The Least Helpful Tactic in a Theological Discussion
It is good for people with different interpretations to discuss their differences. Even within the church, we do not have to agree on every little thing. In fact this diversity can enhance the beauty of the church.
However, I have noticed a trend in theological discussions, something especially prevalent in debates on social media. This is the tendency to dismiss people with a label.
Technically this is a form of the ad hominem fallacy. This is defined as:
(Attacking the person): This fallacy occurs when, instead of addressing someone’s argument or position, you irrelevantly attack the person or some aspect of the person who is making the argument. The fallacious attack can also be direct to membership in a group or institution.
The form of this fallacy that I’m talking about is not necessarily attacking the person but dismissing the person because of the label that has been attributed to them. It goes something like this:
“I don’t have to listen to that person because they are…”
- A fundamentalist
- A liberal
- A Republican
- Woke
- Complimentarian
- LGBTQ+
The one thing I will say is that this seems to be equally a temptation for people all along the religious and political spectrum.
The idea is that there are certain people that we do not have to take seriously. They belong to a group or an ideology that can be judged and dismissed without examining the argument at hand.
This has been around for a long time. The Roman Catholics dismissed the Lutherans. The Lutherans dismissed the Calvinists. The Calvinists dismissed the Anabaptists.
Yes, sometimes there was real theological debate. But then as now, there was a temptation to write someone off based on their label.
Sometimes those labels are accurate and sometimes they are not. But either way, we need to listen to what the other person says. I love this wisdom from James:
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (James 1:9)
Being quick to listen means that we cannot just dismiss people out of hand. Feel free to disagree but at least taking opposing views seriously.
