I was thinking of a particularly arrogant American ex-friend when I painted this, someone who claimed to be liberal but was in fact a believer in American exceptionalism without even realising it.
Vanitas is an old form (in simple terms) of expressing the paradox of life and death. There are many great Vanitas painters but I think the main source of inspiration for this particular painting was Pieter Claesz, he was a Dutch painter working in the 17th cent.
I’m looking into getting a better camera, as once again I have to apologise for the shameful photo.
William Lane Craig disables comments on his youtube videos but I can comment on his sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, word salad right here. Firstly, of many current theologians, this mono-toned bore is top of the pile of turds that represent the lies and harmful dogma of most religious cultists. His tone is that of a hectoring elderly witch, trying to convince her incredulous pupils to boil another bat. This a man/bot who is avoided by other debaters in the field of philosophy and and truth seeking. Lawrence Krauss realises that he made a big mistake in debating the windbag and Dawkins refuses to debate him on the grounds that he emits a droning, pompous white noise which Craig presents as ‘logic’.
In another youtube video he makes his ‘case’ against humanists, referring to them as cultists and accusing them of representing only the human species. He is not a stupid man but he is very capable of presenting misleading and skewed arguments. The truth about the humanists is that they look out for the welfare of all the inhabitants of planet earth, the animals and humans co-exist in harmony. He is lying again to deliberately paint humanists as morally inferior to his bible based ‘morality’. And that morality is so good for mankind isn’t it? Just look at the mess it has created. Hardly a page of that book goes by without, slaughter, enslavement, rape, genocide and the like getting the nod. Such a high moral bar the bible!
On the moral behaviour of humanists and indeed anybody who doesn’t use the Goat Herder’s Guide to the Galaxy as their source, he rejects the idea that they are capable of truly moral behaviour. The fact that there is massive evidence to the contrary, in societies all over the world is irrelevant to him, this man’s stiff delivery doesn’t help his cause one bit. All those years poring over philosophical and theological tombs have stultified what might have been a clever man. The weight of those religious texts and the anvil that must be carried according to him, (commonly known as the bible), obscures from his sight the morality developed from the simple phrase ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you’. It’s known as the golden rule and existed way before the bible and the Qur’an etc. Although Christians would claim the phrase for their prophet Jesus, it is already clearly in use well before Jesus, if he ever existed.
“Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”
—Confucius, Analects XV.24 (ca. 500 B.C.)
To follow the golden rule requires no god, just common human empathy, brotherhood, the desire to live in peace and live justly. The use of simple common sense and reason to see that we are better of living in harmony than waging war. Craig’s God is an ugly burden that has clearly corrupted his mind, hopefully his droning noise will soon be over, when he realises his attempts to pollute the minds of men are frustrated by the internet. A place where a massive burden of proof is required to prove fairy-tales.
Finally, the most annoying thing to all non believers about this man has to be the constant personal attacks on our morality, the massive arrogance he displays, in assuming moral superiority is both sickening and annoying, his decades of learning have taught him little about true morality, some original thought instead of pouring over ancient, irrelevant texts might help him think more clearly.
