fanatina

I hope I picked the right forum for this question; it is about participating in debates about the Bible. I keep getting into religious arguments on various internet forums, which is the reason I ended up hearing about and joining this website in the first place. I am probably older than most of the posters I have been debating; they seem to be in their teens or twenties for the most part. My question to all of you (regardless of your beliefs) is:

Is it just my imagination, or are young people not learning to think critically anymore?

My reasons for asking this question are due to the fact a lot of the people I have been debating are taking the position that 1) the bible is the Word of God, period and 2) there are things in the Bible which no longer apply to us (animal sacrifices) but that doesn't invalidate the parts that do and 3) it is self-evident which parts still apply and which do not.

My typical debate runs as such:

Question: Why did God order the Judeans to slaughter the Canaanites? Answer: because the Canaanites refused to obey God's law and give their land to the invaders. No debate there!

Question: Why, among the enormous number of commandments that God gave Moses in Leviticus, are we supposed to still obey some (thou shalt not lie with another man as with a woman) and ignore others (thou shalt not eat of "unclean" animals)? Answer: because some of those commandments were simply given for health reasons. It should be obvious which ones no longer apply.

What amazes me in these debates is that these people can hold contradictory beliefs (everything in the Bible is true and is God's word; some of what's in the Bible is no longer true or necessary) and also believe that their interpretation of what falls into each category is the ONLY ONE POSSIBLE makes me fear for the intellectual capacity of the next generation. Am I the only one who is worried about this? Please give me your thoughts!

K

fanatina:

I've also run into several (most likely younger) Christians who seem to not be able to think critically. I hope it's only in this one area of their lives, but I have my doubts given the reasoning used to support their positions.

However, I have also seen debate from other younger people here that is extremely well reasoned. Many seem to be FAR better critical thinkers than I ever could have hoped to be at that age. I'm not worried about the future.

CX

I think this might be better suited to MRD. Let's go over there...

Jamie_L

Well, for starters, the internet in general is not a good cross-section of people in general. Further, specific discussion boards are going to skew that cross-section even further. Lastly, the kind of people who get riled up enough to debate things on those boards gets us into a really small set of folks - especially when we're talking about passionate religious believers.

In general, I also have concerns about the ability of coming generations to think clearly. However, it's not as bad as it might seen when viewed through the tunnel-vision of a religious internet discussion board.

Jamie

Evil Milkman

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From my experiences I believe more and more that people all ages aren't thinking very critically. The main problem is that they think they are thinking critcally. I just turned 18, and I sense that only a very small minority of people my own age seem to think critically at all.

Also, if you are not already doing so, use your own intellectual guns and return fire. Example:

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You could reply with something like, "Well, in that case, is it possible that God is ordering God-believing Americans to slaughter foreign unbelievers?" This may not be a strong argument, but remember, they still have the obligatory burden 'o proof. It only sheds light on the absurdity of it all.

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Ask them this : "Who exactly is the true arbitrator of the Bible and its "truths?" If they say the clergy, ask them why they can't agree on some major issues.

As for being worried about the lack of critical thinking among younger people, I'd say that I'm slightly concerned rather than worried. Who knows? Maybe a new trend of "critically thinking young adults" will come and stay for good? I know I'm hoping for that.

"Those who will not reason are bigots, those who cannot are fools, and those that dare not are slaves." - Lord Byron

Mecha_Dude

I dunno. I'm in 8th grade and for my entire year thus far, we've been encouraged by our science teacher to think critically. Obviously it isn't working because over 90% of my class is composed of:
Creationists

fanatina

Mecha_Dude, now I'm REALLY scared!

I shouldn't have singled out young people for this, I guess. I have actually been having these discussions with a number of people closer to my age, and not necessarily on the internet. So I don't think it's just a problem with our current educational system, but maybe just a worrisome trend I'm seeing in America. People I would consider pretty well-educated are surprisingly unconcerned with inquiring as to the accuracy or logic of their Holy Book. I know, this is a matter of faith to them, you're supposed to accept it and not challenge it. But they don't even seem to WONDER why God had a Chosen people, for example; why did He play favorites? Isn't our Heavenly Father supposed to love us all? How could a "just" God frequently punish animals and children for the sins of others? It doesn't even seem to bother them! What happened to the natural rebelliousness of our youth? Shouldn't they be questioning some of this instinctively?

I'm not trying to trash the Bible or those who regard it as a source of wisdom and inspiration. I have spoken with so many people recently, though, who, though they don't necessarily take everything in the Bible literally, insist that there is only one true interpretation of it, and you must accept it in its entirety (as interpreted by them) to be considered a good Christian.

I will look for the well-reasoned arguments of some of the Christian posters here and see if I can dispel some of my worries. I'll check back later.