Listen To Sceptics

This is an accidental follow on from the post, ‘Be Christian Not Religious.’ Accidental because I wasn’t planning to do a follow on but then I heard a certain podcast from Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope. It was an interview with musical comedian, Tim Minchin. He is a sceptic (most likely Atheist) who has a reputation of being outspoken during his shows with his thoughts on religion .

So how do we deal with such sceptics? Sometimes it is very difficult to listen to them but that is probably the best course of action. By listening and responding in a calm, confident manner you are able to learn so much more about where they are coming from. You may find that their assumptions about Christianity are completely wrong or that what they attribute as Christian characteristics are really religious characteristics. Don't get the two confused. Remember that is was religious people that killed Jesus.

With a bit of knowledge you are able to pick up the mistakes in the arguments of sceptics. Here’s what Tim Minchin had to say to Andrew Denton:

ANDREW DENTON: Let’s talk about an area that you are very confident on that you totally believe in which is religion.
TIM MINCHIN: I’m not really outspoken or raging against religious people, but when I’m on stage I talk about what I think about and I think a lot about people’s beliefs. I never got it. It’s like I’m lacking the gene that makes people think that stuff. I’m not scared of stuff we don’t know.
ANDREW DENTON: What about faith? You and religion and faith can be different things. Do you look at people with faith who have a strong set of moral principles that guide their life, who believe there’s a way to operate?
TIM MINCHIN: I’m very specific about what I’m saying. In my new show I’m talking about the Church’s treatment of homosexuality which I find abhorrent and the Church’s that sort of rather insipid thing that people do where they go, ‘Oh I don’t really believe in God, but I think we need a moral compass’ and it’s just such lazy thinking. Faith has no positive resonance for me. Faith just means I’m going to believe something in the face of all other evidence. I don’t know what that means and a moral code should come from here it’s more valuable when it comes from here.

A few points:

• “religious people” – it is wrong to refer to everyone with a faith in God as religious. Religious people are all about rules and what I can do to get into heaven. There is little or nothing to do with Jesus in the doctrine of the religious people. Jesus came down heaviest on the religious people of his day.
• “lacking the gene….” – no gene is necessary to follow Jesus, just an open heart and mind
• “treatment of homosexuality…..” – would be interesting to ask further questions to ascertain what he finds abhorrent about the church’s treatment of homosexuals. Last time I checked there was no persecution to homosexuals. At least there shouldn’t be any persecution. Churches should be about loving the person, but not the behaviour. Direct them to Genesis as the basis for your belief in heterosexual marriage as the only legal union.
• “need a moral compass” – this is one statement that I would agree with. Jesus isn’t your moral compass. This is to say that Jesus was just a good man and a good teacher. When really he is either God or a liar. No middle ground.
• “in the face of all other evidence” – what evidence would he be referring to? Perhaps Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ which uses dodgy evidence. Perhaps leading sceptics to books like Lee Strobel’s ‘Case for Christ,’ or John Dickson’s ‘The Christ Files’ and see what they have to say about evidence. Or better still invite them to read a bible. NIV’s start at $5 at Koorong.
  

And who knows, by not being judgemental about their scepticism you may just change their whole attitude towards Christians. You just never know.