tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post115732477155069667..comments2024-03-25T17:35:02.238-04:00Comments on Debunking Christianity: "The Only Objections are Stupid Objections..."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-1157453502803480152006-09-05T06:51:00.000-04:002006-09-05T06:51:00.000-04:00exapologist, you seem to be exactly the kind of pe...exapologist, you seem to be exactly the kind of person I want as a team member on this blog. Go <A HREF="http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2006/02/do-you-want-to-join-us-at-dc.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>, email me and let's talk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-1157429700316026242006-09-05T00:15:00.000-04:002006-09-05T00:15:00.000-04:00In a sense, I can see how this Steve Hays fellow ...In a sense, I can see how this Steve Hays fellow -- and Turkel -- have the attitudes they do. I remember being on the other side of the fence, as an "apologist", and having read a bunch of apologetics books. <BR/><BR/>Reading apologetics books gives you an unwarranted sense of confidence. After all, you learn all of these arguments for conservative Christianity -- historical, scientific, and philosophical -- and you know that maybe .001% of the population is aware of them. You also learn -- in a way that's primarily indirect and mediated through the writings of the apologists themselves, mind you -- all the philosophical, historical, and scientific objections to your view. Finally, you know -- or you think you know -- sufficient responses to all those objectcions. In such circumstances, it's almost inevitable that you feel like your faith is near bullet-proof.<BR/><BR/>I know that most of you here used to feel the same way, too, at least for a while. With this sort of a background, it's virtually impossible to feel that you know the sober truth about reality. This is reinforced when you talk to "neighborhood skeptic" types. Talking to them, you think:<BR/><BR/>"They've never read Craig's Kalam argument, or Robin Collins' Fine-Tuning argument, or Swinburne's Bayesian formulation of the traditional theistic arguments, or Plantinga's stuff on Reformed epistemology; or Blomberg's (or Wright's or Witherington's) arguments for the reliability of the New Testament, or Craig's and Habermas' arguments for the resurrection. If they did, they'd be conservative christians. In fact, I know the arguments for this guy's skeptical position better than he does! I could give a *seminar* on this stuff to them for a month just to get them up to speed on the case for *their own* position, and the key proponents (Mackie, Martin, Schellenberg, Oppy, Q. Smith...). So honestly, how can I take this local skeptic seriously?"<BR/><BR/><BR/>If they care more about knowing what's true more than staying in the apologetics echo chamber, they'll eventually learn that the apologists have been shielding them from the most serious objections, as I did -- and I suspect most of the DC bloggers have.exapologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09915579495149582531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-1157413670923834392006-09-04T19:47:00.000-04:002006-09-04T19:47:00.000-04:00It always feels good to look down on an opponent's...It always feels good to look down on an opponent's views and say "That's just stupid!" <BR/><BR/>Just as with JPHolding, this guy is not worth typing out the text characters to have a discussion with. <BR/><BR/>He's just <I>right</I>! How can we argue with that?!<BR/><BR/>(JH)Joe E. Holmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10273702675019012966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-1157328409231011602006-09-03T20:06:00.000-04:002006-09-03T20:06:00.000-04:00John,It's very telling that Steve thinks that the ...John,<BR/><BR/>It's very telling that Steve thinks that the "only objections are stupid objections"- this kind of intellectual snobbery on Steve's part is similar to Robert Turkel's extreme intellectual snobbery.<BR/><BR/>Funny thing is- Hays and Turkel don't apparently like each other. I did a Google search for Steve Hays and noticed that Turkel wrote an article or two in response to Hays and Turkel's articles were far from respectful. Honestly, I almost felt sorry for Steve when I read one of them, thinking that Steve must be a much more pleasant fellow than Turkel.<BR/><BR/>I shared a link with Ed Babinski (I don't know if you cared enough to see it John; I can e-mail you the link if you're interested) which was to Turkel's scathing rebuttals of Hays. <BR/><BR/>MatthewMatthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03301708892076758582noreply@blogger.com