Tip # 16 Revenge Fantasies
May. 9th, 2015 02:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastOne of the more disturbing trends in apologetics is the practice of constructing horrific scenarios in which to imagine their ideological opposition. Rarely is this done for the effort of a logical argument. It's done for an emotional impact. And, you certainly have one with these scenarios.
For instance, Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame constructed a hypothetical scenario in which two men break into an atheist's home, rape then kill his two daughters, behead his wife, then castrated him*. The point being that Phil Robertson feels it inconsistent for an atheist to have any sense of morality.
The alternative is the detailed description of Hell. Timothy Keller, as recorded in a video, describes, in detail, his vision of Hell as the inevitable addicts suffering that will befall anybody who builds their identity on anything but God**.
Needless to say, I'm not convinced by the argument that God is necessary for morality or by threats of whatever kind of eternal torment you can imagine. I am the unconvinced, after all. But, more to the point of this series, the emotional impact you achieve with these scenarios is not the one I imagine you intend.
Each time I hear one of these scenarios, I sense some satisfaction with the scenario. It's like the one presenting finds something to like about it. In Phil Robertson's case, it's the expression of his anger and hatred at me for the grave crime of not sharing his faith. In the case of Timothy Keller, it's his sense that justice is done that those people who do not build their identity with the same focus as he should suffer.
It's blatant when someone tells me of the joy they'll feel when God throws me into the lake of fire. But, in the other cases, I still sense it. Like the sense I described in Tip #10, I could be wrong. But, it is still the sense I get.
I do not claim to be perfect in this regard. Frustrations happen and sometimes, even just internally, I respond with anger that overrides my regard for others. But, I will claim the virtue of not believing such fantasies to be a virtue of my position.
The emotional impact that I think is intended is to shock one into listening without waiting for one's opportunity to talk. The emotional impact that is achieved is to give me the sense that your faith takes you to a place where you are given to such resentment that these revenge fantasies seem a moral good to you. I cannot imagine that is a healthy place to be.
* http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/phil-robertson-hypothesizes-about-atheist-family-getting-raped-and-killed
** https://youtu.be/JWnsjOL0tQ8
For instance, Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame constructed a hypothetical scenario in which two men break into an atheist's home, rape then kill his two daughters, behead his wife, then castrated him*. The point being that Phil Robertson feels it inconsistent for an atheist to have any sense of morality.
The alternative is the detailed description of Hell. Timothy Keller, as recorded in a video, describes, in detail, his vision of Hell as the inevitable addicts suffering that will befall anybody who builds their identity on anything but God**.
Needless to say, I'm not convinced by the argument that God is necessary for morality or by threats of whatever kind of eternal torment you can imagine. I am the unconvinced, after all. But, more to the point of this series, the emotional impact you achieve with these scenarios is not the one I imagine you intend.
Each time I hear one of these scenarios, I sense some satisfaction with the scenario. It's like the one presenting finds something to like about it. In Phil Robertson's case, it's the expression of his anger and hatred at me for the grave crime of not sharing his faith. In the case of Timothy Keller, it's his sense that justice is done that those people who do not build their identity with the same focus as he should suffer.
It's blatant when someone tells me of the joy they'll feel when God throws me into the lake of fire. But, in the other cases, I still sense it. Like the sense I described in Tip #10, I could be wrong. But, it is still the sense I get.
I do not claim to be perfect in this regard. Frustrations happen and sometimes, even just internally, I respond with anger that overrides my regard for others. But, I will claim the virtue of not believing such fantasies to be a virtue of my position.
The emotional impact that I think is intended is to shock one into listening without waiting for one's opportunity to talk. The emotional impact that is achieved is to give me the sense that your faith takes you to a place where you are given to such resentment that these revenge fantasies seem a moral good to you. I cannot imagine that is a healthy place to be.
* http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/phil-robertson-hypothesizes-about-atheist-family-getting-raped-and-killed
** https://youtu.be/JWnsjOL0tQ8
