Dedicated to all those tolerant people who want everyone who doesn’t agree with them to shut up.
With a handshake,
Joshua / NAA
Entirely fictional record of an online exchange between a theist and a non-theist:
Theist: Hey! This is my first time posting on this forum. I look forward to being challenged on what I believe. All sincere posts and exchanges welcome!
Non-Theist: Well, I would say “welcome” to you, but I’ll start by saying that your kindness sickens me. I’m not even sure that your kind deserves the decency of an honest attempt at understanding.
Theist: @Non-theist: Uh, should I say “thank you”? Anybody else out there?
Non-Theist: Just avoid all my questions! It doesn’t matter anyway. Anybody who believes in spaghetti monsters or an intergalactic Santa in the sky is mentally challenged. You are delusional and suffer from some sort of retardation. Everybody knows you’re just here to make converts to your fairy tale stories and self-delusion. Frankly, I’m sick of your kind always coming into forums all happy and trying to force your beliefs down our throats.
Theist: @Non-Theist: I’m not sure if I should feel flattered or not by all this attention that I’m getting from you. Should I? What questions did you ask me btw?
Non-Theist: Anybody with an IQ of a piece of crap could see the questions in my first reply. Guess that excludes you! U R DUMB! Get it yet? You and your invisible daddy are a complete joke and your are a sick individual. GET HELP NOW!
Theist: @Non-theist: Take a moment to step away from the keyboard, maybe get outside a little bit in the real world.
Non-Theist: [row of expletives] theist! Always trying to wiggle your way out of everything. Sick. Sick. SICK!!! You are an embarrassment to evolution!!!!!!!
Theist: @Non-Theist: ???
Non-Theist: [row of expletives]
I’ve come to the conclusion of late that on-line forums produce nothing but ulcers.
Beware the online forums!
Watch an elderly man ramble to the point of forgetting his point while trying to defend his religion at all costs. Then listen to John Lennox.
What do you think about this kind of interaction?
As for me, I really enjoyed this exchange. When guys of their caliber get involved in a public debate, usually they are so formal and rigid that presentations are emotionless and the exchange gets boring. That’s what I enjoyed most about these two going at it. They didn’t really hold back. Peter Atkins, a brilliant chemist for sure, says exactly what’s on his mind, even when there’s nothing on it.
Does John Shook still carry around an intellectual palmprint after this philosophical face slap?
And I just wanted to add that I hope that John really remembers this gapping hole in his position. Really.