[Gareth McCaughan, 10th January 1997]
Er, wrong, at least as regards this Christian.
I would not say that Matthew is a joke because I don't consider
abuse to be worthwhile. I fully agree with Mr Till that Matthew's
logic is frequently extremely poor, but nothing whatever is gained
by being abusive.
I am getting increasingly fed up of the constant barrage here of
"you're intellectually bankrupt -- no, YOU're intellectually
bankrupt -- no, YOU are". It's coming from both sides of the
debate; and I don't think it exhibits either the Christ-like
attitude Christians are supposed to show, or the rationality
the atheists here are so proud of.
I'm not really sure what it's supposed to achieve, other than
making the people who do it feel good. As someone who is neither
an atheist nor an inerrantist, I reckon I have as open a mind
as anyone on the list; and I can assure you all that when I
read yet another abusive article it makes me less, rather than
more, inclined to agree with the person posting it. When I
read things like
Wouldn't this make Jesus a parasite? Have you tried using
antibiotics? They might clear this unfortunate condition up.
It works for the clap! By the way, I thought you were "In
Jesus", but now you seem to claim "he is in you". Isn't
this a contradiction?
I begin to wonder whether actually there is some truth in the contention
that people become atheists just because they hate God; and when I read
things like
I saved your post that you typed too me and wanted to show
that you and Till are trying to defy the laws of physics
by trying to fill a "5 pound bag of reality" with "100
pounds of nonsense."
I begin to wonder why God would allow his followers to behave so
stupidly.
I don't really believe that my reanting about this will make things
any better; but if anyone out there is actually more interested in
getting their case across than in enjoying abusing their opponents,
perhaps they will take this into consideration.
> By the way, such loyalty as this is hard for me to understand. I changed
> from biblical inerrantist to biblical errantist, and one of the main reasons
> why I changed was that I simply got tired of saying things that I knew were
> utterly illogical. Harry Truman said, "I would rather be right than
> president," and I share that view. I would rather be right and despised
> than wrong and respected.
I think you will find that the inerrantists agree with you on this.
It is possible to be passionately concerned for truth, and still
wrong.
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