Tag Archives: tolerance

More problems with relative/subjective truth

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We’ve been talking about the idea of truth in today’s society. Nearly 2/3 of Americans say there is no such thing as absolute truth, and 57% of church youth agree. Yikes! Truth is seen in other areas, just not in morality or religion. In past blog posts I discussed the difference between absolute/objective truth and relative/subjective truth, how we got such an increase in relativism, and one problem with relativism (it is self-defeating). This time let’s get into some other problems with relativism.

For one thing, it’s a lazy way to avoid thinking about religious and moral issues. When somebody says, “that’s just your truth,” that means he or she does not have to take you seriously and listen to your argument. Another relativist may say, “all religions are the same,” but again he/she has not really taken a look at religions. They differ greatly when it comes to the idea of who God is, what the human race is, the problem of humanity, how we solve the problem, what happens to us after this life,… Again, this is a lazy way to avoid considering what each religion believes and why it believes that.

Another huge problem with relativism is that nobody can live out this idea. We all commit to a view, and we believe our view is superior. For example, consider Nazi Germany. Who in their right mind today would suggest that the morality espoused by the leaders in the 1930s is no better or no worse than any other morality? Someone who is a feminist beliefs that position is superior to a patriarchal way of running a society. A person sensitive to racism believes it is far better to show kindness and respect to all races than to believe one is superior to the others. We are built to have these innate moral thoughts.

Finally another problem with relativism is the way it leads to the new idea of tolerance, which says all truths are equally valid. This shuts down discussion immediately, leads to political correctness, allows the introduction of twisted ideas to become mainstream, and, strangely enough, leads to intolerance. If you disagree with a “tolerant” person, he/she will not try to argue with you. Instead, you will be seen as dangerous, intolerant (get the irony?), narrow-minded, . . .

Next time let’s take a look at challenges raised by relativists and answers to these challenges.

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Specific Tactics in Engaging the Non-Christian

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For the last couple of blogs I have been going over an introduction to apologetics and tactics to use when talking about your Christian beliefs. This time I’d like to discuss specific tactics that can be effective.

For one thing, we can ask questions of the person who has made a claim about Christianity. This takes pressure off of us to defend our position, it allows the other person to see you as someone interested in him/her, it gives you time to think, and it will help the other person clarify his/her thoughts. Two key questions are these: What do you mean by that? How did you come to that conclusion?

The first question (What do you mean by that?) Is asking the person to clarify the comments. The second question (How did you come to that conclusion?) asks the person to justify the comment by giving good support. So, for example, someone tells you there is no God. The first question seems pointless since we all know what we mean by God. The second question would work better in that case, to ask a person for proof of that statement. If somebody tells you the Bible has been changed over the years, the first question might be a good place to start. What they mean by the term “change”? You can then move to the second question. Someone says that Christians are narrow-minded, and our response would be to ask for clarification as well as how that person came to that conclusion.

The second tactic is to look for self-refuting arguments. These are statements that somebody makes that is contradictory to itself. For example, someone says, “I can’t speak a word of English.” That statement self-destructs since it is contradictory to itself. So, when someone says, “You shouldn’t judge people,” we might point out that that statement is one of judgment itself. Somebody may claim Christians are intolerant, which suggests that person is intolerant of the Christian position. Or, another person says we can can’t know anything about God, yet the statement suggests there is something we can know about God, mainly that he is unknowable.

These two simple tactics (asking questions, looking for self-refuting arguments) will help us immensely as we interact with people who disagree with our Christian viewpoint. Of course, we need to have good reasons for our beliefs, but these tactics will give us a chance to discuss the issues on a more equitable footing.

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