Hi, my name is Todd Allen Gates, author of Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer. I'm making this "introduction" a bit late, as back in June & July I was a semi-regular poster to this site. I first heard about the RRS when I saw them at the taping for the Nightline debate. I spoke with Kelly after the debate to congratulate her, and she generously invited me to be a guest on the show (my interview with the RSS was on June 2nd).

I haven't posted lately, because what little free time I have has been dedicated to making a series of YouTube videos on the subject of "using the Socratic Method when discussing Christianity with proselytizers." My YouTube channel is http://youtube.com/user/ToddAllenGates. 

Here's the series' outline:

1 of 7: a brief overview of videos 2 through 7. 

2 of 7: a description of the Socratic Method.

3 of 7: the ground premises that the skeptic needs to establish with the Christian in order for the Socratic Method to work. 

4 of 7: the skeptic and the Christian read through scriptures and stories from non-Christian religions. Both agree that the following three characteristics are telltale signs that a religion was not created by an Omniscient Wisdom, but just made up by people: (1) a cluelessness about the true layout of the universe, (2) senseless prejudices, (3) the borrowing of ideas & stories from pre-existing religions.

5 of 7: the skeptic and the Christian read through the Judeo-Christian Bible, and examine it by the same critical light just held up to non-Christian religions. (That is, we look at its cluelessness about the true layout of the universe, its senseless prejudices, and the way many of its ideas & stories were borrowed from pre-existing religions.) 

5.1, 5.2, 5.3, etc.: Further details on the origins of the Judeo-Christian bible--how many of its ideas & stories can be traced back to religions that pre-date the bible by centuries.

Video 5.1 explains why many of the baffling details within the tale of Noah & the Ark make sense once the story is read as a monotheistic version (in which God is said to be Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Benevolent) of a story that was originally polytheistic (in which the gods were none of the above).

(Videos 5.2 – 5.7 are still pending) 

6 of 7: Part One is a presentation of the Christian counterargument to Video 5---why Christians believe the Bible is not cluelessness about the true layout of the universe, does not contain senseless prejudices, and partook in no religious borrowing. Part Two explains why the Christian rationalizations do not hold up to scrutiny.

7 of 7: a discussion of why my approach focuses on skepticism of so-called revealed religions rather than skepticism of a Creator. 

Totally off-topic: my pre-parenthood career was as a musician, and I've also posted several videos of me playing piano & blues harp. I have a separate YouTube channel for these: http://youtube.com/user/ToddGates.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!! 

Thanks,

- Todd