Wednesday, April 3, 2013

We Have We Learned from American Vision

Over at the American Vision website, they have a signature approach to apologetics (by which I mean the doomed attempt to provide a rational basis for something that requires faith).  It consists of three elements:

1) Assume the Bible is 100% true, but only in exactly the way you interpret it, and get butthurt when someone asks you to support that idea.  When you do provide support, use only circular logic and documents that don't actually back up what you're saying.  Since this is pretty standard for apologetics, it's the next two elements that really set the website apart.

2) Lie.  Lie about atheists to their faces and to anyone who will listen.  Tell them what they believe, even when they express the exact opposite, and pretend they've said things they never did.  Because, really, what better way to promote the belief in a loving God that to be dishonest in the most ridiculous and offensive ways?

3) Repeat this mantra, over and over:
Atheism makes no claim about morality
therefore
Atheists have no "basis" for morality, except what they get from Christians [I really wanted to explore the reasoning behind this idea, but no one could provide it. -DVDB]
therefore
For atheists, nothing is right or wrong
therefore
Atheists cannot say anything is wrong
therefore
Atheists believe that lying, stealing and genocide are right.

Two glaring issues here...  The first is one I've pointed out before; you can substitute any belief that says nothing about morality, and the "logic" would still hold up:
The belief that the earth goes around the sun makes no claim about morality
therefore
People who believe that the earth goes around the sun have no "basis" for morality...  and so on.

Second, even if you could honestly get from the start of that process to the end (which you can't), the final conclusion violates the premise only two steps earlier.  That is, if nothing is right or wrong for atheists, then you CANNOT conclude that atheists believe that lying, stealing and genocide are right!  So they can't even keep from violating their own bogus logic!

Since I've been banned from commenting there (adding another trophy to my case), all further thoughts on that website will be related on this blog.  I look forward to seeing if they come up with anything new.

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