Twenty Ways to Answer A Fool [Introduction]

Back in 2006, during my first full year of blogging, I interacted with an online pamphlet written by an atheist anarchist by the name of Chaz Bufe.

Twenty Reasons to Abandon Christianity

My primary objective was to locate apologetic blog fodder for my new blogging project. That was just around the time when the “new” atheists were beginning to make their presence known on the internet, and Chaz certainly delivered the goods for me. When he wasn’t playing blues guitar at weekend music festivals around Tucson, AZ, he had devoted himself to spreading anarchist propaganda and subversive counter-culture philosophy, which of course is atheistic.

He also fancied himself a “free thinker” and regularly utilized words like “logic” and “reason” despite the fact his atheism can’t really provide a coherent, rational framework to answer life’s big questions like, “where did we come from?” and “where are we going?” as well as explain reality in a meaningful fashion.  God-fearing people like me, on the other hand, he labeled with derisive descriptions such as “superstitious” and “illogical.” The religious folks in the world are the shacklers of good, free-thinking thoughts.

As an aside, if we ponder the term free thinker for a moment, do those folks genuinely believe because they are haters of religion they are more “free” in their thinking? If you hear anyone describe himself as being a “free thinker” don’t let him fool you into believing he is a serious minded intellectual just because he rejects God and never goes to Church. Free thinking is just code word for a philosophy whose adherence reject any societal authorities. They delight in moral idiocy and the male variety want total freedom to engage in any sexual vice with impunity.  In short, a free thinker is just a pompous little geeky pervert at heart. But I digress.

The primary religious targets in Mr. Bufe’s anti-Christian screeds were mostly nuns and Roman Catholics. Now admittedly, Roman Catholicism is easy to pick on seeing it has a dismal track record over the centuries of being the main example of apostate Christianity.

However, like most atheist critics who perhaps have only read selectively from secondhand sources critical of the historic, Christian faith, Chaz lumps ALL Christians together with the Catholics as one and the same. Moreover, it is clear after a surface reading of his material that he hasn’t read any genuine responses to his various complaints. His knowledge of Christianity is severely limited at best and seems to be gleaned from other anti-Christian resources whose authors also are just as limited.

So what’s the point in interacting with a scruffy atheist who presents himself as an idjit when it comes to Christianity? I mean, folks like Chaz generally could care less if they are misrepresenting Christians or if there are genuine responses to their contorted perspective. It’s not like the guy genuinely wants to know, right?

Well, revisiting my old posts on Chaz not only helps me to punch up the material a bit, as well as strengthen my arguments, but also will  help readers realize they can get answers so as to respond to the Chazes in their own lives.  In spite of the fact Chaz is not giving us anything original as far as argumentation, he does represent the typical anti-Christian we occasionally encounter.  Whether it be the scowling uncle who likes to pick religious debates on Thanksgiving while everyone is lounging around the living room watching football, or the homeschooled cousin who became an “atheist” during her first semester at the local community college, all of us has an acquaintance or two like Chaz.   

Now let me run down the reasons for abandoning Christianity that Chaz provides:

He claims Christianity is…

1. Based on Fear
2. Preys on the innocent
3. Based on dishonesty
4. Extremely egocentric
5. Breeds arrogance, a chosen people mentality
6. Breeds authoritarianism
7. Is cruel
8. Anti-intellectual, anti-scientific
9. Has a morbid unhealthy preoccupation with sex
10. Produces sexual misery
11. Has an exceedingly narrow, legalistic view of morality
12. Encourages acceptance of real evils while focusing on imaginary evils
13. depreciates the natural world
14. Models hierarchical, authoritarian organization
15. Sanctions slavery
16. Misogynistic
17. Homophobic
18. The Bible is not a reliable guide to Christ’s teachings
19. The Bible is riddled with contradictions
20. Christianity borrowed its central myths and ceremonies from other ancient religions

That sure is a lot of hating on Christians. But as we move along on my remasters of those old posts, we’ll see if old Chaz’s arguments hold any water.