God Debates: Stupid

Sara told me the other day that her (former) church was sponsoring a debate between Christopher Hitchens and some Christian apologist. She asked if I wanted to go, and immediately responded, excitedly, “yes!” But then it turned out it was a webcast, so I wouldn’t get to meet Hitchens. And then over the next few minutes I started thinking about Hitchens’s other debate and argument performances. And then I changed my mind.

First, a note on Hitchens. I think he shows up to all of these events drunk. He slurs, has an incredibly thick accent, a vocabulary an order of magnitude higher than yours (or mine), and can make the most complex sentences without breaking a sweat. His books and essays are difficult to read because he’s a genius wordsmith. In short, he’s woefully inarticulate.

Another problem with debates involving anything pitting reason against faith is that if you’re not basing your arguments on evidence and logic, you can spit out as many arguments as possible. This leaves a pretty hefty burden on the reason advocate, because it usually takes 5 times (at least) as many words to explain the fallacious logic from the other side, and a rational argument is generally more nuanced to the point that it (sometimes) sounds equivocal.

Take, for example, vaccines. Jenny McCarthy can make an incredibly compelling case in one sentence: “my son was great, then he was vaccinated, and the vaccines caused his autism the following day.” The reply to that goes something like, “autism symptoms show up about the same time as the vaccine in question. Current evidence, gathered from studies X, Y, and Z, do not support the claim that vaccines cause autism. Anecdotal evidence is inadequate in answering questions that put the entire population’s health at risk.” Notice the word difference. If, like most debates, opponents are given time limits, it’s clearly advantageous to throw out as many arguments as possible and hope for your opponent to drop a few.

Now, aside from those shortcomings, my biggest problem with religious debates is that there’s no critical thinking going on. It’s one of those situations that, I think, puts atheists in a bad light, where we’re only seen as anti-Christians or whatever, and not proactive on our own. The lack of thinking is a result of (1) no logical argument being possible for the existence of a god, and (2) atheists knowing this, and flying to every argument with a robotic response, much like a bird throwing up a worm for its young. The entire debate is characterized by a person of faith making arguments from incredulity or ignorance, and the faithless explaining logic 101.

Nobody attends the debate to hear the other side. They look for the guy in their corner to beat up on the other guy, to find misstatements and exploit them to make the opponent look dumb, and for zingers. I’d venture that less than 0.05% of those in attendance have any different opinions after leaving a religious debate.

This post isn’t necessarily meant to pick on religion as much as it is debating the imaginary (I realize that’s incendiary, but oh well). I could go listen to a debate on whether or not where I sit in my living room has any affect on Texas Tech’s play during a football game. You could show me graphs, studies, everything, even a video of me in my living room showing no correlation, and I’d still not move during a game. Magical thinking can’t be dismantled by regular discourse, and has to be done internally.*

If someone’s really interested in evaluating their faith, or lack of it, read books. Books for the most part aren’t made up of gotchas or zingers. They require meticulous research, have editors, long thoughts, and recommend more books.

Want to see if Christianity makes any sense? Go pick up Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Now, personally, I think the book is a great example of how to get published and make millions by embracing every logical fallacy with its own chapter, but lots of Christians love it. There are other books that I haven’t gotten around to yet, like the Case for Christ, from another popular guy, Lee Strobel.

Want to see if, maybe, that whole faith thing doesn’t make that much sense? Try Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. It’s short, well written, and engaging. Want something with a little more depth? Try The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. It’s longer, but insightful and provocative.

Everyone knows they hold beliefs that are irrational. They’re hard to break down and escape from, and if you want to have any luck, find a quiet place to think about it. Being fed regurgitated worms won’t help you either way.

*I also shave every game day. Wreck ‘em Tech!