I was invited to speak at a high school leadership retreat in rural Oklahoma (south of Coffeyville, Ks) this last weekend. The Dalton Gang couldn't have felt more caught off guard than these kids.
The kids were from a church group and the event was organized by a cowboy friend of mine, Nathan Smith. They were learning leadership principles through horsemanship and camping out.
But my friend Nathan wanted to impress on the students that they may be unprepared to defend their faith. So he introduced me as a philosophy teacher from Kansas City, with whom he didn't agree with on some points, and asked the students to be respectful of me anyway.
Then I attacked. I argued for atheism, evolution, and secularism and denounced organized religion and all of its ills. My attack centered on the premise that the biggest obstacle for them in leadership is that they are churchgoers. And churchgoers, historically speaking, are ignorant, judgmental, and hypocritical. Ignorant because they don't want to know the truth. Judgmental because, in their ignorance, they tell other people how they should live. And hypocritical because they don't live by those rules behind closed doors.
For the most part the kids were kowtowed. Three high school girls tried to argue back but because I knew their side so well I cut them off, took things out of context, mocked them and put words in their mouths. I was telling them about my well worn copy of Darwin's On the Origin of Species (which is true but not in the sense I presented it), when one girl asked if I'd even read the Bible. I told her that I'd read it more thoroughly than she had.
Finally after about 15 minutes of torture, I told them that it was good that I didn't believe most of the things that I'd been arguing. I told them that I didn't just teach philosophy but was actually a minister in Kansas City. The only thing Nathan I really disagreed on was his love for horses. The kids, though rattled, seemed to be greatly relieved.
But I told them that not all of my diatribe was disingenuous. I really do believe that many church people are ignorant, judgmental, and hypocritical and I challenged them not to be that way if they were going to be leaders.
After this I taught two classes on apologetics and headed for home. What an interesting experience; I hope it made an impression.
3 comments:
They didn't stand a chance!! I love it!
What would you have done if one of those kids was well versed and had great arguments? What if he would have just put you in your place? How funny would that have been.
Chad
Every time they got close, I'd cheat. I'd cut them off, take their words in the worst possible light, and use ad hominem attacks to distract them. I was loud, arrogant, and had a chip on my shoulder that made everything personal.
I just tried to channel Bill Maher or Richard Dawkins.
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