SOME GROUND RULES FOR AN HONEST DISCUSSION ABOUT CHRISTIANITY:

This comes from John at somehow not single:

IF YOU ARE ARGUING AGAINST CHRISTIANITY

1) If you have never read a certain philosopher, please do not quote him/her in your argument. If all you have read of said philosopher is a paragraph in a textbook, please do not quote. If you cannot pronounce the philosopher's name correctly, this is a very good sign that you should not quote them. Name dropping doesn't win arguments.

2) Please read the Bible before you attack it. Seriously, please read the entire thing. No seriously, read the dang book! Don't quote out of context. Don't make some general comment about what the Bible says unless you actually know of passages that support your point.

3) Please state reasons why you think something is not true; do not simply list reasons why you don't want it to be true, or are uncomfortable with it being true. Your feelings do not dictate reality. For example, thinking that the existence of Hell is unfair does not mean it can't exist. I don't think it's fair that pizza makes me fat, but yet here we are...

4) If you are going to use vague words like love, mercy, justice, good, evil, etc in your arguments against Christianity, take the time to actually figure out how the Bible defines these terms. For example, you cannot argue that to call homosexuality a sin is wrong because God himself is love. The Bible does not define homosexuality as love. This is anachronistic.

5) Please note that attacking adherents or deviants of a belief system does not actually speak to the veracity of those beliefs. For example, if all Christians really were hypocrites, it wouldn't reflect on the truth claims of Christianity either way. If all Christians were televangelists, using religion to hurt people, it still wouldn't reflect on the truth claims of Christianity either way. If all Christians were the greatest people the world has ever known... it still wouldn't reflect on the truth claims of Christianity either way.

6) Please note that secular governments, such as the USSR and China are just as guilty of atrocities as those (mis)using religion. Drop this argument, please.

7) Please take the time to carefully explore and articulate your own worldview before you attack someone else's. For example, if you are going to separate the "historical" Jesus from the Jesus of the Bible, please be intellectually honest enough to admit that your reason for doing so is that your worldview does not allow for the existence of the supernatural.

8) If you are going to use historical examples, please at least be familiar enough with your examples to get basic information correct. If you can't at least do this, then it's hard to trust the lessons or analogies that you're drawing out of it.

9) Please note that science cannot disprove religion (nor can religion disprove science). They are distinct fields of thought, answering different questions and regulated by different rules of epistemology.

10) Please enter the argument with some humility. Men and women far more brilliant than you or me have debated and considered the topics you are discussing. It's unlikely you have come up with the ultimate solution.



IF YOU ARE ARGUING FOR CHRISTIANITY

1) If what you are about to say rhymes, please don't say it. This is not real apologetics. If what you are about to say has ever appeared on a Christian t-shirt, hat, or bumper sticker, please don't say it. This is not real apologetics.

2) Please do not argue out of ignorance. If you are going to say that evolution is wrong, for example, please oh please actually know what the theory says.

3) Please take the time to read the entire Bible. You've staked your eternal life on the teachings of this book; the least you can do is finish it. If you haven't finished it, don't try to defend it.

4) Please take the time to evaluate your own faith so that you can separate Christian doctrine from your culture and patriotism.

5) Please document any cases of conversions that result from the use of picket signs and/or yelling in general. I would really like to know.

6) Please note that when a person uses the word God, it does not always mean that that person is a) sincere or b) talking about the same concept that you are. This especially applies to the founding fathers.

7) Please take the time to consider the other person's argument and try to meet them where they are. For example, if someone is asking you why you think the Bible is inspired, saying that it's inspired because it says it's inspired does not really work.

8) The Bible does not attempt to answer every question ever posed. Don't try to make it do so.

9) If you are going to use historical examples, please at least be familiar enough with your examples to get basic information correct. If you can't at least do this, then it's hard to trust the lessons or analogies that you're drawing out of it.

10) Whether or not you win this argument will not determine whether or not God exists. Relax. If you cannot speak in love, then don't speak.