TheMathGuy Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I have a younger brother, probably the most fundamentalist one in my family, who keeps emailing me these links to apologetic arguments for Christianity. Most of the time I simply ignore them as spam. But occasionally I take the time to respond by countering the arguments made. At which point my brother replies saying "I don't want to debate you." Now my thinking is: If you're not prepared to defend it, then don't send it! How do you deal with someone who always wants to bring the subject up, but never wants to defend it? Should I bother to reply to him at all? Not to mention that when I DO send him a reply with counterarguments, I inevitably get all the usual accusations such as "You don't really want to believe in God.", "The evidence is everywhere, you just refuse to see it.", "Satan has hardened your heart against God.", blah, blah, blah... Thank god (metaphorically speaking) I don't live in the same house with him any more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted April 23, 2009 Super Moderator Share Posted April 23, 2009 Sounds hopeless. If you'd like to send him back a picture of my middle finger, let me know. Alternatively, you could start sending him some Islamic apologetics, or maybe some thoughts from L. Ron Hubbard. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I think your statement of "If you're not prepared to defend it, then don't send it!" would be the best reply. When I was a believer, I was always willing to face my brother's atheistic statements to me, even when my mom told him to lay off. I said, "If it can't stand up to his scrutiny, then it isn't worth believing in." Unfortunately, his atheism was not well developed and he eventually converted. I'm not sure how to tell him we switched places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddinhead Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Yuck. I have two sisters like that. I never did get it to go away entirely, but I got them to turn down the dial. Just keep repeating what a double-standard he has. "You keep sending me "why the bible is true" links and all I do is defend. I don't try to get you to change your mind about religion and yet you keep doing this to me. I know that you can recognize this as a double standard but I don't know if you can see that this is hurting our relationship. Our relationship matters to me. I respect you and I still believe you respect me. I am asking you to please respect my request to stop sending me this material." Yeah! Say I!! And I hope it works better for you than it did for me! Because two of them still didn't get the message. But, some of them did and I hope your brother is one of em! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhampir Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 "Satan has hardened your heart against God.", blah, blah, blah... I like this one in particular. If Satan has hardened your heart, then there's really not much anyone can do, except hope god will un-harden it, in which case, telling you does no good. Besides, if your brother would read the bible, he'd see that it's usually God that does all the heart hardening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Captain Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I get these sort of things too, just delete em as I get em. The part that cracks me up is that they typically open or close with a quote from Ronald Reagan. Just deify the blighter ad be done with it all ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShallowByThyGame Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 You can either ignore him, or reply with various things like a list of bible contradictions, and other facts that may make his fundy brain sweat like the story of Horus etc. Deconversion begins when one of the walls of his mental fortress begins to crumble. Naturally this is an confrontational approach, and there's nothing wrong with wanting nothing to do with fundies. I agree with your 'don't send it' line, which you should use if he objects to your replies. Intellectual integrity demands that when an idea is presented to a forum, then it is allowed to be criticized in that same forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpion Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I think your statement of "If you're not prepared to defend it, then don't send it!" would be the best reply. When I was a believer, I was always willing to face my brother's atheistic statements to me, even when my mom told him to lay off. I said, "If it can't stand up to his scrutiny, then it isn't worth believing in." Unfortunately, his atheism was not well developed and he eventually converted. I'm not sure how to tell him we switched places. Apologize to him... You took him from the light and brought him to the darkness... I know, it's not a nice thing to say... But it appears to be true... :S Sorry, didn't mean to sound judgemental, it's just my two €cents... Godspeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts