As you may know, I am currently co-writing a book with atheist John Loftus, a series of short debates on a range of issues that divide us. Loftus blogged about the book this weekend which prompted Steve Hays, a paleo-Calvinist from the seventeenth century who, while pining to be my nemesis, merely serves as comic relief, to post an article asking “How can we tell them apart?” See here:
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2011/10/identity-of-indiscernibles.html
It is a good question. How can a fundamentalist paleo-Calvinist distinguish a Christian theist from an atheist? For them that is about as easy as picking up chopsticks while wearing boxing gloves. And in some intellectual debates that I am involved with you are not only expected to pick up the chopsticks but even try your hand at catching some passing flies. Clearly Steve is struggling.
The average colorblind person may have trouble with the occasional shade. Perhaps they cannot distinguish blue and green very well. But an individual like Steve Hays views everything in two simple categories: white “Agree with Steve” and black “Disagree with Steve”. So of course he cannot tell apart two different “Disagree with Steve” individuals since they’re both painted black.
I don’t fault Steve for this. It must be infuriating to have everyone at the art gallery of life oohing and ahhing over the dizzying palette of colors that constitutes a world of nuanced intellectual disagreement while he is locked in his black and white categories. It must be terribly frustrating to struggle with chopsticks while insisting on wearing your cognitive boxing gloves.
And the very worst part is that Steve apparently doesn’t know he’s colorblind. He thinks those boxing gloves are linked up to veins and arteries. Those of us who appreciate the distinction between red and blue (or rose and ruby) are really all just liberals. And chopsticks were the invention of a liberal mind.
Folks, don’t ever undervalue the importance of education. As we read in Proverbs 4:7:
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding
