in the face of evil
Seldom I believe have I written quite so prophetically as I did last week, most assuredly without any such intention on my part. A young man of relatively close acquaintance took exception to comments I made elsewhere supporting the opinions expressed by the Reverend Franklin Graham concerning the current administration’s order for all schools across the country to allow students to choose the restrooms and locker rooms according to “their internal sense of gender.”
Drowning in Silence
What profoundly saddened was how my remarks so easily offended, not for the opinion expressed or the logic of the argument but for the mere suggestion that those so deluded were suffering from a form of insanity. Here is some of what I wrote:
Instead of offering reasoned argument to refute either Franklin Graham’s or my stated opinions, what he provided was a near perfect example of what I mentioned last week, an eristic argument. So much more so as my respondent stated multiple times “I’m not arguing the issue,” rather he took every occasion to denigrate and insult both our character and our beliefs. He mischaracterized what each of us had written and completely ignored debating the issue. He objected to analogies made and turned them into baseless and fallacious statements of fact.
Perhaps most disturbing beyond his mere name calling and insults was his statement “You have no empathy for sinners and you think you are a saint that can condescendingly look down on everyone that disagrees with you.” I simply cannot fathom where that statement was born for I have never claimed sainthood and as a sinner I could never condescend on anyone, even he with whom may rest some disagreement.
As Peter Kreeft writes:
Love doesn’t call for silent acquiescence in the face of evil; it demands courage to confront evil with your mind, your soul, your strength, and above all with your voice.
1 Peter Kreeft, Socratic Logic: A Logic Text Using Socratic Method, Platonic Questions, and Aristolelian Principles, Ed. 3.1, St. Augustine’s Press, 2014, p 22.
