Friday, 11 April 2014

Religious Apologist Theme Park Rides

There must be a religious apologist theme park somewhere. If so, it should include a go-kart ride called "The Apologist Switchback."  You'll find it near the Dodgems.

Here is a summary of a discussion with a religious apologist with several, high-speed, hairpin turns that send logical arguments skidding off course and crashing into the barriers.


#
Date
Event
1
18 Mar 
The Apologist starts a thread entitled HMFR Revisited which provides links to a blog written Graham Veale and David Glass, where they provide their opinions on morality. 

2
18 Mar
I see nothing new in the Veale and Glass Blog (VAGB) and so I provide links to previously made counter-arguments, plus a link to explain their atheism Category Mistake.

3
21 Mar
The Apologist starts a new thread: Deconstructing RGFSMCL links which begins with the same links to the VAGB from line 1.  

He states that each of my counter-arguments is a combination of at least three logically fallacious arguments, and demonstrates this by connecting my counter-arguments to his own, ignoring the VAGB content. 

4
21 Mar
I provide links to previously made counter-arguments, this time with specific paragraph references to make it easier to match the counter-arguments to the arguments in the VAGB.

5
24 Mar
The Apologist again states that my counter-arguments are logically fallacious by connecting my counter-arguments to his own, ignoring the VAGB text to which I am responding.

6
24 Mar
I provide links to previously made counter-arguments, this time with some additional paragraph references.

7
27 Mar
The Apologist provides an analogy for atheism. 

8
27 Mar
I explain the analogy is a disanology. I ask if there's anything in the VAGB which requires a response as there was no reference to it on line 7.

9
29 Mar
The Apologist states the VAGB is now "off topic" and that he only referred to it "in passing" to demonstrate my counter-arguments are false constructs.  

He mentions that I haven't responded to his deconstruction.

10
29 Mar
I explain that the VAGB obviously wasn't mentioned "in passing" as it formed the introduction to two separate threads, including this one. 

11
29 Mar
The Apologist accuses me of dishonesty and of refusing to apologise for being dishonest.

12
29 Mar
I assume He hasn't read what I said on line 10, so I explain again.

13
29 Mar
The Apologist expresses faux disappointment that I haven't apologised for the counter-arguments that I provided on line 4 which he now describes as irrelevant and dishonest verbiage

The Apologist asks me to provide an objective basis of morality from my perspective

14
29 Mar
I explain that from my perspective, there is no fixed, objective basis for morality.

15
29 Mar
The Apologist responds by telling me that I am incapable of giving "honest" and "on topic" responses. 

16
29 Mar
I repeat that from my perspective, there is no fixed, objective basis for morality and I ask why that is off-topic, given that it was an answer to his question.

17
29 Mar
The Apologist tells me to present my point elsewhere and that I am disingenuous."

18
29 Mar
I provide a recap of lines 10-17

19
31 Mar
The Apologist states that the "Veale and Glass blog" isn't the subject, rather the subject is what he calls my "dishonest responses." 

20
31 Mar
It occurs to me that the confusion has arisen because the Apologist hasn't connected my counter-arguments to specific arguments in the VAGB.  So I provide a list of:

A) Specific paragraph from the VAGB

B) My specific counter-argument to that paragraph

C) Apologist's opinion of my specific argument, which he provided without the VAGB context

D) My response to his opinion

E) A summary of the flaws in the Apologist's “deconstruction” (columns A-D)

21
6 Apr
The Apologist starts a new thread "Deconstructing RGFSMCL links (taken to the top)" which dismisses my explanation of his deconstruction on line 20 (which he asked for on line 13).  

The Apologist suggests I should "take my explanation" to the original "HMFR Revisited" thread (even though this is impossible as it fell off the board 5 days previously). 

22
6 Apr
I explain that as the topic is the Apologist's so-called deconstruction”, my response to his deconstruction seem to be in the right place.  I also wonder which definition of tautology he is using.

23
6 Apr
The Apologist accuses me of using unreliable references. He then refers to the VAGB content on line 20 as JimC's version of the source material.  

The Apologist announces that he won't even bother with point E on line 20. 

The Apologist provides a definition of tautology taken from a wikipedia page that is clearly marked as being in error and unreliable.

24
6 Apr
I explain that I have not created a new version of the source material – I am quoting the source material verbatim.  

I also provide a link to the wikipedia page that has the reliable and approved definition of tautology, and I give illustrative examples of tautologies. 

25
7 Apr
The Apologist introduces a paragraph from the VAGB regarding genetics claiming I haven't responded to it. 

He states that I am re-writing everything and again suggests that I am providing versions of the source material

The Apologist states that I am using tricks, and my arguments are garbage”.

26
7 Apr
I explain how nothing has been re-written, that I quote the source material verbatim and don't create "versions" of it.

I refer to a previously provided counter-argument to the genetics argument in the VAGB. 

27
10 Apr
The Apologist states that my response on line 20 demonstrates that I have "re-written everything." He suggests that when I refer to the VAGB as source material I should provide a link to it. 

The Apologist states that my counter-argument to the Genetics argument (which he raised on line 25) is "confusing the issue." 

The Apologist states that he can't get back to point E (on line 20)  because (again) I have re-written everything.  

He states that he is happy to use an incorrect definition of tautology and my counter-arguments are falsehoods and verbal garbage

28
10 Apr
I explain that the content on line 20, including point E, is still there and nothing has been re-written. I ask why I need to provide links to the VAGB when it was The Apologist that originally provided them. 

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