A Funeral Procession for my Procrastination: Part III

Yo Yo Yo! Throng-n-Harmony,

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony? Anybody? No? Killin' me, Smalls.

So like last time and the time before that, we abso-totally wrecked havoc on some major issues, like how regarded it is to think faith and reason is friends and such-like. And some people were all like, yeah, rock on with yer jock on! And then these other douche-nozzles were all, no-way, ho zay. And I was just like, psshhhawwww. Wut. Ev. Er. Obviantly, there's like so much more to say and stuff, so we'll get all up in that right now. But like go to the comments and comment and stuff. Even if what you have to say is like real real dumb.


The Authors: Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli

The Book: Handbook of Christian Apologetics

The Chapter: 1 - The Nature, Power, and Limitations of Apologetics

My final beef with the opening chapter has to do with the section discussing the need for apologetics today. Kreeft and Tacelli (KT from here on) aver that the world is at a tri-pronged crossroad and crisis. As they put it, the first crossroad/crisis is that western civilization is in danger of dying, and "the reason is spiritual. It is losing its life, its soul; that soul was the Christian faith." Who or what is the culprit/murderer? Multiculturalism? Nope. Instead, it is the "monoculturalism of secularism - no faith, no soul. Our century has been marked by genocide, sexual chaos, and money-worship. Unless the prophets are liars, we are doomed unless we repent and 'turn back the clock' (not technologically but spiritually)." Their doomsaying continues: "The church of Christ will never die, but our civilization will. If the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, this world certainly won't. We do apologetics not to save the church but to save the world" (23-24).

Wowzers! And I thought I had grandiose delusions of grandiosity!

The second is a philosophical/intellectual crossroad/crisis. A crisis of truth, KT see objective truth being ignored, abandoned and/or attacked. This may or may not be true; reasonable people can disagree about this topic. But I'm not as appalled by this issue as I am the other two, so I won't be discussing it any further. As a substitute for my insight on this matter, look over here.

Finally, the third crossroad/crisis is the deepest, being neither merely cultural nor insignificantly intellectual, but profoundly spiritual. "At stake are the eternal souls of men and women for whom Christ died." While they profess skepticism regarding predictions that the end is nigh, they say, "each individual is nearing the end, death and eternal judgment, every day...You will soon stand naked in the light of God. You had better learn to love and seek that light while there is still time, so that it will be your joy and not your fear forever" (24).

Dude, srsly! Their first and third points are astonishing. Breath-taking. Bewilderfying even! Talk about riling up emotions so much that they cloud reason and rational deliberation! These kinds of groundless claims, base emotional appeals, and not-so-veiled supernatural threats do nothing to advance honest, truth-seeking, substantial discussion. This is abject, loathsome fear-mongering, and it's beneath KT.

KT don't really assert factual claims here, but rather make a few broad, sweeping, suggestions that seem counter to the facts as I understand them. They also engage in a bit of prophecy. If I'm around when their predictions come to pass, I'll report on them then. In the meantime, let's look a little closer at some of their allegations.

It looks as though human beings have either committed (or attempted to commit) genocide ever since they've been capable of noticing differences between their own particular in-group and the out-groups they dehumanize for various reasons. This doesn't seem to be any more remarkable about "our century" than any other, except perhaps in that we now have the ability to commit mass killings with more ease than ever before, and we also have access to more information about global violence and genocide than ever before. In fact, it turns out that in every way we measure, the 20th century was less violent and less genocidal than previous centuries. It may not often seem like it from a limited, subjective, anecdotal perspective, but if we look at the bigger picture, the world is actually becoming a better place to live than it ever was before.

Oh, and umm...Would it be in poor taste to point out that the God of the Bible engaged in more than his/her/its fair share of violence and genocide? Oopsie-giggles!

As for the doom and gloom of the "monoculturalism of secularism," again, this is simply out of step with the facts. By every standard, the most secular nations on the planet enjoy the most tolerant, healthy, happy, well-educated and peaceful (etc.) lives, when compared to their more religious counterparts. And I shudder to wonder what the hell KT mean by "sexual chaos." Rather than speculate, I'll wait to see if they discuss this in more detail later. But know this: If by "sexual chaos" they mean to condemn or disparage homosexuality, I will absolutely crush their arguments when I come to them. Cause ain't nothin' wrong with being gay. It's a beautiful thing.

I suppose we don't need KT to save the world (or the cheerleader) with their apologetics after all. Secularism is saving the planet quite nicely without appealing to faith or souls, thank you very much.

It's difficult to know what to say about the third crossroady/crisisy thingy. There are no facts we can appeal to in assessing their claims and predictions. Everything in this section seems to be heavily based upon a particular interpretation of scripture which may or may not be correct. I've met many Christians who are embarrassed by this sort of theology which envisions heaven and hell as very real physical places. One weighty problem with the Bible (and any sacred text, for that matter) is that deeply divergent views can be supported by quoting various passages of scripture. It seems to me that all participants (myself excluded, of course) quote out of context to support their own view while dismissing others who do likewise, because they come to the "wrong" conclusion. It's a mug's game I tell ya! Can we hurry up and progress to the point where we view the Bible the same way we do the works of Homer, Shakespeare, Snooki, and Stephenie Meyer?

Furthermore, this attempt to motivate belief and/or behavior with appeals to eternal reward and endless suffering is a childish system of morality. It's an insult to people who have fought hard with questions of meaning and ethics, who have grounded their conclusions in the reality of the natural world.

You might say KT have gotten off on the wrong foot which they then put in their mouths and shot.

Pudgeus Mufficus, Exeunt.