My cup runneth over with frustration these days whenever I am drawn into debate with someone who trots out old, pre-debunked arguments, as though I’d never heard them before. It happens when discussing race, it happens when discussing gender, and it definitely happens with religion:
I wish life came with a moderator like this. Let’s stop with the old arguments. Let’s stop letting them clog the pipes. If we’re going to have a discussion, can we please start without me having to punch myself out of energy by carefully taking down each fallacy you’ve parrotted off of some website, particularly if they’ve been shown to be false again and again.
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Are you talking about the people new to apologetics or the ones who are actively being ignorant?
If you’re going to enter into a debate with someone, it is a good idea to research their arguments as well as your own, so you avoid getting caught. There are people who get paid money for apologetics – ignorance of the paucity of their assertions is negligent, and usually only serves to distract.
If you’re legitimately new to the field, I’m willing to cut you a bit more slack, but when you enter into dialogue with someone who actually knows what they’re talking about, you should perhaps approach with a bit of humility. I’m not going to go knocking on the doors of a school of theology and call out the head of the department, and if I meet someone with theological training I’m not going to assume they’ve never heard of Russell’s Teapot.
Thanks for the comment!