Part 4 in this story series ...
Are you scrappy?
If you choose to debate the other type of atheist, the "anti-theist," you have to be ready for an all-out-bare-knuckle-street-fight of words.
The Atheist Enemy is not interested in logic. Their sole aim is to destroy any ounce of credibility to you and God's message of love. If you go on Twitter and do a search under the hashtag #atheist, you'll easily be able to pick out the Friendlies versus the Enemies.
The Enemies get offended with an eye blink. Not only do they let you know they're affronted by your mere existence -- they'll also do everything possible to hold you up to public ridicule. I've had more than one instance where an "Atheist Enemy" even tried to circumvent my regular discussions with who I call "the normal people," when they realized people were engaging me.
Now ... the question is ... do you even bother dealing with an Enemy?
My honest opinion? Do everything possible to avoid them. They are not interested in what you have to say about God or Jesus. They are out to decimate you AND Him. What's the point? At the end of one of these debating sessions, you will feel spent and exhausted, perhaps a little bruised emotionally. And you might have wasted precious hours and time that could have been spent on someone who was truly seeking God.
The flip side, though, is what do you do if an Enemy approaches you and asks you for a debate? This is tough. I have to admit that it's tempting to me, as I love a good match of wits. But remember -- this debate is not about YOU or proving that YOU are right. It's about pointing someone to God's love. If that person is only out to crucify Christ all over again, then no matter what you do or say, it won't dent their steel heart.
But there is one reason to proceed -- it's for the benefit of others who are watching the match from the sidelines. These are people who you may not even know are there. As you banter in a public forum in a place like Twitter, regardless of whether the Atheist Enemy is receptive, there are other people who are taking notes on what both of you are saying.
This is the one and only reason I engaged two such pit bulls simultaneously in an open Twitter discussion.
From this debate, I learned one salient truth:
Each encounter must be covered -- COVERED -- in prayer.
Wanna know what happened? Tune in tomorrow for the next part of the story.
Speaking as a former example (though never that bad), I have a few comments...
ReplyDeleteFirst, don't be quite so hard on them. They're not nearly *that* nasty, just... tripping over (and on) their own intelligence. First thing you do when you realize you're smart is start breaking all the rules and building your own... and doing it wrong, cause no one's *that* smart.
And you *can* do something for them, though it might not be in keeping with your (or my) general philosophies. You can break them. Treat it as an actual battle instead of a conversation- find any place you can to tear down their logic, make them feel bad, create contradictions. If you can shame them, fluster them, make them feel that *they* are wrong (or bad) on *any* point, they might start to feel doubt- they won't admit they're wrong, you won't plant the seed of faith, but you might crack the foundations of the fortress they've built.
Few of us are born humble. If people hadn't shown me my logic wasn't as perfect as I thought, and hadn't make me feel like an... I should probably refrain from cursing here, but if they hadn't, I might not be a "Friendly" today.
~Ned