The Fundamentalist Argument Clinic. Part 1: Introduction

STOP PRESS 24/12/10: Network Norwich and Norfolk appear to have censored the thread that is the subject of this blog post. I had prepared for this not unexpected eventuality by copying the entire thread and will in due course be presenting it on this blog . NN&N appear to delete forum material regardless of whether or not it breaks their house rules; in fact in this particular connection I saw no violation of the house rules. The underlying and unarticulated policy seems to be one of suppressing contention. Thus my policy is to keep a close watch on NN&N and grab the gems as soon as they make an appearance. This material is too precious to leave in the hands of those who find themselves under pressure to censor it. (Note: The thread seems to have reappeared recently!)

This discussion thread on the local Christian website Network Norwich & Norfolk is noteworthy for reasons that I hope will become clear. I have copied the comments of the main protagonists and I will be reproducing them on this blog over the next few posts. The creator of the thread is someone who signs in as “g.s.” - I shall call him GS. GS is a fundamentalist. He appears to be unwilling or unable to sustain a reasoned argument over more that two or three sentences and instead engages in strong but bald assertions and accusations of wrong doing against God. He is a man of few words, a kind of evangelical terminator who well earns the term “Godbot”. A couple of sensible commentators attempted to redeem the thread from what was basically a cesspit of intellectual debauchery, but to no avail – I will not be publishing their particular comments as the thread is unworthy of their contributions.

The key to understanding the Christian fundamentalist approach to reasoning is their concept of the Holy Spirit. The fundamentalist may make a token effort to back up his assertions with appeals to his proprietary interpretation of the Bible, but in the final analysis the fundamentalist has a low view of reasoning of any kind regardless of whether or not such reasoning employs Biblical references. In fact, as I have said, in the extreme case of GS supporting argument is almost completely absent (even absent of the use of Biblical references). What inclines the Christian fundamentalist to a low view of reasoning is that he believes the Holy Spirit is arguing for the truth of his bald assertions in the privacy of the nonbeliever’s heart. Thus, the fundamentalist is released from the work of arguing – he can just assert his conclusions and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit if needs be. He can walk out after he has dropped his slanderous spiritual bombshells knowing that those who don’t agree with him are in complete darkness, have bad consciences and at worst are knowingly blaspheming the Holy Spirit. This not only relieves the fundamentalist of the responsibility of making reasonable representations, but it also gives him license to abuse his antagonists with spiritual insults; to him those antagonists must have heard the promptings of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and therefore must be disobeying God. It also allows the fundamentalist to condemn those he has never met or listened to: “If you are not with us you are against us. If you are against us you are against God”; “It’s our way or the blasphemous way”. As with the Islamic Jihadists the world beyond their legalistic sectarian community is thought of as a Satanic domain of war, conflict and contention upon which God’s judgment rests; the fundamentalist therefore has a prerogative to despise it. The tactic of exploiting the name of the Holy Spirit to underwrite a form of gnosto-fideism is common to the whole of the Christian fundamentalist scene – from the wacko charismatic sects through the Mormons and JW’s, to the traditional strict and particular evangelicals, they are all quite capable of asserting black is white if they believe the Holy Spirit is testifying to it!

Anyway, without further ado let me set the scene by reproducing the first two entries of the thread in question. (See italics below) I have added my comments in non-italics underneath the entries. Just one note of caution: The contributor GS has proved such a caricature of fundamentalism that there has been some doubt as to whether he is real or just a troll. I have reason to believe he is the genuine article, but draw your own conclusion.

Believing in evolution is blasphemy against God

To observe the great creation of which we are a part, and then to attribute that to evolution, is a vile form of blasphemy against God.

g.s. (Guest) 04/11/2010 11:10

So we’re off to a flying start, straight in with an accusation of blasphemy, the worst sin any one can commit. Too dull to be subtle GS can’t work up to it in stages but presses the nuclear button right away. Fundamentalist spiritual insults, especially directed toward Christian evolutionists, don’t come much stronger than this. Interesting to note that he conflates “evolution” with the whole of creation and not just biological change. But what makes this thread really notable is the comment that now follows:

geocentric believer (Guest) 04/11/2010 17:22  

You are a hypocrite g.s. How can you claim to be following the word of God when you don't believe the Earth to be stationary?

Wahey! This is going to be exciting! Looks like we’ve got a fundamentalist vs. fundamentalist death match on our hands. Fundamentalists often have huge egos – they will both be assured that the Holy Spirit is especially on their side and this will lead to a classic “immoveable object meeting the irresistible force” altercation.

Pastor Kerney Thomas is a Scream

Here is Pastor Kerney Thomas whose efforts to get God on the move bring down not just the roof but the whole of the heavens with it:



..and if you want the essential Pastor Thomas without the boring bits, the video below is the one for you:

SuperHero WeatherBillZero Saves the World!

In my last blog entry I posted a YouTube video by SuperSoylent on failed prophet Weatherbill7. Weatherbill7 predicted that during August and Early September California would be devastated by a tidal wave and mega earthquake. He had had, he claims, seven warnings of disaster; hence the "7", I assume. But needless to say not one of his warnings have materialized into anything real; that’s why he is better referred to as "WeatherbillZero". I’m not interested in the details, but WeatherBillZero’s prognostication methods involved what he called “casting lots” with a deck of cards. In the video below he appears to be facing up to his abject failure as a prophet by burning his tarot playing cards and admitting that he was just “plain old deceived”.

OK, so having faced the plain old painful truth about himself, does WeatherBillZero go back to being plain old Mr. Small Guy and try to forget all about it all? Not a bit of it. The humble, wimpy, nerdy looking WeatherbillZero doesn’t exactly cut a dash like one of those brash, suave, loud mouthed alpha male evangelists with a Death Star sized ego armoured with 24 inches of high carbon steel; but let’s not underestimate the power of the mythology that WeatherbillZero is tapping into, a mythology that presents the player with an attractive win-win option; in effect a game of "heads I win, tails you lose". For it seems that the above video was not the beginning of a restoration of integrity, but just a blip, a temporary crisis of confidence in an ego that, it now seems, is well back on track, as the commentary WeatherbillZero has added to his video indicates:

This is the deck of cards I've had for sometime now. Through these cards, I had casted lots. I thought, after the September 3rd mega quake did not come to pass, that I had been deceived, but I have come to realize, this was a judgement that was held off by The Call's (thecall.com) 14,000 Christian brethren who had prayed for God's mercy. God had answered and boy, do they not realize what they have done! They have stopped massive devastation on California! Praise God and the proof of this, is the more than 17+ sources at the web site, earthquake2010.org, who were given amazing signs that this was going to take place.

My accusers do not beleive in the power of prayer, so naturally, they are going to mock, ridicule and belittle all of this. To my accusers, I say, MAKE MY DAY! I am a man without reputation! I will preach the gospel in the face of my tormenters. No one is going to stop me! BTW, there is some wonderful worship music here on youtube at weatherbillmusic. Have a blessed day !

So weatherbillZero only thought he had been deceived when in fact he had achieved nothing less than help save America from destruction by getting thousands to pray and stop the catastrophe. In short WeatherbillZero has managed to reinflate his ego! The feel good factor has returned to his life.

The heroic fight against evil continues in WeatherBillZero's fantasies