Re: Why Christians Are Viewed Poorly

One factor shaping the general impression that people have of conservative
Christians is that many of them may get their input from the various news
media. What sort of events are likely to make the headlines? Agreeing with
science is much less likely to be deemed newsworthy than disputing it.

Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395

On Sat, 20 May 2006, Rich Blinne wrote:

> Why are Christians and specifically conservative Christians viewed
> poorly by society in general and secular scientists in particular?
> Let's look at a stereotype for a moment, namely conservative
> Christians are not interested in the truth. We know that this is
> untrue but how do we undo this misperception?
>
> Janice and I have been arguing about something that is at best off
> topic and at worst of no import. But, we can learn something important
> by looking at how the argument degenerated. This will give us a clue
> why we are not viewed well. I want to make this to be not about Janice
> or me but rather about the structure of the argument used today. Thus,
> I would like to depersonalize this and replace Janice and me with a
> secular scientist who though an unbeliever tries to be scrupulous in
> being honest and a conservative Christian who wants to represent
> Christianity in its best possible light. Let's also change the
> argument a bit. Let's say we are arguing about the belief that
> conservative Christians block scientific progress. The conservative
> Christian doesn't want to block science and wants to refute this bum
> accusation. If this argument proceeded like it did between Janice and
> me it might look something like this:
>
> Secular Scientist: I don't want to indict specific Christians but I
> have seen a tendency amongst them to block science. I see all this ID
> and YEC all around me being supported by conservative Christians. Yet,
> I don't want to falsely accuse individuals by giving specific
> examples.
>
> Conservative Christian: You must provide names and dates because you
> are being too vague. When have you seen Christians actually blocking
> science? Just because people believe ID and YEC doesn't mean they are
> blocking science. That's why you need to be more specific. As you say,
> you don't want to falsely accuse people.
>
> SS: Fair enough. Here's an example...
>
> CC: Didn't you just say it was WRONG to give a specific example?
>
> SS: (Spit takes his coffee) Didn't you just say I MUST give a specific
> example? Please leave.
>
> The secular scientist returns to his office convinced that the
> stereotype that Christians are not interested in the truth is true. If
> giving an example was indeed wrong why would a Christian who claims to
> value righteousness lead him into sin? If it is not wrong, why did the
> Christian ask him a no-win, complex question? He mutters to himself,
> "Bah, stupid Christians. Why did I give them the time of day anyway?"
>
Received on Sun May 21 20:03:55 2006