Debates are inherently confrontational, right? The entire point is to make your opponent look like an idiot by puffing yourself up, isn't it? Debates certainly do serve a different purpose than run-of-the-mill conversations, but even within a debate setting it is certainly possible to engage in a reasoned and compelling defence of one's own perspective without denigrating one's … [Read more...]
Art of Reason – those poor horses
This is my second attempt at an "art of reason" article. The hope is to help people think through the truth claims they are presented with. We get hundreds of them a day so this is an important skill to develop. I hope this is helpful; let me know. My wife and I enjoyed a nice getaway at a cabin in the woods. Around the property it is not uncommon to see wild animals, … [Read more...]
Dialogue with a gay activist
The dialogue recorded at this link is a fabulous example of doing many things right in a conversation with somebody you disagree with. Peter Kreeft was taking a class that was being taught by a homosexual activist. Kreeft hoped to chat with his professor (whom he calls "Art") about his views, striving to open and clarify their respective views on the subject. Kreeft is right to … [Read more...]
Reason and Intuition – Chicken and Egg
I’ve been wrestling a lot, lately, with the proper relationship between reason and emotion. Part of the motivation for this conflict in my own mind is because I know people who gravitate to one or the other of these, and they often look down upon whichever of the two they do not gravitate toward. But I find myself drawn to aspects of both, and repulsed by the overemphasis of … [Read more...]
Koukl talks to a waiter
I enjoyed listening to the opening part of Greg Koukl's show Stand to Reason some time ago. You can find it by scrolling down to November 18, at this link. Very briefly, Koukl had a fascinating chat with a waiter, but the conversation simply didn't go anywhere! They talked about all kinds of interrelated stuff that was all connected to the big questions of life, but they didn't … [Read more...]
Community Apologetics – one model
This month the CAA has featured a series of articles on community apologetics. I throw my hat into the ring with this little piece describing the history of a community apologetics group I am involved in. Past Back in 2009 the original "Atheist bus ads" came to Calgary, Canada. They were placed throughout much of Europe and North America. You may remember them, "There probably … [Read more...]
Art of Reason – ancient earthquakes
The inability to understand what makes a good argument, and the inability to critique arguments is one of the key ingredients in miscommunication and the tendency to become argumentative. As described previously, good arguments help keep the tempers down. In order to develop a sense for logical glitches it helps to examine bad arguments to see where they go wrong. This is … [Read more...]
Piers Morgan and Rick Warren
Here's an interesting little snippet of an interview between Piers Morgan and Rick Warren on the Bible's teachings about homosexuality and whether it should be "amended" (not clear what that means). I found a couple of things interesting. Morgan is right to observe that these conversations need to be respectful and that they have a habit of turning poisonous. He would seem to … [Read more...]
Unbelievable radio interview – Mormonism (part 2)
I already blogged about part 1 of the interview between two Christians and a Mormon on the Unbelievable radio program. I had some thoughts about the second half of the interview. In my view part 2 went downhill from part 1. They continued to treat each other with great respect but Dayton (the Mormon) started sidestepping major issues, avoiding giving straight answers and so on. … [Read more...]
Unbelievable radio interview – Mormonism
I recently enjoyed part 1 of a two part radio interview hosted by Justin Brierley over at the Unbelievable podcast. Brierley contributed the least to the dialogue and mostly facilitated the conversation between his two guests, Bobby Gilpin of the UK Partnership for Christ and Charles Dayton, a lifelong Mormon. I enjoyed it for several reasons, all of which highlight many of the … [Read more...]