I call upon You, Lord, God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob and Israel, You who are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who, through the abundance of your mercy, was well-pleased towards us so that we may know You, who made heaven and earth, who rules over all, You who are the one and the true God, above whom there is no other God; You who, by our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, give to every one who reads this writing to know You, that You alone are God, to be strengthened in You, and to avoid every heretical and godless and impious teaching.

St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies 3:6:4


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Abortion Arguments are Sexless │ Here’s a Good Way to Demonstrate the Fact


Over on his blog, Josh Brahm considers how to present a winsome response to one of the most tedious pro-abortion objections: “Shut Up! You’re a man; you have no right to make judgments about a women’s issue—you’ll never be pregnant!”

The temptation is to play Captain Obvious and announce the palpably evident ad hominem fallacy involved. However, when someone makes this objection, it provides proof that the individual is not at all concerned about clear reasoning and logical consistency. At this point, she’s sharing her crass indignation not her careful inferences, arbitrariness not argument. So, announcing her guilt in the fallacy is only one of a million other ways to poorly end the dialogue.

Josh’s conversation illustrates the several many ways (sorry, village idiom) to actually establish connections in common ground with his interlocutor.

He concludes the post pointing out other fruit that the approach bears, which significantly influences the trajectory of the dialogue toward very fruitful fields.

It’s a must read for anyone interested in obeying Christ in our culture. However ironic it may sound, it’s just for us guys—men only! (Not really, we all can profit from many of the points, because of our shared humanness. ;)

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