if Dawkins refuses to offer airtime to somebody so obviously undeserving of it, then Comfort would pretend that Dawkins was afraid to debate him as if anyone should be afraid to debate Ray Comfort. So he gets free publicity either way.

In response, AronRa addressed Ray Comfort and offered to debate him. While AronRa respects Dawkins and his work, AronRa deeply dislikes it when Dawkins describes himself as a "Darwinist." Therefore, AronRa claims he is a good choice to debate Comfort. It will be an online debate, not a live one "because in science accuracy matters more than the performance behind the podium." The debate would consist of a dozen or so mutual exchanges opening with a three-and-a-half minute statement on one specific position, and keep the discussion focused only on that topic. AronRa also offered Comfort to choose what the topic would be.

To this day, Ray Comfort has not taken AronRa on his offer. Comfort, however, did accept a debate with atheist YouTube user Thunderf00t. Here is an article of the debate. (Spoilers: no one really lost, but we got a deeper look into Ray Comforts stupidity). While on the air with The Atheist Experience, AronRa offered a new challenge idea, for Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron team up against AronRa and Matt Dillahunty (Atheist Experience host). However, about a month later, Ray Comfort agreed to call in on the Atheist Experience to debate Matt Dillahunty and Russell Glasser (which you can read about here.)

Zopdoz

On June 27, 2010, AronRa posted a video, sharing his thoughts and discussions on philosophy, symbology, and belief. He sought how he could properly define himself. While he does not believe in God and is an atheist, he sought a more descriptive and specific term. For example, an atheist may not believe in God, but an atheist could still follow a secular religion. Atheists don't believe in nothing (nihilists do), they just do not believe in a god. However neither humanists, materialists, or empiricists believe in God. AronRa was not satisfied with agnosticism, for many of them are atheists and they do not even know it. Every aspect of religion (from souls, afterlife, and such) have never proven their claims or demonstrated that they exist. After going through names to pick: realist; empirical rationalist; freethinker; secularist; skeptic; however the one that seemed to fit as someone who has no faith at all and does not endorse religion was infidel. However, that word has negative implications such as someone who is disloyal, but AronRa claims he was never loyal to any religious belief in the first place. AronRa very much dislikes faith on a large scale, as it does not lead to truth and very often leads people to lie repeatably.

When people were searching for a symbol to identify atheists or people who discard faith, the result was a scarlet A. However, AronRa came up with his own symbol for godless infidels, which he still uses and so does a few of his fans. AronRa's design and invention was called the Zopdoz, a word AronRa's son created. The shape was a vertical triangle with an umlaut, which makes it 'metal', and a single point in the center of the triangle (zopdoz picture can be seen here). Since the inception off rock n' roll has often been denigrated a "devil's music" implying it be impious to blasphemy. Some heavy metal bands have capitalized on this impression including such ironically atheist "rock gods" as Motörhead and Mötely Crüe.

See also

Footnotes

  1. Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism
  2. AronRa - Five Facts
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