Apologetic Tactics (Update)
Yesterday I posted a comment based on a discussion taking place on a website. I realized that I hadn't posted a link to the actual debate - my bad. Here is a link so that you can see the context in which the discussion has been taken place in. WARNING: there is some rather rough language within some of the peoples comments - read at your own risk.
Digg - The Bible goes Web 2.0
Shawn
Digg - The Bible goes Web 2.0
Shawn
posted by Shawn White | 9/12/2006 11:38:00 AM
3 Comments:
Ugh! I read Digg for about 30 minuets and my eyes started to cross.
After learning a little about the suicide tactic from your blog, I examined the following digg comment about the Bible 2.0 and found some errors:
"First of all, I'm catholic, I was an altar boy and have a religious background.
Second I'm from Germany where being atheist is not really considered unusual or bad. Reading the bible however never helped me strengthen my faith, it helped me, among other things, to loose it.
Sadly most Christians never really read the bible (sat down and actually read it like ... well .. any other book) but only have read to them the parts that they want to hear.
The bible, especially the old testament, preaches hate, intolerance, sexism, torture and simply things I cannot accept as the "word of god". If every single part of that book, the way it is published all over the world right now, the way it can be found in churches and cheesy motel rooms, was written or even just influenced by one divine being I don't want it to be my god.
You can argue that the bible was a product of its time and you may be right, but that makes it even harder to accept it as the "word of god".
So, it sounds like he saying he is a Catholic and and atheist at the same time. I don't see how that is possible, but I'm not all that up on my Catholicism and would have to ask him some questions. Then, he says many Christians don't read their Bible from start to finish (oh, so true!) but, again I find it hard to believe by his comments that he has read the entire Bible either and has any idea about what God is. God is LOVE, end of story. The entire written Word is about God's love for the chosen people of Israel, which Christians are a part of due to Christ when He graphed us to Israel by becoming our passover lamb. In John, we are told "...in the beginning was the Word and the Word with God and the Word was God... " Every time I open my Bible, I am reading Jesus. The Word is alive and applicable to my life today (but I digress...).
Then, I found a comment that was so great I had to share it (you might never find it on your own!):
"You are right on the point that the bible teaches intolerance. Tolerance is a lie. What it really means is to turn a blind eye to sin. We as a church should not be tolerant of sin. This includes every sin especially those abundant within the church."
The commentator then goes on to point out that God never teaches hate for other people, only for Sin. God IS love. HELLO!
Wow, didn't mean to go on and on... I guess this touched something in me and on Digg as well. I think it's going for 10,000 diggs on this one!
Laura - you picked up on the correct flaw in the Catholic/Atheist comment. It appears that he doesn't know enough about either, or else he would know that one cannot be both at the same time because they are contradictory. That would be a perfect place to start a discussion by asking questions focusing in on that line of reasoning. Also, another good place to begin a different conversation is on his view of God. That, I would think, is the more fundamental one. But just a thought.
I had read the "tolerance" comment as well. It's interesting to see that different people, when they read these comments come away with a different interpretation. I read it as the person having an incorrect definition of tolerance. He is condemning tolerance as a lie, when in fact, the modern use of tolerance is a lie. The classical meaning of the word fits in nicely with the Christian worldview and with the rest of the comment that you posted.
Shawn
Yes, I read a lot into the comment about tolerance that the author probably didn't intend. After all the "homosexual issues" I've been thinking about and posting on my blog, I am hyper sensitive to people hiding behind the veil of tolerance as saying "whatever you think works for you is fine, just don't tell me I'm wrong because that makes you intolerant". I agree, God's love tolerates us all as sinners thru the blood of Christ, and for me not to tolerate differences in others makes me a hypocrite.
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