Dec 24 2007
if you can’t argrue with facts-resort to name calling
I’ll admit up front that I’ve been guilty of resorting to name calling when I couldn’t come up with something of substance to say. I was wrong. I’ve become a better learner by just closing my mouth & listening.
This weekend I “googled,” yahooed,” & “technoratied” the military ministry, my parents & “God’s basic training” & was amazed at the trash that was on many blogs & chat rooms. It seems that very few were interested in the truth. These sites were Atheists, seperatists & yes some Christian ones. I responded with the facts on a dozen or so.
Well most of them couldn’t handle the facts so they resorted to profanity, Bush bashing, military bashing & name calling? Of course this type of behavior isn’t limited to any group. Christians are guilty of this too. You see it in politics daily. If you can’t win an argument or you have nothing worth saying call someone a:
- Liberal
- Right-winger
- war monger
- moderate
- fundamentalist
- fundy
- etc….
So the lesson I learned is this- if you don’t have solid facts or substance call people names & add a few profanity ladened adjectives That way no one can figure out that you have nothing of substance to back your claims.
What do you think?
7 responses so far
I think you’re absolutely right! And I think it’s a good lesson for us all.
I would add that not all of those terms in the list are inherently defamatory, though they certainly can be used that way. For example, I don’t mind at all being called a “liberal” when the term is used to contrast my views with “conservative” views. I consider myself a liberal on many issues. It’s a useful distinction.
I do mind when people dismiss something out of hand as “liberal drivel.” I usually challenge people who say those kinds of things by asking them to explain what they mean by “liberal.” In my experience, either they have a good description of the term (but their good description doesn’t fit with “drivel”), or they can’t define what they mean. The usual result in either case is that the conversation returns amicably and constructively to the subject at hand. We shouldn’t allow our detractors to get away with co-opting perfectly good, descriptive terms, that we may even use to describe ourselves, as a crutch for their own inept, poorly conceived ad-hominem attacks against us.
Conversely, while I don’t think that we should be given to those sorts of personal attacks, I also don’t think that we should shrink away from using terms that make useful distinctions between conflicting positions or points of view. We can differ, and we can even label our differing positions as “conservative” and “liberal” for example, while continuing to maintain respect and tolerance for each other.
It’s not always what you say - it’s often how you say it.
Excellent point, Kevin. This is a problem in a lot of discourse today (sadly even among Christians who should set a higher standard). The way I see it is that when someone resorts to name-calling it is usually a sign that they do not have any real arguments.
I always knew you were a fundamentalist!
JK
True!
A3,
Good points as usual. The point I was making is many of us (me included) call people names when we are losing our battle. It is better just to keep your mouth shut if you don’t have something of substance to say. I’ve learned that the hard way.
Merry Christmas.
Kaylor,
Good points. You would think Christians would know better.
Avery,
Kevin,
You make a great point. I still remember sitting in a class at SWBTS where the professor (his last name starts with P and ends with atterson) actually told us that the first a person should do in a disagreement is to label the other side as bad as possible. So, call them liberal, or fundamentalist, or whatever else you can think. It doesn’t matter if they actually believe that side of things, make sure you label them so that their actual thinking will be construed and disbelieved. Sad that this sort of thing is being taught to our future leaders. Maybe that is why the SBC is vomiting out young leaders at an alarming rate. Just check the latest edition of Lifeway’s Facts and Trends.
B
Happy Holidays Kevin!
Much love and prayer for you and your family during this time of “God’s lesssons” in your lives and ministries.
Argumentation is one area which Christians typically don’t handle well. Here’s a post about it that in turn links to Tom Wells’ piece at Resurgence on the topic.
In short, Wells says that when we argue, we need to do five things:
- show respect for the persons with whom you differ
- give your opponent accurate definitions of your key ideas
- when in doubt, put an orthodox construction on your opponent’s words
- suspect a man’s judgment before you suspect his sincerity
- be ready to believe that the truth is larger than you have understood it to be
I, for one, have a hard time doing that, but they are obviously skills worth developing.