I'm an Idiot for Making You Think I Thought You Were an Idiot

A friend told me yesterday that this blog makes it seem like I think Christians are idiots.

Oops.

Since all of the people I consider good friends minus one are Christians, I must be losing friends fast. So I'm sorry if you know me and have felt like I think you're a dumb person.

As we were talking we both agreed that there are many many smart people – smarter than me – who find the Christian faith believable, plausible, and even factual.

So I think it's pretty obvious that intelligence has nothing to do with it.

I think we all have blind spots, though, and I think a smart theologian's biggest blind spot is the implausibility of his faith, and I said this to my friend.

He asked what my blind spot is. What a jerk - as if I want to take time for that sort of introspection. I'm far better at finding other people's flaws than my own... My reply was that I didn't know - that's why it's my blind spot.

If you know me, what do YOU think my blind spot is?

I guess the bottom line is this: if you are a Christian (or of any religious persuasion), I think you're wrong when it comes to matters of faith. If I know you personally, I try very hard to separate my respect for you from my respect for your beliefs. Those beliefs used to be my beliefs, and I now consider my former beliefs wrong almost to the point of shaking my head in wonder that I actually swallowed such a tall tale. But that doesn't mean I think my former self was an idiot. I mean sure, I'm not the smartest guy around, but I don't suppose I'm the dumbest either. So there I was, a guy of fairly average intelligence, believing things that I now find ridiculous. Was I an idiot? Nah. Misinformed? Definitely. Ignorant of my faith's validity? For sure. But you know what? I still kinda like that guy! And I respect him. Because as silly as I know regard his faith, he cared about doing what was right and holding to his beliefs for good reasons.

If I think a person's an idiot, it's generally because of actions and not beliefs.

I'm sorry to have conveyed otherwise.

Answers in Genesis: Are we more moral than God?

Here's another interesting post from Libby Anne over at Love, Joy, Feminism.

Answers in Genesis: Are we more moral than God?

It seems that the Christianity I was brought up in has a “God seems evil, but that’s only because we’re bad judges of character” type of vibe to it. Or am I wrong?

Spank Them

I found this piece by an anonymous author tonight, here, and it really resonated with me. Perhaps I'll share some more of my own experiences with spanking (receiving and administering) some time. It's not a fun topic, so I'll have to think about it a bit more. In the mean time:

If you want your children to behave only when you're around, spank them.
If you want your children to see your anger as something to be afraid of, spank them.
If you want your children to sneak behind your back and keep things to themselves to avoid your anger, spank them.
If you want your children to hurt and berate themselves when they feel like they've let themselves down, spank them.
If you want your children to be fed lies like "this hurts me more than it hurts you", spank them.
If you want your children to think that your love is conditional and that making mistakes mean you don't love them, spank them.
If you want your children to physically fight with each other, spank them.
If you want your children to feel justified when your spouse abuses you, spank them.
If you want your children to move far from you the first chance they get, spank them.
If you want your children to resent you and authority, spank them.
If you want your children to be introverted and afraid to let themselves show, spank them.
If you want your children to learn how to draw themselves into dead, emotionless state when criticized because "crying just makes it worse", spank them.


"Spare the rod, spoil the child," they say.


"Use the rod, spoil your relationship with your child," is the reality.

Presupposing the Non-existence of God

I’ve talked with a few theists about their big problem - they presuppose that God exists. This is not based on any rational, evidence-based discovery. It’s home base. Where they start from.

Of course, this was then flipped (oh yeah? well you too) to me. I’m sure there’s a Latin phrase for this, and I’m sure I’ll look it up and insert it here: tu quoque. (I’m guilty of this all the time when attempting to defend myself against the insights of my wife...)

Forget that this is a dodge; a fallacy. It’s flat-out false!

I do NOT presuppose the non-existence of God(s). In the same way that I do NOT presuppose the non-existence of unicorns. I’ve never seen a unicorn. Nobody that I know of has seriously claimed to see one. The only claims I see regarding unicorns are in fairy-tales and maybe some VERY fringe groups. So it does not require presupposing the non-existence of unicorns to discount their existence. That does not mean I am not OPEN to changing my mind regarding the existence of the unicorn. I am! Show me the evidence and I will gladly revise my opinion.

And the same goes for God.

What am I presupposing here that I shouldn’t be?