RE: Have you ever actually heard an response that made you stop and think?
September 22, 2016 at 12:51 pm
All the time, but not for the reasons you are assuming. Theists, I've found Jehovah's Witnesses in particular, often use mental trickery to make their point. I often have to "stop and think", but not because they are making sense but rather to figure out exactly how they are trying to trick me.
One example of this, I once had a JW ask me, "Wouldn't you agree that the weapons we have today are more powerful than any in history?" Briefly my mind said, "Wow, that is true" before immediately following up with "Wait a minute...I would have answered 'yes' to that question AT ANY POINT IN HISTORY!" The spear was more powerful than the lobbed rock, the sword more powerful than the stick, the canon more powerful than the catapult, the missile more powerful than the mortar... It does not matter at what point in history you ask that question, the answer is always "Yes". Never before has it heralded the end of the world, so there is no reason to believe it is now, which is what he was alluding to.
One example of this, I once had a JW ask me, "Wouldn't you agree that the weapons we have today are more powerful than any in history?" Briefly my mind said, "Wow, that is true" before immediately following up with "Wait a minute...I would have answered 'yes' to that question AT ANY POINT IN HISTORY!" The spear was more powerful than the lobbed rock, the sword more powerful than the stick, the canon more powerful than the catapult, the missile more powerful than the mortar... It does not matter at what point in history you ask that question, the answer is always "Yes". Never before has it heralded the end of the world, so there is no reason to believe it is now, which is what he was alluding to.
