These days, I don’t engage in lengthy debate with aggressive atheists. Through years of experience, I have learned a LOT about how those conversations usually go and what a Christian apologist can reasonably expect the outcome to be. I can patiently dismantle the atheist’s argument, exposing the logical flaws and factual errors, and they will simply move on to heated emotionalism and statements such as “You’re wrong, and you just won’t admit it,” or “I broke free of those oppressive shackles long ago, and I pity you for still being stuck in that way of thinking,” or my personal favorite, “You’re just using Christianity to shield yourself from your fear of eventual non-existence.” (They think they sound uber-philosophical when they use that one.)
Even when conversing with reasonably well-educated atheists, it is extremely rare that they will man-up and admit, “Yes, I see where my argument was fallacious. Maybe I’d better re-examine this,” or “Oh, I wasn’t aware of that fact, can you reference that?” It happens occasionally, and when it does it is wonderful, but don’t hold your breath…
These days, I don’t engage in lengthy debate with aggressive atheists. Through years of experience, I have learned a LOT about how those conversations usually go and what a Christian apologist can reasonably expect the outcome to be. I can patiently dismantle the atheist’s argument, exposing the logical flaws and factual errors, and they will simply move on to heated emotionalism and statements such as “You’re wrong, and you just won’t admit it,” or “I broke free of those oppressive shackles long ago, and I pity you for still being stuck in that way of thinking,” or my personal favorite, “You’re just using Christianity to shield yourself from your fear of eventual non-existence.” (They think they sound uber-philosophical when they use that one.)
Some Rambling Thoughts on Apologetics and Atheism « Hard-Core Christianity
