Morning, everybody.
Tim Bartnick asks two reasonable questions. The first is that if folks locally can discount what Johnson says and does, then why do we need to defend ourselves against him? First, the answer is that we do not have to. The point was not to defend against Johnson’s charges, but rather to point out how many other people (who do not have his loose cannon reputation) were starting to act like him. So we do have to defend ourselves against others locally who have begun to employ the same kind of reckless charges and slanders as Johnson has. Logos School a white supremacist academy? For pity’s sake. Anti-Semitism? Geez Louise. One good way to do this is to point out the similarity in tactics.
At the same time, I have to admit that I was a bit too optimistic about whether Johnson has been entirely discounted here locally. Over the weekend, I received a communication from someone whose rationalism did not protect him from the forces of unreason. That communication was another chapter in the continuing saga of Gullible’s Travels.
The second question is whether the Bible prohibits conservative ministers from “retaliating” (I would say responding) in this way. The answer is that it depends. As Jesus said at His trial, “If I have done wrong, then testify to the wrong. If not, why do you strike me?” There are circumstances when it is best to simply say nothing, as Christ did throughout most of His trial. There are other times when the Scriptures call us to make a vigorous defense, as the apostle Paul when slandered by various false apostles (see Galatians and 2 Corinthians).
Cordially,
Apologetics in the Void” are repostings from an on-going electronic discussion and debate I had some time ago with members of our local community, whose names I have changed. The list serve is called Vision 20/20, and hence the name “visionaries.” Reading just these posts probably feels like listening to one half of a phone conversation, but I don’t feel at liberty to publish what others have written. But I have been editing these posts (lightly) with intelligibility in mind.