Incoherent Ramblings About Genocide and Cooked Eggs


Incoherent ArgumentsIn discussions with atheists, I always find it both amusing and puzzling that they almost never fail to make statements such as "I believe human sacrifice is wrong" or "in my opinion the Canaanite genocide was wrong". Now either they are trying to persuade me that such things are objectively wrong (in which case they have just denied their atheism) or in the unlikely event that they are really just giving me a personal opinion, I can only answer, "that's nice, good for you. Good luck with that". For if it is merely a personal opinion among millions of others, the statement is about as meaningful as the most absurd trifle.

A personal opinion about right and wrong has zero authority ... so why talk about it so often and passionately if you did not think it is truly right or wrong? if all is relative, as you claim, then someone else's opinion is not only just as valid, but to be celebrated. There is no "better" or "worse", "right" or "wrong" opinion in a relativistic world ... for something to be "better" would imply there was an objective standard of truth he/she was measuring it by.

A frequent visitor who is an atheist replied to this comment by challenging me with the following incoherent rambling:

"If I say, 'A cooked egg is better than a raw egg. Would you reply, "You stated an opinion about eggs. You must believe in an objective standard of egg quality."

My Response: Your statement is quite revealing as you equate an opinion about genocide with an opinion about eggs. That is about right. Eggs and genocide are equally meaningful in a meaningless universe ... ... It really comes down to the following question ...What are you trying to accomplish by telling me something I believe is immoral if you are not trying to persuade me you are right? If you are not trying to persuade me of the rightness of your position, then you are telling me something quite irrelevant. I don't care what your personal opinion is .... It is like you telling me your favorite color is purple. So what. Good for you.... No, people passionately talk about genocide as being wrong because it is wrong objectively ... it is not anything like talking about eggs. To be consistent a relativist one would have to acknowledge that another persons' opinion about genocide or human sacrifice is just as valid and would celebrate our differences of opinion -- because it is just like an opinion about eggs. :)

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 13:02 -- john_hendryx

By Topic

Joy

By Scripture

Old Testament

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

New Testament

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Hebrews

James

1 Peter

2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

Jude

Revelation

By Author

Latest Links