Seems like a bad comparison, since, as an atheist, you don’t accept the Bible’s truth, so the things the preacher is saying are basically spam from your perspective. There’s also no need to feel self-conscious or defend your good-person-ness to this preacher, as you don’t accept the premises he’s arguing from.
It’s a different situation if you do accept the truth of the Bible. In that case, if the preacher has good Biblical evidence that you’re doing bad things and can’t stop without God’s grace, that would be worth listening to, and shutting down the preacher by asserting that you’re a “good person” is illegitimate.
Of course, you may be concerned that the preacher is misinterpreting the Bible in order to illegitimately gain power over people. That would be an issue of epistemology and of legitimacy. You may be able to resolve this by doing your own Biblical scholarship and conversing with the preacher if it seems he has relevant ideas.
Seems like a bad comparison, since, as an atheist, you don’t accept the Bible’s truth, so the things the preacher is saying are basically spam from your perspective. There’s also no need to feel self-conscious or defend your good-person-ness to this preacher, as you don’t accept the premises he’s arguing from.
Yes, and the preacher doesn’t ask me about my premises before attempting to impose their values on me. Even if I share some or all of the preacher’s premises, they’re trying to force a strong conclusion about my moral character upon me and put my reputation at stake without giving me a chance to critically examine the logic with which that conclusion was derived or defend my reputation. Seems like a rather coercive conversation, doesn’t it?
Does it seem to you that the preacher is engaging with me in good faith? Are they curious, or have they already written the bottom line?
Seems like a bad comparison, since, as an atheist, you don’t accept the Bible’s truth, so the things the preacher is saying are basically spam from your perspective. There’s also no need to feel self-conscious or defend your good-person-ness to this preacher, as you don’t accept the premises he’s arguing from.
It’s a different situation if you do accept the truth of the Bible. In that case, if the preacher has good Biblical evidence that you’re doing bad things and can’t stop without God’s grace, that would be worth listening to, and shutting down the preacher by asserting that you’re a “good person” is illegitimate.
Of course, you may be concerned that the preacher is misinterpreting the Bible in order to illegitimately gain power over people. That would be an issue of epistemology and of legitimacy. You may be able to resolve this by doing your own Biblical scholarship and conversing with the preacher if it seems he has relevant ideas.
Yes, and the preacher doesn’t ask me about my premises before attempting to impose their values on me. Even if I share some or all of the preacher’s premises, they’re trying to force a strong conclusion about my moral character upon me and put my reputation at stake without giving me a chance to critically examine the logic with which that conclusion was derived or defend my reputation. Seems like a rather coercive conversation, doesn’t it?
Does it seem to you that the preacher is engaging with me in good faith? Are they curious, or have they already written the bottom line?