Decoding Dawkins's alleged "straw men"

Thinker Joined: Jul 25, 2003 Posts: 437

Dawkins's christian critics accuse him of attacking "straw men." I get the impression that in this case, when a christian says "straw men," he means "doctrines taught by other people's churches that even I find too embarrassing to defend."

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:39 pm

advancedatheist wrote:

Dawkins's christian critics accuse him of attacking "straw men." I get the impression that in this case, when a christian says "straw men," he means "doctrines taught by other people's churches that even I find too embarrassing to defend."

It all depends, I suppose. I've run into some really rabid Christians lately who are convinced that anyone who doesn't think exactly as they do about absolutely everything isn't a real Christian. They freely use the "no true Scotsman" fallacy, anyone whose doctrine varies even slightly from their own isn't a "true Christian" and they're going to hell. Of course, don't you dare try to challenge any of their sacred beliefs, they cannot be wrong, no matter how much proof piles up that they are.

Zealots and fanatics are really no fun, but at least they don't have to wory about burning out brain cells, they never use them.

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 11:58 pm

With 30,000+ sects of Christianity...how can a true CHRISTIAN exist?

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:01 am

Maybe we should go one further? Maybe us Atheists should insist that there's no such thing as a Christian or Christians at all because the bible is false, to counter the Christians who say there is no such thing as an Atheist?

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:10 am

Klarky wrote:

Maybe we should go one further? Maybe us Atheists should insist that there's no such thing as a Christian or Christians at all because the bible is false, to counter the Christians who say there is no such thing as an Atheist?

They claim all it takes to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. BUT they are the only TRUE Christian. Every one else got it wrong. I just believe one less person got it right than they do.

I will use that from now on though. There are no REAL Christians. All it takes is another Christian with different beliefs to prove that.

And that is EASY!

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:10 am

To be honest... I'm not really a Jutter.

(That means beachcomber)

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:12 am

I think self-proclaimed Christians don't know what the hell they're talking about.

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 2:26 pm

baddogma wrote:

Klarky wrote:

Maybe we should go one further? Maybe us Atheists should insist that there's no such thing as a Christian or Christians at all because the bible is false, to counter the Christians who say there is no such thing as an Atheist?

They claim all it takes to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. BUT they are the only TRUE Christian. Every one else got it wrong. I just believe one less person got it right than they do.

I will use that from now on though. There are no REAL Christians. All it takes is another Christian with different beliefs to prove that.

And that is EASY!

Heaven will be empty until that one real Christian dies, then it'll be really lonely there.

This is all similar to the famous quote (paraphrased) "Everyone disbelieves in 1000's of gods. I only disbelieve in 1 more, yours!"

The Learned Joined: Nov 19, 2002 Posts: 157 Location: USA

Unless there are some specific examples, the guilty party of making any form of a "straw man" attack seem to be his Christian critics.


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