religious "right" - fighting logic with...complete nonsense!

Faith on CampusIs it Possible? Answer: Yes
BreakPoint with Charles Colson
December 2, 2004
Note: This commentary was delivered by PrisonFellowship President Mark Earley.

Do you think college today is a faith-friendly place? That university culture is free of anti-Christian bias? That your child’s teachers are pure seekers of truth with no axes to grind? If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

As J. Budziszewski explains in his wonderful new book Ask Me Anything: Provocative Answers for College Students, it’s still possible to learn something at college, but professors don’t always cooperate. He ought to know. Budziszewski is a tenured professor of government and philosophy in the University of Texas at Austin. And he’s also a Christian.

A female student who wanted to be a missionary e-mailed Budziszewski to say that although her anthropology professor was kind and gentlemanly when discussing non-Christian religions, he suddenly turned harsh and vulgar when the subject turned to Christianity. To defend his hostility, he said that no one possesses religious truth, that every culture has value and should be judged by its own standards, and that missionaries force their religious beliefs down the throats of other cultures. The young woman wanted to stand up to him but didn’t know how.

Budziszewski has the answers. When the professor says, “No one knows the truth about religion,” the young woman might respond, “Professor, if no one knows the truth about religion, then how can you say that your own claim about religion is true? It’s like the Liar’s Paradox, where a man says, ‘The statement I am making is a lie.’ If his statement is true, then it can’t be true, because he just said it’s a lie. If his statement is false, then it’s true, but only because he’s lying.”

(Wow! Is this the most convoluted "logic" you've ever heard?! It literally makes no sense whatsoever, which i'm sure her professor would kindly explain to her. )

When the professor says, “Every culture should be judged by its own standards,” the student might respond, “Professor, whose culture says that we ought to judge every culture by its own standards? Isn’t it your
culture that says so—the culture of relativist university teachers? So when you demand that every other culture accept your culture’s standard, aren’t you violating your principle that every culture ought to be judged by its own standards?”

(Man, i would love to be in the room as someone tried to use these wacky "arguements" on a professor of anthropology! Whose culture says that?! Simple human deceny says that!!)

And when the professor says, “Missionaries force their religious beliefs down the throats of other cultures,” the young woman might respond, “Professor, you say that every culture has value, and we should judge it by its own standards. If so, why do you make an exception for the culture of Christianity? Doesn’t it also have value, and shouldn’t we judge it by its own standards? In that case, I don’t understand why you’re so harsh on Christian missionaries.”

(Whoa! This one is really far out! In the story, the professor does not judge the culture of Christianity, only the practice of shoving it down the throats of others. By all of this person's arguments, anyone should be able to force their beliefs on christians and they should be happy to accept that! I'm sure that muslim missionaries would be welcomed in Texas!)