“In like manner, if I let myself believe anything on insufficient evidence, there may be no great harm done by the mere belief; it may be true after all, or I may never have occasion to exhibit it in outward acts. But I cannot help doing this great wrong towards Man, that I make myself credulous. The danger to society is not merely that it should believe wrong things, though that is great enough; but that it should become credulous, and lose the habit of testing things and inquiring into them; for then it must sink back into savagery.” -William Kingdon Clifford, The Ethics of Belief (1877)
Before engaging in a debate with an educated or intellectual opponent, there are a few questions you should consider asking:
1. Is knowledge accessible to someone without his degree/level of education?
2. Is knowledge accessible to persons of other faith or to persons of no faith? (If the opponent is religious.)
3. What would cause him to change his mind about his beliefs or ideas?
The answers to these questions will help you to know if discussion will be productive. If the answer to the first or second question is “no,” conversation will be futile if you do not hold the same title or degree as your opponent. He will attempt to teach you, but will not be open to a meaningful exchange of ideas.
If he does not provide at least one concrete, testable answer to the third question, conversation will be futile. A reasonable person will allow his mind to be changed by facts and truth. An ideologue will maintain his belief in spite of evidence to the contrary.
The third question is equally useful when beginning a dialog with an uneducated opponent. Discussion is meaningless unless each party recognizes the possibility of error and is willing to alter his position to fit the facts.
Finally, you should answer each question above for yourself. Do your answers reveal you to be a seeker of truth or an ideologue?
Over the past few years I have been involved in many discussions with Christians, many of whom at one time considered me a brother. As we discussed the path I have taken and as I presented my questions to them, one phrase was uttered again and again:
“You think too much.”
They feel that I have arrived at my present state of non-belief as a direct result of over-thinking the situation. They imply that if I would just think less and believe more, all the problems with the faith would go away.
Apparently, Christianity is best swallowed with as little thinking as possible.
Too much thinking and studying tends to reveal the “rough edges” of the system. Many Christians, when presented with evidence that would tend to prove their belief wrong, are content to ignore the facts and press on with a smile. In many of my conversations, I have come away with an overwhelming sensation that Christians tend to hold to the oft-clichéd position: “Don’t bother me with the facts; my mind is made up.”
I have collected some of the quotes I received, and I present them below for your consideration.
Learning can be harmful to your belief
“Once people decided they don’t need God and separate themselves from Him, that’s when people die. Learning has nothing to do with it.” Darveiye Flemming, 2/17/10
“In all of that reading and studying, you have become belligerent against the God who loves and saved you.” Heidi Drahos, 2/17/20
The facts are not very important
“In all honesty I wonder if God doesn’t allow a lot of these apparent numerical contradictions, just to see if we are willing to be obedient to him.” Bekah Keppel, 9/29/09
“I don’t think you have a problem with seven or three, I think you have a problem trusting God.” Bekah Keppel, 9/29/09, responding to an apparent contradiction between II Samuel 24 and I Chronicles 21.
“And if you have logical arguments based on human reason or science. Save them.” Darveiye Flemming, 2/16/10
“You have the idea God and the Bible just don’t line up with logic. Which is true.” Darveiye Flemming, 2/17/10
Non-believers wouldn’t understand
“As we well know, there is no understanding apart from Christ.” Lynn Snyder Capshaw, 2/17/10
If all else fails
“I must plead guilty to circular reasoning.” R.B. Ouillette, A More Sure Word
“You accuse me of circular reasoning – I confess. I believe God.” Pastor Jim Talbert, 9/23/09
The only thing I can conclude is that Christianity is not about truth, it’s about believing. “Just believe” they say, and the truth will be revealed to you. I say find the truth and don’t let your beliefs stand in the way.
“If you were to ask how you might by rational discussion convince a committed fundamentalist of errors in his beliefs the answer would have to be that it is probably not possible. Any questioning of any detail of his dogma is an attack on God, on his sect, and on him personally. Show him blatantly obvious errors in the Bible and he will assume that a complete explanation exists; show him a conflict with observed fact and he will assume that the observations are in error, show him that a different interpretation of something is more logical, or better supported by facts, and he will just assume that you are wrong. If you urge him to check the facts out for himself he will say that there is no need, the Bible tells him the truth. The armour of dogma (which he will call faith) is impervious to fact or reason.”
Faith is belief in an idea when little or no evidence exists. Dogma is a belief held in spite of evidence. Which do you hold?
Reference:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/wyndkelm/Fundamentalism.html