RE: Reductio ad Absurdum: How to most efficently communicate with theists
September 21, 2016 at 11:06 am
(This post was last modified: September 21, 2016 at 11:13 am by The Grand Nudger.)
I'm not sure that's as useful as it might seem. It would only be through ignorance of the breadth of the divine that any given believer considers their faith against another subset of the same faith and comes out the other end feeling like they have to make a choice between two concepts to maintain a rational belief in the overriding set (that of god).
I could tell you about a conversation I had with my father in law - similar in approach, no argument of particulars, tacit assumption of truth..that sort of thing. His frustration by the end was palpable. He barked at me that he didn;t have all the answers and we didn't speak for the rest of the drive. It might be the only time in my life that I can say with certainty some dissenting notion I wanted to communicate had found a home in someone else's head.
Now here's the rub. It wasn't any sort of victory. Either personally or ideologically. He has near constant occasion to cite Joshua, and whenever he does..I hear my own words, my own dissent to his previous beliefs, buttressing his now modified faith in the miraculous as a fundamental observation.
Those girls, in the "best" of cases...I'd estimate that their faith was ultimately strengthened by the encounter, conversation, and subsequent consideration. We can stop looking at the moment that we see a blank expression on someones face and say "see, it works", but if we stop observing that face at that moment, we don't really know what end to which it will ultimately be put. We might imagine, pleasantly, that "reason wins out" (as loose as I use that)..I think that;s naive.
I could tell you about a conversation I had with my father in law - similar in approach, no argument of particulars, tacit assumption of truth..that sort of thing. His frustration by the end was palpable. He barked at me that he didn;t have all the answers and we didn't speak for the rest of the drive. It might be the only time in my life that I can say with certainty some dissenting notion I wanted to communicate had found a home in someone else's head.
Now here's the rub. It wasn't any sort of victory. Either personally or ideologically. He has near constant occasion to cite Joshua, and whenever he does..I hear my own words, my own dissent to his previous beliefs, buttressing his now modified faith in the miraculous as a fundamental observation.
Those girls, in the "best" of cases...I'd estimate that their faith was ultimately strengthened by the encounter, conversation, and subsequent consideration. We can stop looking at the moment that we see a blank expression on someones face and say "see, it works", but if we stop observing that face at that moment, we don't really know what end to which it will ultimately be put. We might imagine, pleasantly, that "reason wins out" (as loose as I use that)..I think that;s naive.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
