The Amateurishness and Toxicity of Randal Rauser

Benjamin Blake Speed Watkins put up a twofold discussion starter question on Twitter, which he's very good at doing. He asked, "What are ways that atheists and theists can raise the level of discourse online? How do we get these discussions to look more like philosophy?" 

Presumably he's addressing our lower levels of discourse and our lower levels of philosophy. He wanted to know how we can raise them up to better, higher standards. In what follows you'll see an egregious example of the problem he seeks to address. Since he can be a bit provocative at times, I began with something provocative.

Watkins responded:

I responded:

I probably should've used different wording by making a lesser claim. Still, "if we want to know the truth about religion" then the only question that matters is the one about faith. If the goal is to know which religion is true, if there is one, then my original Tweet is right on!

Then this came from Randal Rauser out of the blue, and with it this discussion went to the dogs, the very thing Watkins wanted to change between atheists and Christians online:

I responded in a few Tweets: 

--Anyone who says my book Unapologetic is self-defeating when it calls for the end of the philosophy of religion, HAS NOT READ IT! The reason why I vehemently object to such gross ignorance is because it leads people to ignore my important book! In it I prove such a claim is demonstrably false! 

--Rauser comments on me without reading my book "Unapologetic". That is a key quality in describing an amateur philosopher, as is responding to my argument with an ad hominem.

--Given Rauser's utter ignorance on this it's surprising that an "amateur" philosopher like me trashed him in our co-written book "God or Godless". See the reviews by 1) Robert M. Price, 2) Dustin Lawson, and 3) Russell Blackford. How did that happen? 

 --Furthermore, I taught introduction to philosophy, philosophy of religion, ethics, critical thinking, world literature, apologetics, and other classes at a few colleges for pay! 

 Did I do good? Rauser didn't think so:

I wasn't offended. I was responding to his amateurish ignorance. I was not going to allow him to say things that were palpably false about me and my book to the very audience I want to reach.

Someone else pointed out his hypocrisy:

I don't need his toxicity in my life.

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