Some Things Just Cannot Be Said

I was reading an exchange between a Christian and an atheist today and the discussion became a little ugly. I’m not going to link to the discussion because the discussion itself is beside the point and included PG-13 language, which I don’t care for.

In this discussion, the Christian essentially started out by calling the atheist a fool and the atheist called him an idiot back. This is often what apologetic discussions turn into, unfortunately. There’s a reason for this.

At one point, the Christian threw out a reference to Matthew 7:6, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” The atheist then responded (demonstrating the warning in the verse) with Matthew 5:22, “and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

I have a problem with the way both statements are used. Regarding the Christian using the passage in 7:6, if you have to say it, you’ve already made a mistake. It is my opinion that some things just cannot be said. This is one of them. If you are dealing with swine, move on. If they press you for an answer, you can simply say, “You are not going to change your mind, you have cursed my God, so I’m moving on to someone else whose mind is still open. When you are ready to open your mind and to seek God rather than scorn the idea of his existence, talk to me again.”

Regarding, Matthew 5:22, the context of the passage regards anger. If the writer was calling the atheist a fool because he believes something foolish, atheism is by God’s definition, foolish, then there’s no problem naming him as such. Unrighteous anger is the sin, not name calling.

In any case, just quitting the conversation might have been better than throwing out a reference that really speaks to the Christian, not the atheist. The atheist is going to call this retreat a success just as he’ll call the name calling a success just as he’ll call anything he does in the debate a success. It is in the nature of someone who is committed to his world view (and, of course, that can cut both ways as well).

Cheers.