Conversation and debate seem to be dying. Social media, especially forms like twitter are probably not helping with this. I reflected on this a little bit more over the past couple of days from two observations. First, I’ve noticed a pattern on social media. It runs like this: Original Poster “Here’s my particular hot take. … Continue reading The death of conversation
Tag: debate
Should Christians disagree on social media?
Social media, whether it’s twitter or Facebook (I assume that TikTok and Instagram have the same challenges but I’m not trendy or young enough to know) isn’t always the easiest place to be. Friends fall out quickly, words are said, others are muted, unfriended and blocked. It can become toxic very quickly. Sadly, that seems… Continue reading Should Christians disagree on social media?
How many gods? -and when an atheist debates…
The other day I reshared this blog post from the old faithroots.net site. I reshared it in relation to a discussion that had come up on a friend’s Facebook page. Well, over the years since I first started Faithroots on the previous site, I’ve had an atheist blogger occasionally interact with what I write. I… Continue reading How many gods? -and when an atheist debates…
One less god?
“You don’t believe in 3000 gods, I just happen to believe in one less than you.” It’s one of the great claims atheists make against Christianity.[1] The argument is that there are so many possible options for a god to believe in, what is to say that your god is the true god? What makes… Continue reading One less god?
The hermeneutical foul
If you’ll indulge me, I want to say a little bit more about the recent debate that followed that Jonathan Leeman article. The article and the aftermath raised important questions about how we read and hear what others are saying, including God’s Word but also how we read and hear what each other are saying.… Continue reading The hermeneutical foul
Be careful little lips – on the language of political debate
Over the weekend, there was significant discussion about political culture and how politicians talk about each other and how the rest of us talk about politicians. Now, given that it looks likely that the person who attacked and murdered Sir David Amess was motivated by Islamist extremist, there is a reasonable response to this. Namely,… Continue reading Be careful little lips – on the language of political debate
If you are going to troll Christians at least get some basics right!
Here is Professor Alice Roberts (Professor of Public Engagement with Science at Birmingham University) expressing her views on Christianity. She goes on in her thread to raise the typical humanist complaint about Christiasn engaging in education and public life. Now, leaving aside any major disagreements about theology or philosophy, here are the bigger concerns. First… Continue reading If you are going to troll Christians at least get some basics right!
We are literally broken by our hyperbole
Every year, my wife and I have a kind of traditional conversation. I ask her what she is working on and she tells me that she is preparing the “persuasive writing” class for her students where they will learn about a number of rhetorical devises. I then respond with a grumble about how that is… Continue reading We are literally broken by our hyperbole
The death of public discourse
The other day, I wrote about this tweet and video clip Steve Kneale also managed to get himself into a bit of a twitter storm due to his comments on the clip. He has written about it here and here. One thing stands out for me though and it is this. As Steve rightly notes… Continue reading The death of public discourse
How to be a devil’s advocate
To be honest I’d rather that people wouldn’t. The Devil seems to be perfectly capable of being his own advocate and has a whole following of supporters genuinely willing to advocate for him. Furthermore, too often, it seems to me that “I’m just playing devil’s advocate” is what someone says when their argument has been… Continue reading How to be a devil’s advocate
Faithroots 