Tip #15 Show Versus Tell
May. 6th, 2015 01:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastRecently, in an online conversation with a Creationist, I remarked that said Creationist's rhetoric, treating everybody who doesn't agree as lost and merely awaiting a maturity that will bring us into agreement with the Creationist's beliefs, displayed egotism. Here was the response.
"oh stop. I never glory in myself, all glory goes to God. Even your love of science can be credited to Him. :) Gotta go for a while..."
I get something of a similar response when I indicate that the same errors identified in Tips # 2 and 7 betray that the apologist does not actually care about non-believers. The response being that they do, of course, love non-believers and that this is obvious from their oft-displayed religiosity.
Translating this into more biblical language, this is best expressed as follows... "Don't look at my fruits, focus on how I say 'Lord Lord'." Yes, an atheist is telling a target audience that includes a great deal of Christians to listen to Jesus. I could end this here, but I think we all know I love the sound of my own text.
In storytelling, there's an important phrase. "Show, don't tell." If the author wants to establish a character as kind, calling the character kind is insufficient. The character must act in a manner of kindness, such that the readers/audience can understand, without instruction, that the character is kind.
That's not just an important element of storytelling. And, it's not just how one divines the faithful from the hypocrites. It's also something you have to do with yourself.
If someone tells you that your actions display a lack of regard for others or a lack of humility, judge yourself. Do your actions really do so? You're under no obligation to agree, of course. But, if your argument to the contrary, either to the someone or to yourself, is based in your claim and/or your religiosity, that's not really a good argument.
"oh stop. I never glory in myself, all glory goes to God. Even your love of science can be credited to Him. :) Gotta go for a while..."
I get something of a similar response when I indicate that the same errors identified in Tips # 2 and 7 betray that the apologist does not actually care about non-believers. The response being that they do, of course, love non-believers and that this is obvious from their oft-displayed religiosity.
Translating this into more biblical language, this is best expressed as follows... "Don't look at my fruits, focus on how I say 'Lord Lord'." Yes, an atheist is telling a target audience that includes a great deal of Christians to listen to Jesus. I could end this here, but I think we all know I love the sound of my own text.
In storytelling, there's an important phrase. "Show, don't tell." If the author wants to establish a character as kind, calling the character kind is insufficient. The character must act in a manner of kindness, such that the readers/audience can understand, without instruction, that the character is kind.
That's not just an important element of storytelling. And, it's not just how one divines the faithful from the hypocrites. It's also something you have to do with yourself.
If someone tells you that your actions display a lack of regard for others or a lack of humility, judge yourself. Do your actions really do so? You're under no obligation to agree, of course. But, if your argument to the contrary, either to the someone or to yourself, is based in your claim and/or your religiosity, that's not really a good argument.
