Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
These arguments are to the kinds of defense of the Christian faith I hear coming from apologists who have been saying things like this for centuries. Even the tactics themselves are nearly identical.
How Trump’s Defenders Resemble Christian Apologists
1. The Divine Command Theory
"First of all, both Trump’s defenders and Christian apologists argue that the person atop the chain of command is always right by virtue of the fact that they are at the top. Whatever that person does IS what’s right by definition.
Yesterday Rudy Giuliani said that as long as Trump is president, he could shoot the FBI director in the Oval Office and still not be indicted for it. He would have to be removed from office first, and only then could he face any legal consequences for his actions. One can only assume Giuliani is here trying to slide the Overton window as far upward toward total legal immunity as possible in order to make it easier for the public to accept when the Republican-controlled chambers of Congress forgive him for anything less than actual murder. His argument is that whoever occupies that office can legally do anything he wants and still remain unindictable. As long as he’s a Republican, of course.
Defenders of the Christian faith have been pushing this same argument about God for much, much longer. The philosophical question itself goes all the way back to Plato’s character Euthypro, who asked if the gods approve of what is good because it is good–in and of itself–or if the gods approving of it is what makes it good? In other words, altering it for a monotheistic audience, does God like what is good because it is good, or simply because he likes it, and whatever he likes is automatically good because he likes it?
Given that no one has conclusively proven invisible beings are real, it’s kind of a moot discussion. But philosophically it’s still an interesting question, and the dilemma exposes a weakness in the very act of analyzing religious dogma: If you believe in an unimpeachable deity, then you can never legitimately question anything you are told he has done. You can only argue whether or not people are accurately representing what he has done.
Or for that matter if “he” is even a “he” rather than a “she” or an “it.” Personally, I’ve searched high and low among theistic apologists for an explanation why nature points to the existence of only one creator rather than of many. I have yet to hear any notable answers. But I digress.
The point is that the arguments put forth by Christian apologists and Trump’s legal defenders are essentially the same in this case. Of course that makes Trump essentially “like God” in ways that should make evangelical Christians recoil. But I’m willing to bet they will be the last demographic to finally stop defending him. If they ever do, that is."
more at the link
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godles...mail&utm_campaign=Nonreligious&utm_content=44
How Trump’s Defenders Resemble Christian Apologists
1. The Divine Command Theory
"First of all, both Trump’s defenders and Christian apologists argue that the person atop the chain of command is always right by virtue of the fact that they are at the top. Whatever that person does IS what’s right by definition.
Yesterday Rudy Giuliani said that as long as Trump is president, he could shoot the FBI director in the Oval Office and still not be indicted for it. He would have to be removed from office first, and only then could he face any legal consequences for his actions. One can only assume Giuliani is here trying to slide the Overton window as far upward toward total legal immunity as possible in order to make it easier for the public to accept when the Republican-controlled chambers of Congress forgive him for anything less than actual murder. His argument is that whoever occupies that office can legally do anything he wants and still remain unindictable. As long as he’s a Republican, of course.
Defenders of the Christian faith have been pushing this same argument about God for much, much longer. The philosophical question itself goes all the way back to Plato’s character Euthypro, who asked if the gods approve of what is good because it is good–in and of itself–or if the gods approving of it is what makes it good? In other words, altering it for a monotheistic audience, does God like what is good because it is good, or simply because he likes it, and whatever he likes is automatically good because he likes it?
Given that no one has conclusively proven invisible beings are real, it’s kind of a moot discussion. But philosophically it’s still an interesting question, and the dilemma exposes a weakness in the very act of analyzing religious dogma: If you believe in an unimpeachable deity, then you can never legitimately question anything you are told he has done. You can only argue whether or not people are accurately representing what he has done.
Or for that matter if “he” is even a “he” rather than a “she” or an “it.” Personally, I’ve searched high and low among theistic apologists for an explanation why nature points to the existence of only one creator rather than of many. I have yet to hear any notable answers. But I digress.
The point is that the arguments put forth by Christian apologists and Trump’s legal defenders are essentially the same in this case. Of course that makes Trump essentially “like God” in ways that should make evangelical Christians recoil. But I’m willing to bet they will be the last demographic to finally stop defending him. If they ever do, that is."
more at the link
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godles...mail&utm_campaign=Nonreligious&utm_content=44
