9/12/10 9:37 PM For Immediate Release:I, Justin Vacula, the co-organizer of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Freethought Society, the most outspoken atheist at King's College, and the most well-known atheist in Northeastern Pennsylvania, challenge members of the King's College community to an open debate regarding the existence of the Christian god.
Since King's College is a Catholic College, there should be no shortage of priests, ministers, officers of religious organizations, or students with some sort of qualification or title that would be willing to debate me. I will be willing to debate any Christian who has some sort of title and expertise on the topic of Christianity. I will not debate random people who are not officers of religious organizations or who do not have any "qualifications." I will only debate one on one, but would be willing to participate in panel discussions.
People I would accept debating:
Any theology professor
Any philosophy professor
Any priest or minister
Any student officer of a religious organization
Anyone with a degree in theology or something similar
Others, upon request
Since King's College is a liberal arts college that is committed to open discussion of ideas and education, the school should have no problem facilitating the debate, setting up a venue, advertising the event, etc.
The topic of the debate will be "Does the Christian god exist?"
The full topic of the debate will be "Resolved: The Christian God, an all-loving, all-knowing, and all-merciful god who is responsible for the creation of the universe and has a son named Jesus who died for the sins of mankind exists." My opponent for this debate will be arguing for the affirmative (The Christian god exists) and I will be arguing for the negative (There is no good reason to suggest that the Christian god exists).
The specific rules of the debate (minutes on rounds, types of rounds, etc) can be set upon acceptance of challenge and agreed to by both parties. After the debate, there will be a questions and answers period from the audience via pre-submitted index cards that are approved by the moderator.
If possible, I would also like to add a charity component to this debate. Admission will be an optional donation of a monetary donation, an unused toy, or something similar to benefit S.A.F.E. (Supporting Autism and Families Everywhere). Earlier this year, the NEPA Freethought Society participated in an autism benefit walk to support S.A.F.E. and has chosen S.A.F.E. as their primary charity group.
All guidelines of King's College will be followed in conjunction with this proposed event and during the proposed event. As of now, King's College has not sanctioned this event and no one has accepted the challenge. Before the event takes place, I will work with King's College to sanction the event. This challenge and associated guidelines are subject to change as per the wish of my opponent or mine and will only change if agreed to by both parties. I reserve the right to amend anything in this post before any challenge is accepted.
For inquiries, support, or questions regarding this debate, please e-mail justinvacula@kings.edu
Since King's College is a Catholic College, there should be no shortage of priests, ministers, officers of religious organizations, or students with some sort of qualification or title that would be willing to debate me. I will be willing to debate any Christian who has some sort of title and expertise on the topic of Christianity. I will not debate random people who are not officers of religious organizations or who do not have any "qualifications." I will only debate one on one, but would be willing to participate in panel discussions.
People I would accept debating:
Any theology professor
Any philosophy professor
Any priest or minister
Any student officer of a religious organization
Anyone with a degree in theology or something similar
Others, upon request
Since King's College is a liberal arts college that is committed to open discussion of ideas and education, the school should have no problem facilitating the debate, setting up a venue, advertising the event, etc.
The topic of the debate will be "Does the Christian god exist?"
The full topic of the debate will be "Resolved: The Christian God, an all-loving, all-knowing, and all-merciful god who is responsible for the creation of the universe and has a son named Jesus who died for the sins of mankind exists." My opponent for this debate will be arguing for the affirmative (The Christian god exists) and I will be arguing for the negative (There is no good reason to suggest that the Christian god exists).
The specific rules of the debate (minutes on rounds, types of rounds, etc) can be set upon acceptance of challenge and agreed to by both parties. After the debate, there will be a questions and answers period from the audience via pre-submitted index cards that are approved by the moderator.
If possible, I would also like to add a charity component to this debate. Admission will be an optional donation of a monetary donation, an unused toy, or something similar to benefit S.A.F.E. (Supporting Autism and Families Everywhere). Earlier this year, the NEPA Freethought Society participated in an autism benefit walk to support S.A.F.E. and has chosen S.A.F.E. as their primary charity group.
All guidelines of King's College will be followed in conjunction with this proposed event and during the proposed event. As of now, King's College has not sanctioned this event and no one has accepted the challenge. Before the event takes place, I will work with King's College to sanction the event. This challenge and associated guidelines are subject to change as per the wish of my opponent or mine and will only change if agreed to by both parties. I reserve the right to amend anything in this post before any challenge is accepted.
For inquiries, support, or questions regarding this debate, please e-mail justinvacula@kings.edu
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