Paul Derengowski, Ph.D.
It seems to be a growing common occurrence these days that to disagree in a biblically rational way over some moral, social, or legal issue, to have those who are not being biblical, nor rational, instantly divert attention away from the disagreement to a personal attack upon a person’s Christian profession.
What is ironic is that the person doing the attacking either claims to be a Christian him- or herself, or interestingly enough, that same person is not a Christian at all and even admits it!
In the first instance, there is an implicit concession that the person making the accusation has no coherent response to the Christian’s argument. Therefore, to make up for the lacuna, the opponent accuses the Christian of not being one, as if that somehow solves the disagreement.
In the second instance, the accuser has placed him- or herself in the position of God, even though the non-Christian, who is an atheist, regardless of religious confession, does not trust in God in the first place. Such unmitigated arrogance and blind hypocrisy has exalted itself above God’s revelation, which the non-Christian has no interest in either.
To be specific, here is a classic example of this phenomenon. Please note that this character decided to confront me without ever addressing my argument that no one, regardless of color, gender, or station in life, should be tried and prosecuted of any crime in the media.
Instead, “Mike,” who was everything but “excellent,” made four bald-faced accusations, culminating with the hashtag #apostate.
Where he came up with “crusader” is anyone’s guess. We are living in the twenty-first century, not the eleventh. I am not Roman Catholic. The Muslims had nothing to do with the conversation I was engaged in.
Since I was possibly a crusader, then I was not a Christian. Here, Mike’s self-exaltation unto godhood gets the best of him. How many of the crusaders were or were not Christians, only God would know. Nevertheless, Mike seems to think that by falsely labeling me as a crusader, then I cannot possibly be a Christian. Mike takes God’s place, as well as the wafer, when it comes to blithering nonsense.
Third, amid his sanctioning of mob violence and street justice as the alternative to due process and the rule of law, I was not only a racist, but “racist slimeball.” Now, I am not sure how many of my black, Hispanic, and oriental friends would die laughing, if they read this, but hopefully the causalities would be minimal. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I am about as much of a racist, as I am a non-Christian.
As for slimeball, depending on how hot and humid it is outside and after I get done mowing the lawn, that accolade definitely fits. Yet, since Mike failed to reference that fact in this particular context, it really has no meaning. Perhaps, Mike stutters often and uses “Uh” to fill dead air space when speaking in public too. Who knows?
Lastly, Mike thinks that by inferring that I am an apostate, that will not only (1) win the argument, and (2) prove that I am not a Christian.
The errors is this rebuttal are simple.
Inferring or calling anyone a name during an argument is actually an implicit concession of the argument, as it diverts attention away from stating anything meaningful about the argument.
Second, nowhere has Mike proved that by standing firm for the rule of law and due process does that result in me, or anyone else, walking away from Christianity. In fact, it would prove just the opposite. Real Christians advocate upholding civil law, not undermining it to accommodate mob rule or street justice.
Nevertheless, Mike will not be the first to use such a tactic to try to get his way and he certainly will not be the last. With a growing number of individuals who were reared in broken families and never attended a church that taught sound biblical principles of living, yet still claimed to be “Christian,” we are bound to see more of the Mike’s out there exhaling their hostile hypocrisy.
Worse yet, with so much clamor that education is the panacea for all our ills, there is actually very little formal education in the disciplines of logic and social civility. Too many college graduates leave school without an ounce of common sense, much less knowledgeable of what a logical syllogism is in an argument. Couple that with a plethora of civil rights activists who think that skin color determines the worth of an individual and we have all of the elements necessary for a complete societal meltdown.
But, I am the problem, because Christians do not point those things out. A Christian is supposed to be a racist street thug, like Mike. Beating “whitey” is at the heart of what true Christianity is all about. It has nothing to do with truth, justice, and using a person’s God-given brain to discern right from wrong. Those things being the case, I guess I am guilty of not being a Christian. Thank God for that!
