Apostates and the Trust Factor
I've written about the fear factor earlier. Christians and atheists fear for the future if one side dominates the landscape. Now let me write about the trust factor. We don't trust each other to be truthful and objective with the evidence. Red flags go up whenever the other side makes an argument because we don't trust each other's research nor their authors. On each side of the fence we think the other side distorts its facts to fit their preconceived conclusions.
That’s why Ed Babinski has argued that if we do a great deal of reading we will eventually read an author just a little to the left of us, perhaps in college as part of a research project. While this author may be outside our comfort zone he’s not so far out there that we can't give him some kind of benefit of the doubt. Then if he convinces us we’ll read a book he recommends which might be to the left of him. This process takes place slowly if at all. That’s the process by which I learned to reject my Christian faith. It wasn’t because I read the atheist literature, although I read a few of their books, it was because I continued to read book after book by Christian authors who were more theologically liberal than the previous one. It was Christian scholarship that eventually caused the downfall of my faith. And their books were books that didn’t throw up the red flags because they were only a step to the left of me rather than being way over on the other side of the intellectual universe.
When it comes to the trust factor there is one type of person who stands in the gap between atheists and Christians. It's the apostate; whether it’s a former Christian who became an atheist, or a former atheist who became a Christian. The impact of their apostasy has more of an effect when we personally know them, but it does have a general impact on the other side anyway, especially the more well-known the person is.
These apostates are usually not liked by the side they left because they are an embarrassment to them. Since apostates have some kind of credibility the opposing side tries to discredit them. That’s probably one of the reasons why the team members here at DC are personally attacked so much. The attempt is to discredit us in one way or another so believers can write us off. It makes them feel better. It lets them sleep at night. It reassures them that the problem wasn’t with the faith at all, but rather that the problem was us.
Okay, I guess.
My view is that people just change their minds from time to time, that’s all. We do this about a myriad of issues throughout our lives. Why should it be different with regard to religious or non-religious beliefs? We don’t ever need to attack the apostate who leaves our side for the other side. I don't do this. People are people and they believe for different reasons, that’s all.
That’s why Ed Babinski has argued that if we do a great deal of reading we will eventually read an author just a little to the left of us, perhaps in college as part of a research project. While this author may be outside our comfort zone he’s not so far out there that we can't give him some kind of benefit of the doubt. Then if he convinces us we’ll read a book he recommends which might be to the left of him. This process takes place slowly if at all. That’s the process by which I learned to reject my Christian faith. It wasn’t because I read the atheist literature, although I read a few of their books, it was because I continued to read book after book by Christian authors who were more theologically liberal than the previous one. It was Christian scholarship that eventually caused the downfall of my faith. And their books were books that didn’t throw up the red flags because they were only a step to the left of me rather than being way over on the other side of the intellectual universe.
When it comes to the trust factor there is one type of person who stands in the gap between atheists and Christians. It's the apostate; whether it’s a former Christian who became an atheist, or a former atheist who became a Christian. The impact of their apostasy has more of an effect when we personally know them, but it does have a general impact on the other side anyway, especially the more well-known the person is.
These apostates are usually not liked by the side they left because they are an embarrassment to them. Since apostates have some kind of credibility the opposing side tries to discredit them. That’s probably one of the reasons why the team members here at DC are personally attacked so much. The attempt is to discredit us in one way or another so believers can write us off. It makes them feel better. It lets them sleep at night. It reassures them that the problem wasn’t with the faith at all, but rather that the problem was us.
Okay, I guess.
My view is that people just change their minds from time to time, that’s all. We do this about a myriad of issues throughout our lives. Why should it be different with regard to religious or non-religious beliefs? We don’t ever need to attack the apostate who leaves our side for the other side. I don't do this. People are people and they believe for different reasons, that’s all.