Posted on 08/17/2004 2:25:49 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
A professor at a well known liberal arts college became infamous for starting each semester by holding up a Bible and asking, “How many of you believe this book is the Word of God?” One or two undergraduates might have sheepishly raised their hands. The professor would then say, “Do you want to know what I think of this book? This is what I think of it”—and he would hurl the Bible out an open window.
Even more astonishing, this display took place at a Christian college. Hostility to biblical faith is now common on both secular and religious campuses, says J. Budziszewski in his newly updated book How to Stay Christian in College. The attitude seems to be “ABC”—Anything But Christianity.
Consider the story of a student named Frank. When he expressed a Christian point of view in a course on family law, a female student shouted, “Why don’t you just shut up!” The professor merely smirked and said to Frank, “I guess she told you!”
Or consider Kathy. In her ethics course, the textbook explained that there are two approaches to morality: supernaturalistic theories, which base morality on God, and naturalistic theories, which try to derive morality apart from God. The textbook then excluded supernaturalistic theories from its discussion. When Kathy asked the professor why, he replied, “We don’t have time for superstitions.”
Then there’s Keesha. On the first day of her graduate seminar on public policy, the teacher announced that every point of view was welcome. Keesha looked forward to an open debate on abortion. But the second day, the teacher opened class by asking, “All of you here are too intelligent to be pro-life, right?”
Sad to say, such tactics of intimidation are common in today’s university classrooms—and it’s important for Christian students to learn to see through them. Telling a student to “just shut up” is technically called the fallacy of argumentum ad baculum, or “argument to the stick,” which means abusing someone instead of reasoning with him.
Dismissing Christian ideas as mere “superstition” is another fallacy—the fallacy of “begging the question”—which means merely assuming a point instead of proving it. And asking students if they are too intelligent to hold Christian values is the fallacy of “complex question”—which means posing a question that one cannot answer without incriminating oneself, much like, “Have you stopped beating your wife?”
Christian students need to be intellectually prepared to see through the common tactics of intimidation. They must be able to demonstrate that Christianity really is a more rational explanation of reality than any of its competitors in the marketplace of ideas. A practical resource is J. Budziszewski’s book How to Stay Christian in College. If you call BreakPoint (1-877-322-5527), we’ll tell you how to get a copy of it for the kids in your life who are headed off to college this fall.
Christian students don’t need to feel intimidated by professors who insult both their intelligence and their faith. All they need to do is think rationally—because God’s truth is far more reasonable than any of the logical fallacies used to dismiss it in the classroom today.
Ping!
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Oh yeah, gonna be a hoot!
Heh! I've returned to school in my 30s as a conservative Christian, and I've been having a great time. The best part about arguing with libs is that you've got all the facts on your side. Wade in!
LOL
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