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Things atheists should consider when debating Christians
<!-- /#content-header --> by Matt Slick
Over the past few years I've frequently debated with atheists in chat rooms, the CARM discussion forums, and the Faith and Reason radio show.1 I don't know what it is with them, but I find that most of them simply don't want to do their homework. They attack Christianity, often misrepresent it, and fail to learn when corrected. I mean, it is truly amazing. It is as though they don't care about accuracy as long as they can deny God. In light of this, I've developed the list below of suggestions for atheists in the hopes that they might improve their approach.
Now, many atheists will scoff at this list, mock it, say I'm guilty of the same thing, etc. I expect that because they deny the true and living God, and for the most part have to argue and dispute everything. Because of their constant badgering and contrary attitude that seems to dominate everything they say, I've grown more and more reluctant to dialogue with them because it seems they simply do not want to study what they criticize and they don't want to present their arguments in a cogent, non-volatile manner. They very often use pejorative terms, demeaning phrases, and refuse to learn. Anyway, I digress. Following is the list of suggestions I have for the atheists.
source: carm.org
<!-- /#content-header --> by Matt Slick
Over the past few years I've frequently debated with atheists in chat rooms, the CARM discussion forums, and the Faith and Reason radio show.1 I don't know what it is with them, but I find that most of them simply don't want to do their homework. They attack Christianity, often misrepresent it, and fail to learn when corrected. I mean, it is truly amazing. It is as though they don't care about accuracy as long as they can deny God. In light of this, I've developed the list below of suggestions for atheists in the hopes that they might improve their approach.
Now, many atheists will scoff at this list, mock it, say I'm guilty of the same thing, etc. I expect that because they deny the true and living God, and for the most part have to argue and dispute everything. Because of their constant badgering and contrary attitude that seems to dominate everything they say, I've grown more and more reluctant to dialogue with them because it seems they simply do not want to study what they criticize and they don't want to present their arguments in a cogent, non-volatile manner. They very often use pejorative terms, demeaning phrases, and refuse to learn. Anyway, I digress. Following is the list of suggestions I have for the atheists.
- Understanding what you attack. This is a huge one for atheists. They attack Christianity and, in my opinion, infrequently understand what they are criticizing.
- Learn from correction. When a faulty understanding of Christianity is corrected, they very often deny the correction and defend their error.
- Don't be stupid, a tough one for them. But you can do it if you strain yourselves.
- Don't use incendiary statements like the one I used in point 3 above. It was an example of what not to do since it raises emotional blocks that prevent rational discourse. (I have to admit I struggle with this one when dealing with atheists. I guess you can say that I'm jaded after all my dialogues with them -- something I have to work on.)
- Don't use emotionally laden terminology that detracts from the argument, i.e., magic, magic sky god, christian fantasy, christian mythology, etc. Such terms only close the doors of communication.
- Be respectful to what we believe. You don't have to agree with it. But you need to realize that if you, for example, insult Jesus our Savior, all you do is make yourself look bad, get people defensive, and make atheists, as a whole, look like obstreperous2 twits.
- Use logic and evidence when attempting to refute Christianity.
source: carm.org
