I will post a slightly edited copy of the email, along with empirical evidence that proves that I AM a serious thinker. Here's the email:
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Paul,
I think you want to be known as a serious thinker. With you post ... you misrepresented me and the arguments in my book ... Anyone who thumbs through the pages of my book will see that you did. Now I know you hate me with the hatred of your God, but that does not give you the right to misrepresent what I write. One last time. If you do this you will lose credibility in the eyes of people who have actually do read through my book. That's the bottom line. They will see you are not being honest as a thinker. Now I understand you don't think I deserve any honesty, since you believe God may have created me for hell. But by not being honest about the arguments of another person it will reveal that you are not interested in the truth. Whether or not you are, cannot be seen by your readers. And unless you do, your arguments will not help those who read my book who are looking for good solid reasons against what I've written. I think I've said this before. In my book I try as best as I can NOT to misrepresent my intellectual opponents, and I would gladly accept any criticism from anyone who can show that I did. That's why I AM considered a serious thinker and you are not, even if you think I'm dead wrong.
Here's an email I received from a serious thinker about you:
Manata's not a thinker, he's a fighter. You know that. Thinking isn't for truth-finding, it's just a tool to fight with for him, only as useless as it is effective as a combat weapon.Regards,
So, color me cynical, but I think he would be one of the last you should wait on for some kind of honest reckoning.
It's too bad because he has the capacity and faculties to be a good thinker. Blows punks like Hays out of the water. But Christianity is a clenched fist swung in anger against the philistines -- it keeps him from physical violence, and still feeds the narcissism and fear that drives his deep need to fight, to abuse.
Don't hold your breath. ;-)
A couple people I've talked to -- like one of the guys at prosblogion -- come to the conclusion you'd expect with Manata. Not credible, a hack, and in an unfortunate way, because he could be something more. Serious thinkers are unlikely to be taken in by Manata's sophistry, I think.
A. Serious Thinker
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But I take umbrage with the above. Anyone with eyes can see that, in fact, I AM a serious thinker:
Doin' some serious thinking(P.S. Note the demonstrably false claim about Steve Hays. Drops the credibility down to around zero.)
Paul, I'm glad you posted this because it made my day. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI find it incredibly ironic that in railing about being misrepresented this individual, well, misrepresents his opponent!
"With you post ... you misrepresented me and the arguments in my book ... Anyone who thumbs through the pages of my book will see that you did. Now I know you hate me with the hatred of your God, but that does not give you the right to misrepresent what I write. One last time. If you do this you will lose credibility in the eyes of people who have actually do read through my book. "
After all that talk about not having the right to misrepresent him and losing credibility, here's the kicker:
"Now I understand you don't think I deserve any honesty, since you believe God may have created me for hell."
Therefore, by his own standard, he has lost all credibility by misrepresenting you guys. Unless his own standard is the intellectually UN-credible notion that he is the only one who has the right to be represented properly.
So, there are really two options here:
1) The writer of the email is not a serious thinker.
2) The writer produced this as a joke.
Once again, thank you for making my day.
Gee, I wonder what lofty person that "serious" thinker was.....
ReplyDeleteAnd it goes without saying that ad hominem is not a serious response. When someone's only response is "You're not a serious thinker" it pretty much means you won the debate.
This is a very serious post and I think you're conducting yourself in a very serious way. Although I view Loftus as a extremely serious thinker, I submit that the thinking in this post is even more serious than his.
ReplyDeleteThinking in a way that is not serious, is something I deplore, and I'm glad that you are both engaging in competitive seriousness. Loftus is wrong to say that you aren't serious, you are two of the most serious thinkers that I have ever seen. The inside of Loftus' head is pervaded with serious thinking, where serious topics are debated with almost unbelievable levels of seriousness. As the photo proves, so is yours.
This post is so serious that I've stopped everything I was doing in order to sit on a chair contemplating just how serious it is.
dude, sweet post!
ReplyDeleteBTW, where'd u get those cool wall frames?