Being an ex-Christian fundamentalist (long, long ago in a life that now seems far, far away) I am ambivalent leaning toward avoiding them most of the time. There is never a new argument, never a fresh idea; mostly just rehashed stuff from McDowell, who is mostly rehashed stuff from C.S. Lewis, who is mostly rehashed stuff from Thomas Aquinas. Once in a while one of them will come up with what they think is a unique angle on Pascal’s Wager, or toss out some weirdness they claim comes from quantum mechanics. They generally seem to barely understand their own arguments and, as soon as the ground starts shifting out from under their faith careen off into utter nonsense and threats.
Back when I used to bother debating Christians the discussions nearly always ended with the “hell threat”. My first steps away from Christianity came from realizing that I was worshiping a god who needed a hell. Sharing that tended to offend and infuriate those on the other side. Since I wasn’t really interested in either offending or infuriating them, I began to question the whole reason for the debates and, soon after stopped having them.
Which makes me wonder what a Christian’s purpose might be for being here? If they are starting to wonder about their faith, looking for insight from others who have abandoned faith, it might make a little sense. Christians tend to live in insular worlds. There would simply be no one they could talk to about the crisis of faith they were in. Maybe they come by here hoping that showing up the atheists in some way will support their own, weakening, belief.
One thing I hardly ever see is a Christian with any genuine desire to learn about people who either don’t or have stopped following a faith. Why bother much with those types? Since they seem to me to be the majority, I’ll vote “no” just for grins.
Back when I used to bother debating Christians the discussions nearly always ended with the “hell threat”. My first steps away from Christianity came from realizing that I was worshiping a god who needed a hell. Sharing that tended to offend and infuriate those on the other side. Since I wasn’t really interested in either offending or infuriating them, I began to question the whole reason for the debates and, soon after stopped having them.
Which makes me wonder what a Christian’s purpose might be for being here? If they are starting to wonder about their faith, looking for insight from others who have abandoned faith, it might make a little sense. Christians tend to live in insular worlds. There would simply be no one they could talk to about the crisis of faith they were in. Maybe they come by here hoping that showing up the atheists in some way will support their own, weakening, belief.
One thing I hardly ever see is a Christian with any genuine desire to learn about people who either don’t or have stopped following a faith. Why bother much with those types? Since they seem to me to be the majority, I’ll vote “no” just for grins.
