Kevin Stilley

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November 21, 2009 by kevinstilley

Debating God

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Recently my colleagues and I attended a debate on the topic “Does God Exist?”.  The primary audience for the debate was private high school and middle school students. In our post-debate debrief one of my friends stated, “If you are going to put on a debate like this for a group of kids, you’d better be sure you win.”  Unfortunately, it was none to apparent that the pro-God side won.  At best it was a draw.

Dinesh D’Souza was the voice of theism in the debate.  I have heard him many times and he is quite competent in such a forum.  However, the voice of atheism, Dan Barker, was also quite effective in planting the seeds of doubt.  And, I am convinced that many a student left the auditorium with the suspicion that Barker was what he claimed to be — the voice of  “reason and kindness”.

The school planned follow-up discussions with the students in their classrooms.  Hopefully, that time was used effectively in exorcising residual suspicions and fears.  Even now I am praying for those who were in attendance.

That is the background, now let me get to the point.  Students need to be confronted with arguments against their own beliefs and worldview.  If they are not exposed to opposing arguments and claims in an environment where those arguments and claims can be effectively debunked then they become prime targets for sophists and philosophical snipers.  Thus, it is a GOOD thing to expose your children to error.  If you are doing so in a controlled environment you are inoculating them against many dangerous viral ideas.

HOWEVER, when attempting to inoculate the young, you must make sure that you exposing them to error in a controlled environment.  Or, as my friend said, you’d better make sure you win.  Truth has nothing to fear in the marketplace of ideas.  But, truth poorly defended when error has a fully loaded arsenal can be as harmful when presented in a Christian environment as it is in the homeland of error.

Careful, careful, . . .

Filed Under: Apologetics, Blog, Front Page, Philosophy Tagged With: Apologetics, Atheism, Dan Barker, debate, Dinesh D'Souza

June 6, 2008 by kevinstilley

Free Expression & Censorship On College Campuses

I am confused. Should not the ideology behind liberalism promote free expression? Yet, it would seem that on most college campuses free expression of ideas is only free for those who agree with the dominant liberal culture. Whether in the area of poli-sci, the hard sciences, or journalism it is simply not acceptable to openly express conservative ideas.

In Letters To A Young Conservative, Dinesh D’Souza shares what happened when he was invited to a university to speak. He arrived to find protesters with bullhorns and placards surrounding the auditorium making it impossible to enter without the assistance of security. The protesters then proceeded to follow him into the auditorium where they did everything possible to keep him from sharing his thoughts with those assembled.

Undoubtedly the high point of the evening occurred near the end of my talk when the large, disheveled woman came rolling up the aisle shouting, “We don’t need a debate! Stop this man from speaking! My usual strategy in such circumstances is to try to calm the protester down and engage in a discussion, but this time there was no point. Finally, the woman was dragged from the room by the campus police. On her way out she yelled, “I am being censored! I am being censored!

It is amazing to me that so many of those who invoke the first amendment to justify their own right to freedom of expression, are often the same people who will do everything possible to keep others from expressing ideas contrary to their own. Maybe what we need most on our college campuses are courses in critical thinking.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Blog, campus, college, conservativism, constitution, Dinesh D'Souza, Education, first amendment, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, liberalism, university

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