Once upon a time, I thought that I could sway those on the other side of the political and religious fence with well-articulated arguments consisting of facts and common sense. Over time, it became apparent that this strategy and tactic was not feasible as the vast majority of those on the wrong side of the debate, those which I was most likely to engage, were horribly closed-minded; they generally come from one of two groups: “educated” academics and the wannabe “educated” pseudo-intellectuals. Here is a brief excerpt from an essay I wrote about a year ago.
I pondered on why some academics are intensely hateful and condescending toward those with whom they disagree and why many, otherwise intelligent, individuals become sycophants, enabling, even encouraging, this behavior. I came to the conclusion that some academics have spent their entire adult life in a sheltered ivory tower that has caused them to develop a fundamental disconnect to the rest of society; over time, this disconnect manifests itself in an ever increasing conflict with those who are outside their comfort zone, the very world of textbook theory they have come to believe is reality. Seeing themselves as the gatekeepers of knowledge, they become convinced that all who disagree with them are merely ignorant, for some reason fail to recognize their intellectual superiors. Initially, they seek to enlighten these poor unfortunates, but quickly receive resistance; unable to cope with this, mainly because the minds of these particular academics are incapable of grasping the concept of intelligence apart from years of formal education, they dehumanize their opponents and hate takes root. Unwilling to associate themselves with the uneducated masses that dare to question their beliefs, they surround themselves with like-minded individuals who have not attained the same level of academic achievement, these individuals believe that they can enter into the elite corps simply by association. These people, low on self-esteem, fuel the delusions of the academic by unquestioningly affirming their allegiance, in return they receive the much craved affirmation from the academic that, they too, are superior to the rabble of society...but not quite as superior as the academic. I must stress this does not apply to all academics, I know quite a few people who have achieved advanced degrees, from Politicians to Professors, with whom I can carry on a conversation with, even on subjects which we profoundly disagree, and leave with the same amount or more mutual respect than what we had at the beginning. I do not seek to cover all academics with a judgmental blanket, but rather encourage all, paraphrasing Dr. Martin Luther King, to judge an individual by the content of their character.
With this in mind, it becomes clear that these people believe what they say; their indoctrination is so complete that they have become corrupted to the core. These are a significant percentage of those with whom we engage in public debate, whether it be face-to-face or via Internet forums; while it is true that there are others, such as those who just hate for the fun of it or those who are just willfully ignorant (a fancy way of saying stupid), the pseudo-intellectuals are the ones who must be dealt with most of all. Remember, when we debate, the debate is not just for the benefit of the participants, but those who are bystanders, paying careful attention to the proceedings, these are the people with whom we are actually engaged; if you understand this simple fact, you have already made great strides toward winning the debate and letting the light of God’s truth shine. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 3:6-9…
6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
Some will hear or read the words I write and have a seed planted, others will have the seed watered, still others will be cultivated…that is the work to be done. Once you have the realization that our debates are actually a ministry, we must move on to recognize what role we are playing…that role is not the teacher or the comforter, it is the warrior. Do not be deceived; those of us who are participants in the arena of ideas are warriors, even gladiators, for our respective King; for us, that is God, for them, that is the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”. Within the Word of God, in Ephesians 6:12, we find our commission:
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
These that we engage in are the foot soldiers of the enemy, and we must engage them fiercely in battle…not with the bayonets and rifles, but with the sword of the Word of God and the mind of Christ, which we have been given.
So…the arena is now a battlefield and we are the warriors, this should make our strategy clear: our goal is not to persuade or cajole the enemy’s forces to come to our side, it is to figuratively destroy them. How is this done? They must be discredited, thoroughly. Our strategy is clear, destroy the enemy by discrediting them and winning the minds of the bystanders, but what it our tactics? When I was in the military, one thing that was pounded into our heads was the concept of knowing your enemy; this means knowing his motivations and his tactics. The pseudo-intellectual has spent most of his thinking life in an echo-chamber where we are described as “ignorant” and “uneducated”, this is all they know of us, and it reflects in their tactics. It quickly becomes clear to them that their arguments do not carry weight in the real world and their true character shows…they resort to name-calling, condescension, and outright character assassination in an attempt to defeat us. We must use this against them, they will almost always challenge us to “prove” our assertions to them…do not fall for this ploy; they are seeking a way to twist the Word of God into something it is not. God’s word tells us this explicitly in Matthew 7:6…
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Instead, listen carefully at the assertions they are making and then challenge them to prove their assertions, and then after they are battered and weak, hit them with the Word for the final blow. Be persistent, they will try to side-step the challenge or throw out many lies and red herrings to try to deflect it, but make them prove themselves, which they cannot.
Do not fall into the trap of civility, many believers will admonish you for being too harsh, but remember this is warfare, not a tea party. Do not turn on your allies, though, simply ignore them, do not even address their concerns, lest you start in-fighting and give the enemy the victory. If you must respond, remember that Jesus was pretty forceful in dealing with the enemy…consider the following:
- · Read scripture about how He treated the money changers when He cleansed the temple
- · When Peter told Jesus that He was wrong about the necessity of His death, Jesus replied by rebuking him, saying “Get behind me, Satan!”…that’s pretty rough.
- · When Jesus sent the disciples out two-by-two to preach the Gospel to every village and town, He told them to brush the dust of their streets off of their sandals if they were not welcomed. Think long and hard about the implications of this act…there is no ambiguity here, this act is stating emphatically that I want to be nowhere near you when you get your comeuppance. This is also an insult to many Middle-Easterners as it is saying that their town is not even worthy of dirtying your shoes.
- · While it wasn’t Jesus, John the Baptist referred to the Scribes and Pharisees who came out for baptism as a “brood of vipers”, does this sound warm and fuzzy to you?
- · Read through the New Testament words of Paul, they’re not always the most kind and gentle when he is dealing with agents of evil.
- · Read in the book of Acts the words that Peter use with Simon Bar-Jesus, when he sought to buy the power of the Holy Spirit.
Remember, though, you must use discernment, do not use this tactic on someone who is truly seeking, as you may turn them away from the truth they are looking for, with them, we must always be as gentle as possible, but unafraid to shake them up a little. Some will say that we are driving those who reject the truth even further away from God with sharp rebukes, but I say that the further away they are from God, the closer they are to the utter bowels of defeat that so many of us, including myself, must come to before we realize that there is a God who loves us and desperately longs to forgive us and be with us.
Finally, do not be afraid to call the enemy out on whom and what they are, most are religious or political bigots and they are all liars…in a nutshell, God commands us to speak the truth with courage and conviction, but we are not to suffer fools.
God be with you and to the victor goes the glory of yet another crown to cast at the feet of Jesus.
