Blindsided by evil

Recently I watched Catholic convert Brandon Vogt interview his boss, Robert Barron, on the Catholic scandals. Brandon and I have had several exchanges over the years. He runs away very soon once I enter the discussion.  As I recall, he used to jump into the combox on posts by Justin Taylor. Try to redirect readers to Catholicism. It was boilerplate Catholic arguments. When I engaged him, he'd bottom out quickly and discontinue further discussion.

He comes across as a sweet, trusting, well-meaning, willfully deluded sucker. I have problems with people who give reasons for their position, but then ignore reasons against their position. That involves a willful refusal to take arguments to their logical conclusion when they don't like the direction of the argument. They start out sounding logical until the logic turns against them, then they turn off their minds. They stop thinking. 

I don't object to his "poaching" on Protestant blogs. That's fair game. I do object to people who think just enough to think themselves into a position but not enough to think themselves out of a position.

I'm not saying that about everyone. Most folks aren't intellectuals. I'm not saying we have an obligation to be intellectually consistent about everything. Life is short. We have to prioritize. Most issues aren't all-important. It's okay to make snap judgments about many things. But this is different. But he should be smarter than that, and he's a Catholic apologist, so there's a higher standard for him. 

Brandon seems like a nice guy. Ironically, good-natured people are easily duped and manipulated by evil people. You know the Hollywood cliche about how FBI profilers have to get inside the mind of the serial killer. I don't know how true that is. But because good people don't think like evil people, they are unsuspecting. Presumably, Brandon would never do the things that some priests and bishops are guilty of doing. People like Brandon project their good will onto other people. They just can't relate to how conniving the sharks are. They see the surface. The smiles. The effusiveness. So they're blinded-sided by evil people.