I come to bury Ceasar,...
not to praise him, says Marc Anthony in Shakespeare's play Julius Ceaser. In high school English class we read Julius Ceaser like so many other classes did, and our teacher impressed upon us why it was Marc Anthony's speech that swayed the crowd and not Brutus'. Stoicism and Intellectualism share many traits, and both speak from logic to sway the hearts of men. Time and again, it has been proven that men prefer rhetoric, imagery, and emotion when it comes time to decide what to believe.
This brings us to today's topic, which is faith in a god. Any god will do. The skeptics, and atheists of the world argue from a standpoint of critical thinking against the belief that god is real and involved in our lives. The closest anyone comes to clarifying the fundamental problem of explaining to a believer why an atheist is... well, an atheist, was put forth by Stephen Roberts who said:
The issue is that the believers ignore the second part of the statement, "When you understand why you dismiss all other possible gods", believing that they understand it already. Obviously, thinking critically about that statement isn't a part of their beliefs any more than thinking ciritically about their faith. No amount of logical argument will get most folks to actually examine why they don't believe in other gods. So, like Mark Anthony, we need to take a visceral approach. Illustrate the point, instead of explaining the point. How very Tao.
To this end, I've created a new church, which I will outline in detail in a few posts in the near future. This church will be called the Greater Clausian church, and puts forth that the only Supernatural being in the world that really exists is Santa Claus. I will outline the tenets of the church, and how Clausian apologetics can respond to the attacks of other religious sects.
Some believers may get the point once they are convinced that the Klausian really believes it. They may, just may, realize how absurd I'm being. And may well argue as to WHY it's absurd. That's the goal. Make them argue against it, and use logic to defy me. Once they've turned that corner, I can stop, and point out that they now understand why they reject "my god".
More likely, they won't think at all, and will fall back on their standard tactics. At that point, I feel it becomes my duty to entertain any bystanders. I believe many arguments the believer presents can easily be stopped by using the standard believer tactics. First quote the "scriptures", if this fails, use one of the 3 Ds. Denial, Diversion, Delusion.
Were you nice today?
Edit: Klausian changed to Clausian
This brings us to today's topic, which is faith in a god. Any god will do. The skeptics, and atheists of the world argue from a standpoint of critical thinking against the belief that god is real and involved in our lives. The closest anyone comes to clarifying the fundamental problem of explaining to a believer why an atheist is... well, an atheist, was put forth by Stephen Roberts who said:
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
The issue is that the believers ignore the second part of the statement, "When you understand why you dismiss all other possible gods", believing that they understand it already. Obviously, thinking critically about that statement isn't a part of their beliefs any more than thinking ciritically about their faith. No amount of logical argument will get most folks to actually examine why they don't believe in other gods. So, like Mark Anthony, we need to take a visceral approach. Illustrate the point, instead of explaining the point. How very Tao.
To this end, I've created a new church, which I will outline in detail in a few posts in the near future. This church will be called the Greater Clausian church, and puts forth that the only Supernatural being in the world that really exists is Santa Claus. I will outline the tenets of the church, and how Clausian apologetics can respond to the attacks of other religious sects.
Some believers may get the point once they are convinced that the Klausian really believes it. They may, just may, realize how absurd I'm being. And may well argue as to WHY it's absurd. That's the goal. Make them argue against it, and use logic to defy me. Once they've turned that corner, I can stop, and point out that they now understand why they reject "my god".
More likely, they won't think at all, and will fall back on their standard tactics. At that point, I feel it becomes my duty to entertain any bystanders. I believe many arguments the believer presents can easily be stopped by using the standard believer tactics. First quote the "scriptures", if this fails, use one of the 3 Ds. Denial, Diversion, Delusion.
Were you nice today?
Edit: Klausian changed to Clausian
Glintir |
8/11/2005 12:12:00 PM
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