Straw man
noun.
1 a mass of straw formed
to resemble a man, as for a doll or scarecrow.
2 a person whose
importance or function is only nominal, as to cover another’s activities;
front.
3 a fabricated or conveniently
week or innocuous person, object, matter, etc., used as a seeming adversary or
argument: The issue she railed about was no more than a straw man.
Origin: 1585-95 Dictionary.com
I am reading Sam Harris's book Letter to a Christian Nation and
have discovered that the straw men are so frequently placed in his writings
that if they were all planted in the ground the skies would be dark with crows
who were too frightened to find a place to land.
I have to admit to being disappointed. As a Christian I welcome
spirited discussion about the existence of God with atheist and others. I,
unfortunately, meet a great deal of atheist, and Christians for that matter, who
have little working knowledge of the authentic Christian faith which is
Biblical Christianity. This leads to the unfortunate circumstance of many of
the people who attack as well as defend the Christian faith are attacking and
defending the same old straw men, and fail to contribute anything of value to
the discourse. Do not misunderstand me. It is not a crime to be unfamiliar with
aspects of another person's views on God but the crime that is being perpetrated
on both sides of the discussion is intellectual laziness. If you are a
Christian or an atheist and are not doing your basic homework before spouting
off at the mouth and yelling at each other with your hands over your ears you
are doing a disservice to yourself and those who believe your point of view.
I do not believe Sam Harris has his hands over his ears but I do
believe that he has fallen victim to the religious bait and switch that
permeates the world of Christianity. What is this bait and switch? The fact is
that what is portrayed as the Christian faith throughout much of popular
culture is not Biblical Christianity. We are all shown this pop culture knock
off of the Christian faith and many of us, including a surprising number of
Christians, take it for the genuine article. Trust me; Biblical Christianity is
not being represented in your Facebook timeline.
If you are not sure you believe that there is authentic
Christianity and a cheap knockoff both being presented to the culture, let’s
looks at an example that we can all identify with. Whether you are an atheist
or a Christian you are probably familiar with the nativity story of the
Christian faith. We have all heard how Jesus was born, laid in a manger,
visited by three wise men there, and given gold, frankincense and myrrh as
gifts from these wise men. It has appeared in any number of children's books,
videos, holiday TV shows, etc. There is only one problem, it’s mostly fiction.
If we actually read the story in the Bible we find that the wise men were not
at the birth of Jesus but arrived in Jerusalem one to two years later. They
then proceeded to the royal palace in Jerusalem to look for "he who was
born king of the Jews." Not finding Jesus in the royal palace they
followed the star to the house were the young child, not the new born, lived.
You can find the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-20 and
Matthew 2:1-12.
The facts concerning the birth of Jesus are some of the most
plainly spoken, easily understood scriptures in the Bible. If our popular
culture version of the birth of Jesus can be so far off from the easily
understood Biblical version, how much more can the subtle nuanced Bible
concepts like, the love of God, the nature of humanity, the age of the earth, etc.,
be misrepresented. What is disappointing is how many author's, speakers and
public figures do not do the simple diligence of Biblical study before they
make sweeping statements about the truth of the Bible.
If you are going to attack or defend the validity of Christian
scripture at least consult the basic biblical scholarship through a commentary,
or knowledgeable Christian. Yes, whether you are a Christian or an Atheist I am
sure you have opinions and questions about the nature of God. Do not be lazy.
Consult the plentiful scholarship that is all around you or you might find yourself
singing the same words as the most famous straw man of all time – “if I only
had a brain!”
No comments:
Post a Comment