Thanks for the comment. I hope that won’t happen, but definitely see your point.
Because you’re implying that them being wrong about everything is possible.
Assuming you read it (or the first page), do you think that my paragraph about intentionally not offering any specific reasons will be any encouragement/enticement to stick around for the rest? I didn’t add any arguments specifically because what you said above is so true. No one can listen or empathize once they feel the need to defend.
Also, given that many of these people really do care about my wife (and I), do you think personal connection would offer any additional incentive/motivation?
Thanks for the valuable input. My brother suggested that writing it for myself was perhaps the most valuable aspect of the document as well.
ETA: Having re-read the freethoughtblog post, I think I get it more now. It’s not just the content… it’s my existence as an atheist and admitting it that’s potentially offending. To be fair, I did very much want to insert quite a good amount of hope and happiness toward the end to remove any views that to deconvert alone is what causes sadness/bad fortune, etc.
Yes, that’s what I was trying to say—“atheists exist” is a sufficiently threatening thought to block all further consideration.
(And, of course, Catholic apologetics is some of the most sophisticated in Christendom.)
Idea that occurs to me: Do you think you could do a single-page summary? There’s a chance they might read it and not just go “ah, an atheist—tl;dr”. Then they can have the ten-page version if they like. “For the full version, see my blog.”
Gotcha. I’m still not sure my specific readership will say, as you put it, “An, an atheist—tl;dr,” but I’ll keep thinking about this. I hoped it would be concise (not necessarily 1 page, but not 10, either). As with most of my things, it ended up much longer than I expected. Thanks for the continued input.
Thanks for the comment. I hope that won’t happen, but definitely see your point.
Assuming you read it (or the first page), do you think that my paragraph about intentionally not offering any specific reasons will be any encouragement/enticement to stick around for the rest? I didn’t add any arguments specifically because what you said above is so true. No one can listen or empathize once they feel the need to defend.
Also, given that many of these people really do care about my wife (and I), do you think personal connection would offer any additional incentive/motivation?
Thanks for the valuable input. My brother suggested that writing it for myself was perhaps the most valuable aspect of the document as well.
ETA: Having re-read the freethoughtblog post, I think I get it more now. It’s not just the content… it’s my existence as an atheist and admitting it that’s potentially offending. To be fair, I did very much want to insert quite a good amount of hope and happiness toward the end to remove any views that to deconvert alone is what causes sadness/bad fortune, etc.
Yes, that’s what I was trying to say—“atheists exist” is a sufficiently threatening thought to block all further consideration.
(And, of course, Catholic apologetics is some of the most sophisticated in Christendom.)
Idea that occurs to me: Do you think you could do a single-page summary? There’s a chance they might read it and not just go “ah, an atheist—tl;dr”. Then they can have the ten-page version if they like. “For the full version, see my blog.”
Gotcha. I’m still not sure my specific readership will say, as you put it, “An, an atheist—tl;dr,” but I’ll keep thinking about this. I hoped it would be concise (not necessarily 1 page, but not 10, either). As with most of my things, it ended up much longer than I expected. Thanks for the continued input.